THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 24, 1996 TAG: 9610240337
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
LENGTH: 25 lines
Officials with the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries have announced new commercial weakfish regulations.
The minimum size limit is 12 inches, except that a 10-inch minimum size limit will be allowed from April through Nov. 15 in the pound net and long haul seine fisheries (internal waters only).
The new gill net mesh size restrictions will be a minimum of 2 7/8 inches stretched measure and the flynet trawl mesh tailbag sizes will be a minimum of 3 1/8-inch square or 3 3/4-inch diamond.
No more than 150 pounds of weakfish bycatch can be possessed in any one day or trip (whichever is the longer period of time) in nondirected weakfish fisheries.
Any bycatch of weakfish retained in non-directed fisheries must meet the 12-inch minimum size limit.
Gill nets may be fished seven days a week, the Saturday gill net closure has been rescinded.
Weakfish cannot be harvested and landed with shrimp and crab trawls in the Atlantic Ocean. by CNB