MOREHEAD CITY - The Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Advisory Committee will hold its first meeting on May 11, 2000 at 6 p.m. at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Washington Regional Office, 943 Washington Square, Washington, NC. The office is located on the south side of Washington Square Mall.

Southern flounder is an important commercial and recreational fishery in North Carolina, found primarily in the state's estuaries and sounds. Over the last several years the amount of southern flounder harvested has increased dramatically. This causes concern among fisheries scientists because the stock is now comprised primarily of young fish – there are very few older, more productive spawners in the current southern flounder population. A healthy stock generally has fish of all ages.

The advisory committee will help the Division of Marine Fisheries develop strategies that will ensure this important fishery resource is well managed and healthy. The plan will include information on the nature and concerns of southern flounder, habitat and water quality issues and information on the status of the stock, and is scheduled to be completed by early 2002.

During this initial meeting the advisory committee will be briefed on their duties under the Fisheries Reform Act and the fishery management plan process. Presentations will be made on methods used in stock assessments and the status of southern flounder. A brochure about southern flounder and issues facing this fishery will be discussed.

For more information about southern flounder, please call Rick Monaghan or Carter Watterson at 252-726-7021 or 800-682-2632.

MOREHEAD CITY – If you've got something you would like to discuss with North Carolina's Marine Fisheries Commission, make sure you attend the public meeting Wednesday evening , May 3, 2000 at the Comfort Inn South Oceanfront in Nags Head. The public meeting will be held immediately after a hearing scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

“Normally our public meetings are fairly formal - we're there to discuss one or two very specific issues and the meeting's over,” said MFC Chairman Jimmy Johnson. “In an effort to be more accessible to the public, the commission periodically holds meetings so the public can bring up any issues they would like to discuss.” “As regulators, we are continuously looking for ways to improve dialogue with the public. The more input we have on fisheries issues, the better our regulatory process will be,” said Johnson.

This public meeting is being held in advance of a two-day MFC business session to be held May 4 - 5, at the same location.

For more information about the meeting, contact Jess Hawkins, DMF-Morehead City, at 1-800-682-2632 or 252-726-7021.

MOREHEAD CITY -- The Marine Fisheries Commission will hold a business session May 4 and 5, at the Comfort Inn South Oceanfront in Nags Head.

The meeting is open to the public.

A public hearing will be held at the same location at 7 p.m. on May 3 to discuss proposed rule changes for commercial and recreational fishing.

For more information, contact Jess Hawkins, DMF-Morehead City, at 1-800-682-2632 or 252-726-7021. NOTE: See Agenda

MOREHEAD CITY – The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission will hold four hearings to receive public input on the following proposed rules involving commercial and recreational fishing:

- Define areas where unattended commercial gill nets less than five inches cannot be set.
- Define gears that cannot be used in crab spawning areas.
- Prohibit harvest and possession of red porgy.
- Increase king mackerel size limit to 24 inches.
- Require a Standard Commercial Fishing License in order to possess more than 60 dolphin per day.
- Define permit designee.
- Define the Albemarle Sound and Chowan River boundaries for the River Herring Management Plan.
- Delete requirement for importation permit for striped bass.
- Require Atlantic Ocean Flounder Dealer Permits.
- Establish an annual commercial quota and recreational harvest limit for river herring in the Albemarle Sound and Chowan River Herring Management Area.
- Prohibit harvest of American shad and hickory shad from April 15 – December 31 of each year, except for hook-and-line gear.
- Establish recreational harvest limits for blueback herring and alewife.
- Establish rules outlining procedures for obtaining permits, including general and specific conditions, fees, and instituting permit requirements for horseshoe crabs and dealer permits for monitoring quotas.
- Allow Fisheries Director to require special permits for management purposes.
- Allow fishermen to harvest up to three striped bass per day by hook-and-line or with gear authorized by the Recreational Commercial Gear License from joint waters.

All hearings will be held at 7 p.m. on the following dates:

May 3  Comfort Inn South Oceanfront   Nags Head
May 15  DENR Regional Office   127 Cardinal Drive   Wilmington
May 16  Duke University Marine Lab - Pivers Island   Beaufort
May 25  Gateway Convention Center   Rocky Mount

For more information , please contact Jess Hawkins at 252-726-7021 or 800-682-2632.

MOREHEAD CITY - A series of five public meetings will be held along the coast in May to receive comments on the draft Oyster and Hard Clam Fishery Management Plans (FMPs).

The goal of the plans is to ensure the long-term viability of the State's commercially and recreationally significant species or fisheries. Staff are presenting the plans to get public input prior to selection of management options by the Marine Fisheries Commission.

