Contact: Nancy Fish
Date: July 24, 2006
Phone: (252) 726-7021

FISHERIES HEARINGS TO BE HELD IN AUGUST

MOREHEAD CITY – The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will hold a hearing on August 8 at 7 p.m. at Festival Park in Manteo and August 15 at 7 p.m. at the Regional Office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 127 Cardinal Drive, in Wilmington.

Public input is needed on the following proposed rules:
Compatibility of recreational tournament rules;
Designate Dicks Creek in Carteret County as a Primary Nursery Area;
Harvest limits for stone crab; and
Technical modifications to the Coastal Recreational Fishing License blanket licenses.

For more information about these proposed rules, please contact Nancy Fish by e-mail at nancy.fish@ncmail.net or by calling 800-682-2632 or 252-726-7021.

Written comments my be submitted to Belinda Loftin, N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, N.C. 28557 or by e-mail to belinda.loftin@ncmail.net by April 26, 2006

Contact: Nancy Fish
Date:    July 14, 2006
Phone: (252) 726-7021

HERRING MEETINGS PLANNED THIS SUMMER

MOREHEAD CITY – Is a total fishing moratorium the only hope in preventing the collapse of one of North Carolina’s oldest fisheries or will continued harvest restrictions bring about the recovery of river herring?

            The river herring fishery has changed little since colonial times.  Fishermen still ply the same waters, using the same gears to harvest the fish.  What has changed is the dwindling catch. In recent decades, landings dropped from 10 million pounds annually, to less than 600,000 pounds.  Since 1995, the state has implement increasingly restrictive harvest measures to try to recover this fishery, but the herring stock continues to decline.

Since June 2005, an advisory group of commercial and recreational fishermen, scientists, and N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries staff, have been updating a fishery management plan for river herring. Management plans make long-term regulatory recommendations to conserve a fishery and are updated every five years.

The advisory committee drafts a proposed plan, including proposed rules, that goes out for public input. Once the public meetings are complete, the Marine Fisheries Commission votes on which portions of the plan to adopt and the rulemaking process begins.  When rulemaking is complete, the commission adopts the final plan and implements any needed regulations. 

July 24 – 6 p.m.
Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources' Regional Office
943 Washington Square Mall
Washington

July 25 – 7 p.m.
Swain Auditorium
Edenton

August 3  – 6 p.m.
Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources
Room 504-2A 5th Floor , Archdale Building
Raleigh

August 9 – 6 p.m.
Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources' Regional Office
127 Cardinal Drive Ext.
Wilmington

August 16 – 6 p.m.
Craven County Agricultural Extension Center
300 Industrial Drive
New Bern

            Other areas of discussion for river herring recovery include:

• Monitoring program and stock recovery indicators;
• Restoration/stocking programs;
• Predation on river herring by other species, emphasis on striped bass;
• River herring bycatch in the Atlantic Ocean fisheries;
• Anadromous spawning and nursery areas - critical habitat;
• Water quality;
• Blockages of historical spawning habitat; and
• Entrainment and impingement of eggs and larvae.

The Marine Fisheries Commission will vote on which proposals to include in the draft River Herring Fishery Management Plan at its September 28-29 business meeting in Atlantic Beach.

Visit http://www.ncdmf.net/fmps/index.html to download a copy of the draft River Herring Fishery Management Plan. For more information about these meetings, please contact Sara Winslow by e-mail at sara.winslow@ncmail.net or by calling 800-3387805 or 252-264-3911.