FF-57-2001
RE: FLOUNDER – COMMERCIAL FISHING OPERATIONS –
ATLANTIC OCEAN
Preston P. Pate, Jr., Director, Division of Marine
Fisheries, hereby announces that effective at 12:01 A.M., Thursday, November 15, 2001, the following restrictions
will apply to the commercial flounder fishery:
TRIP
LIMITS
A) From November 1 through November 14, 2001,
no commercial fishing operation, regardless of the number of people involved,
may land more than 100 pounds of flounder per day taken from the Atlantic
Ocean.
B) During the period
beginning at 12:01 A.M., Thursday,
November 15, 2001 and ending at 6:00 P.M., Sunday, November 25, 2001, no
commercial fishing operation, regardless of the number of people involved, may
have total landings of more than 7,500
pounds of flounder taken from the Atlantic Ocean. These operations require
a valid License to Land Flounder from the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean flounder fishery will
close immediately after the Director issues a public notice that the fall quota
of flounder has been landed from the Atlantic Ocean, or at 6:00 P.M., November
25, 2001, whichever occurs first.
PERMITS
A) Finfish dealers
may not buy more than 100 pounds of flounder per day per commercial fishing
operation unless the dealer has a valid
2002 Atlantic Ocean Commercial Dealer Flounder Permit. Vessels landing more than 100 pounds of
flounder per day from the Atlantic Ocean are required to possess a valid License to Land Flounder from the
Atlantic Ocean from the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries. Permits will be issued only to those
licensed seafood dealers holding a valid license as authorized in G.S.
113-169.3. Dealers must abide by all
conditions of the 2002 Atlantic Ocean Commercial Dealer Flounder Permit.
B) Dealers possessing
a 2002 Atlantic Ocean Commercial
Dealer Flounder Permit shall report daily by noon through FAX transmittal (252-726-3903) to the Division of
Marine Fisheries flounder landings from the Atlantic Ocean for the previous
day. The first report is due November
16, 2001 by noon.
A) This proclamation
is issued under the authority of G.S. 113-134; 113- 170.4; 113-170.5; 113-181;
113-182; 113-221(e); 143B-289.52 and NC Marine Fisheries Rules 15A NCAC 3M
.0503 and 3O. 0500.
B) It is unlawful to violate the provisions of any proclamation issued by the Fisheries Director under his delegated authority per 15A NCAC 3H .0103.
C) The landing
prohibition beginning at 6:00 P.M. on November 25, 2001 will allow the Division
to review landing reports. Landings
will be allowed by proclamation after that date if the fall quota of flounder
has not been taken.
D) For the purposes of
this proclamation, fish shall be considered landed when fish are unloaded or
the vessel is tied to the dock, whichever occurs first.
E) Fisheries Rule 15A
NCAC 3M .0503 (c) (1) states it is unlawful to land more than 100 pounds per
trip of flounder taken from the Atlantic Ocean unless the vessel has been
issued a North Carolina License to Land
Flounder from the Atlantic Ocean. This
is in addition to the normally required licenses.
F) Fisheries Rule 15A
NCAC 3M .0503 (c) (2) specifies that it is unlawful for a fish dealer to
purchase or off-load more than 100 pounds of flounder taken from the Atlantic
Ocean by a vessel that has not first produced a valid North Carolina License to Land Flounder from the Atlantic Ocean.
G) Fisheries Rule 15A
NCAC 3I .0113 specifies that it is unlawful for any licensee under Chapter 113,
Subchapter IV of the General Statutes to refuse to allow the Fisheries Director
or his agents to obtain biological data, harvest information, or other
statistical data necessary or useful to the conservation and management of
marine and estuarine resources from fish in the licensee=s possession.
H) The intent of this
proclamation is to establish trip limits and a reporting process for the taking
of flounder from the Atlantic Ocean to assure that the fall, 2001 quota
allocated to North Carolina in the joint Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management
Council - Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Fishery Management Plan
for Summer Flounder is not exceeded.
I)
Atlantic Ocean
Commercial Dealer Flounder Permits are available at no cost from all Division
of Marine Fisheries License Offices.
J) This proclamation supersedes FF-52-2001, dated October 25, 2001.
November 8, 2001
2:00 P.M.
FF-57-2001
/sab