A citizen advisory committee composed of fishermen and scientists worked with Division of Marine Fisheries staff to draft the Oyster and Hard Clam FMPs. The public is encouraged to provide comments to improve the content of the plans and to voice their opinion on the draft recommendations. The meeting dates and locations are:

For more information on these meetings or to receive a copy of the draft FMPs, please contact Jess Hawkins, Division of Marine Fisheries, at 800-682-2632 or 252-726-7021. Copies of the draft plans can be downloaded from the Division of Marine Fisheries website at www.ncdmf.net.

MOREHEAD CITY - Commercial fishermen now have the option of renewing their licenses through the mail according to officials with the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF).

Beginning May 1, DMF license offices will begin processing mail-in renewals. Approximately 9,000 applications were mailed to commercial fishermen earlier this month.

“This has been something we've wanted to do for a long time,” said DMF Director Pres Pate, “But legally we were prohibited from selling licenses prior to July 1 of each year. This situation created long lines and lengthy delays for fishermen since everyone showed up on July 1 to buy their new licenses. Last year the General Assembly changed that law and now we can better accommodate the public.”

Even though renewals can be processed earlier, 2000/2001 licenses still are not valid until July 1, 2000. If fishermen renew their licenses through the mail by June 15, they should receive their new licenses prior to July 1.

Beginning May 1, fishermen can also visit any of the six DMF offices along the coast to renew commercial licenses. Fishermen are reminded to bring in their current licenses when renewing licenses in person.

The Recreational Commercial Gear License (RCGL) expires one year from the date of purchase. RCGL licenses can be renewed through any DMF license office or by visiting an authorized Wildlife Resources Commission license agent.

The DMF urges commercial license holders to take advantage of the new mail-in renewal process - it saves valuable time for both the fishermen and the DMF.

For more information about DMF licenses, please call 252-726-7021 or 1-888-254-2024 (toll free).

MOREHEAD CITY - Preston P. Pate, Jr., Director of Marine Fisheries, announced today that effective at 12:00 noon Friday, April 14, 2000, recreational striped bass season will remain closed in the Atlantic Ocean. No person may take or possess more than two (2) striped bass taken with hook-and-line or for recreational purposes from the Atlantic Ocean. The minimum size limit is 28 inches in total length. The season will reopen by proclamation at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 22, 2000.

DMF officials have increased the list of fisheries impacted by Hurricane Floyd for commercial fishermen applying for a disaster relief grant. Originally, 239 fisheries were classified as “affected” fisheries. The DMF is now expanding that list to include hard crabs harvested by pots in the Pamlico Sound and the Pungo, Pamlico and Neuse rivers, and clams harvested by rakes in the New River.

Under the guidelines of the grant program, fishermen can only qualify for compensation if they participated in an “affected” fishery - any fishery with a 33 percent decrease in landings in September and October 1999, compared to the same time period the two previous years.

The term fishery includes the species harvested, as well as the gear type used and the water body fished. For example, southern flounder harvested with pound nets in the Pamlico Sound would be an “affected” fishery.

According to DMF Director Pres Pate, “These changes were necessary because the data collection methods we use to estimate the amount of seafood harvested does not allow the DMF to identify specific sections within large water bodies.”

“For example, crabs migrated to avoid Hurricane Floyd floodwaters causing a drop in landings in the western portion of the Pamlico Sound, while landings remained stable, or increased, in the eastern part of the sound,” said Pate. “Because of constraints in our data collection system, we could only analyze landings from the entire Pamlico Sound and could not break out specific regions.”

The fisheries added to the list were just slightly under the 33 percent threshold based on the original analysis indicating a fishery was significantly impacted. The DMF expanded the “affected” fisheries list based on additional landings information provided by fishermen and seafood dealers. Fishermen do not have to reapply for a grant if they participated in one of the expanded fisheries; all grant applications will be reevaluated to ensure qualified fishermen are properly compensated. Fishermen who harvested hard crabs by pots in the Pamlico Sound and the Pungo, Pamlico and Neuse rivers, and clams by rakes in the New River are encouraged to apply for a grant if they have not done so already. The deadline for applications is May 1, 2000.

Income loss for individual fishermen will still be verified using a two-step process. First, a fisherman must have a 25 percent reduction in total fishing income for September and October 1999, compared to the same time period during the two previous years. Then, there must be a 25 percent income loss from an “affected” fishery for the same time period.

For more information about the grant program call the Hurricane Assistance Grants Office, DMF-Morehead City, at 252-726-0216 or 1-877-352-0216 (toll free NC only).