Contact: Patricia Smith
Date: May 11, 2009
Phone: (252) 726-7021

NEW RULES IN EFFECT FOR SHRIMP TRAWL, RED DRUM, OTHER FISHERIES

MOREHEAD CITY – With the waters warming and commercial and recreational fisheries gearing up, the state Division of Marine Fisheries wants to remind watermen that some new rules came into effect April 1.

The rules impact the shrimp trawl, red drum, pound net fisheries and live bait dealers.

New rules impacting the shrimp trawl fishery:
•  Allow recreational fishermen to retrieve shrimp trawls by mechanical methods (Turtle Excluder Device required);
•  Establish a 48-quart recreational harvest limit for shrimp for all recreational gears used in open shrimp waters;
•  Adopt federal turtle excluder device requirements for shrimp trawls into state rule, allowing for state enforcement to improve compliance and better protect sea turtles;
•  Better describe existing no trawling areas in the Albemarle Sound and its tributaries.

New rules impacting the red drum fishery:
•  Lengthen the annual commercial seasonal small mesh gill net attendance requirement by one month to May 1-Nov. 30;
•  Require year-round attendance of small mesh gill nets within 200 yards of shore in the Pamlico, Pungo and Neuse rivers;
•  Require seasonal attendance of small mesh gill nets in all primary and permanent secondary nursery areas, within 50 yards of shore (except south of the N.C. 58 bridge in October and November) and in modified, no-trawl areas along the Outer Banks;
•  Implement a June through October attendance requirement for large mesh gill nets set within 10 feet of the shore;
•  Require the use of circle hooks, short leaders and fixed weights when fishing at night with natural bait using large hooks (greater than 4/0) in the Pamlico Sound and its tributaries from July through September;
•  Split the annual commercial red drum harvest limit into two periods: 150,000 pounds allotted for Sept. 1-April 30 and 100,000 pounds allotted for May 1-Aug. 31.

New rules pertaining to pound net sets:
•  Limit a pound net set to a single fishery at a time and require fishermen to notify Marine Patrol within 72 hours of a designation change;
•  Instruct the director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries to issue proclamations establishing cleanup times within the period Dec. 1-Feb. 1 when all pound nets must be removed from the waters;
•  Establish an attendance requirement and other regulations for recreational shrimp pounds under the Recreational Commercial Gear License;
•  Clarify that gill nets must be set at least 200 yards from any flounder or other finfish pound net from Jan. 1 to Aug. 14 in the Albemarle Sound.

A new rule affecting live bait dealers:
•  Requires bait dealers to obtain a permit from the state Division of Marine Fisheries to hold, sell or place into coastal waters any bait imported from outside the state.

The new rules are included in the 2009 Fisheries Rulebook, which can be found online at http://www.ncfisheries.net/download/2009_MFC_Rulebook.pdf. For more information about the shrimp rules, contact Marine Patrol Col. Rex Lanier at (252) 808-8130 or Rex.Lanier@ncdenr.gov; about the red drum rules, contact Lee Paramore at (252) 473-5734 or Lee.Paramore@ncdenr.gov; about the pound net rules, contact Katy West at (252) 948-3884 or Katy.West@ncdenr.gov; about live bait, contact Mike Marshall at (252)808-8077 or Mike.Marshall@ncdenr.gov.