RE: RIVER HERRING
Preston P. Pate, Jr., Director, Division of Marine
Fisheries, hereby announces that effective at 9:00 A.M., Sunday, January 27, 2002, the following restrictions
will apply to the harvest of blueback herring and alewife (river herring):
The herring season will
remain open in all waters of the state.
A.
The commercial and
recreational herring seasons in all areas, excluding
the Albemarle Sound Herring Management Area and the Chowan River Herring
Management Area, will close at midnight on April
14, 2002.
B.
The herring season
for commercial purposes in the Albemarle Sound Herring Management Area and the Chowan River Herring Management Area
will close when the poundage allocations specified below are reached.
Proclamations closing the fisheries will be issued at that time.
C.
The river herring
season for recreational purposes in the Albemarle Sound Herring Management Area
and the Chowan River Herring Management Area will close at midnight on April 14, 2002.
II. AREA DESCRIPTION
The
Albemarle Sound Herring Management Area and the Chowan River Herring Management
Area are described in Marine Fisheries Rule 15A NCAC 3J .0209. The restrictions listed below apply to these
areas.
A. The
quota allocation, as set forth in Rule 15A NCAC 3M .0513, for the pound net
fishery in the Chowan River Herring Management Area will be limited to a total
of 200,000 pounds.
B.
The quota allocation
for commercial gill net fisheries within the Albemarle Sound Herring Management
Area and Chowan River Herring Management Area will be limited to a total of
67,000 pounds.
C.
An additional 33,000
pounds is available to be allocated at the discretion of the Fisheries
Director.
Only gill nets meeting the specified mesh lengths shall be used in the following areas identified below. A fishing operation, regardless of the number of vessels or persons involved, shall not use more than the lengths of gill nets specified for the following areas:
Albemarle Sound, Currituck Sound, Croatan
Sound and Roanoke Sound:
A. Gill nets with a mesh length of 3 inches shall not exceed 400 yards.
B. Gill nets with a mesh length of 3 ¼ inches shall not exceed 800 yards.
C. Gill nets with a mesh length of 3 ¾ and 4 inches may be used east of a line from Baum Point 35° 55.1602’ N – 75° 39.5736’ W to Rhodoms Point 36° 00.2146’ N – 75° 43.6399’ W and east of a line from Eagleton Point 36° 01.3178’ N – 75° 43.6585’ W to Long Point 36° 02.4971’ N – 75° 44.2262’ W at the mouth of Kitty Hawk Bay. Gill nets with a mesh length of 3 ¾ and 4 inches may also be used south of the Highway 64/264 bridge at Manns Harbor. Gill nets with a mesh length of 3 ¾ and 4 inches shall not exceed 800 yards.
D. The total amount of small mesh gill nets (3 inch, 3 ¼ inch, 3 ¾ inch, and 4 inch) used shall not exceed 800 yards in any combination. No other mesh sizes below 5 ¼ are allowed except those listed. Gill nets with a mesh length of 5 ¼ inches and larger described in II.E. and F. may not exceed 3,000 yards combined.
E. Gill nets with a mesh length of 5 ¼ inches and larger that are equipped with floats that do not exceed 2 inches in diameter and 6 inches in length placed a minimum of 10 yards apart, not to exceed 11 floats per 100 yards of net must not exceed 3,000 yards in length and must be set so as to fish on the bottom not to exceed a vertical height of 48 inches.
F. All gill nets with a mesh length of 5 ¼ inches and larger not meeting the criteria in Section II.E. for floats are required to be equipped with tie downs spaced no farther apart than 30 feet restricting the vertical distance between the top and bottom lines to 48 inches or less. Nets must not exceed 3,000 yards in length.
The 100 yards of gill net allowed Recreational Commercial Gear License holders must adhere to the net configurations and mesh sizes in the waterbodies described in this proclamation for commercial fishing operations. Marine Fisheries Rule 15A NCAC 3M .0513 limits the number of blueback herring and alewife taken for recreational purposes to 25 in the aggregate per person.
VI.
GENERAL
INFORMATION
A. This proclamation is issued under the
authority of G.S. 113-170.4; 113-170.5; 113-134; 113-181; 113-182; 113-221 (e);
143B-289.52 and N.C. Fisheries Rules 15A NCAC 3H .0103 and 3M .0513.
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 intent of this proclamation is to place
harvest limits on the pound net and gill net fisheries of Chowan River Herring
Management Area and the Albemarle Sound Herring Management Area in accordance
with restrictions adopted by the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission in
the River Herring Fishery Management Plan on February 17, 2000. Under this
Plan, the annual commercial quota for both areas is 300,000 pounds. This total is divided into 200,000 pounds
allocated to the pound net fishery in the Chowan River Herring Management Area,
67,000 pounds allocated to the gill net fishery in the Albemarle Sound Herring
Management Area, and 33,000 pounds to be allocated by the Director at his
discretion. The quota and allocations
apply to the calendar year.
D.
According
to Marine Fisheries Rule 15A NCAC 3M .0513, it is unlawful to possess more than
25 blueback herring or alewife (river herring), in the aggregate, per person,
per day, taken for recreational purposes.
E.
Marine
Fisheries Rule 15A NCAC 3O .0503 (b)(3) requires dealer permits and
related reporting requirements.
F.
This
proclamation supersedes proclamations FF-3-2002 (Revised), dated January 7,
2002, which closed the Albemarle Sound and Chowan River Management Areas at
midnight, January 27, 2002, as well as M-1-2002 (Revised), dated January 9,
2002. This proclamation cancels the
closure scheduled for January 27, 2002 due to lower than expected harvest of
herring in eastern Albemarle Sound.
January
25, 2002
9:00
A.M.
FF-9-2002
/jtg