FF-52-2002
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., Friday, November 22, 2002, the following restrictions
will apply to the commercial flounder fishery:
TRIP
LIMITS
During the period beginning at 12:01 A.M., Friday, November 22, 2002 and
ending at 6:00 P.M., Sunday, December 1, 2002, no commercial fishing
operation, regardless of the number of people involved, may have total landings
of more than 10,000 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., December 1, 2002, 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 2003 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 2003 Atlantic
Ocean Commercial Dealer Flounder Permit.
B) Dealers possessing a 2003 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.
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 December 1, 2002 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, 2002 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.
November 19, 2002
11:00 A.M.
FF-52-2002
/sab/ph