RE: STRIPED BASS SEASON – COMMERCIAL FISHING
OPERATIONS –
Preston P. Pate, Jr., Director, Division of Marine
Fisheries, hereby announces that effective at 12:01 A.M., Monday, January 3, 2005, the harvest of striped bass
with COMMERCIAL FISHING OPERATIONS IN
THE ALBEMARLE SOUND MANAGEMENT AREA WILL OPEN and the following provisions
shall apply:
Albemarle Sound Management Area as
described in Marine Fisheries Rule 15A NCAC 3R .0201 (a), excluding Inland
fishing waters.
II. SIZE AND
HARVEST RESTRICTIONS:
A. No
person shall take, possess, transport, buy, sell, or offer for sale striped
bass less than 18 inches total length taken by commercial fishing operations
from the Albemarle Sound Management Area.
B. No
individual or commercial fishing operation regardless of the number of persons
or vessels involved, shall possess, land, sell or offer for sale more than five
(5) striped bass, unless taken in conjunction with other commercially important
finfish. Striped bass shall be limited
to 50% by weight, of the combined daily harvest, not to exceed 5 fish per day, per Standard Commercial Fishing License
(SCFL) holder. The daily harvest
limit of 5 striped bass shall not be exceeded, regardless of where taken from
internal waters, unless the fish are
taken in accordance with II. C. below.
C. Any
commercial fishing operation consisting of more than one SCFL holder shall have
no more than two daily harvest limits.
A SCFL holder must accompany each single harvest limit until the time of
sale to a dealer possessing a valid 2004/2005 STRIPED BASS DEALER PERMIT
validated for the Albemarle Sound Management Area.
A.
No dealer shall
possess, buy, sell or offer for sale striped bass taken from the Albemarle
Sound Management Area without holding a valid STRIPED BASS DEALER PERMIT
validated for the Albemarle Sound Management Area from the N.C. Division of
Marine Fisheries. Dealers shall abide
by all conditions which appear on the
permit as well as the general provisions which appear in Marine Fisheries Rule
15A NCAC 3O .0500.
B. Only a STRIPED BASS DEALER PERMIT validated
for the Albemarle Sound Management Area may be used for transactions involving
striped bass taken from the areas opened by this proclamation.
C.
Striped bass lawfully
sold to a permitted dealer may be resold to a non-permitted wholesale or retail
market provided the initial permitted dealer records their dealer
identification number on each bill of lading or receipts involved in the
shipment of striped bass. Any
individual or corporation who holds a current finfish dealer license shall
obtain a STRIPED BASS DEALER PERMIT validated for the Albemarle Sound
Management Area in order to sell any striped bass personally harvested.
IV. SALE TAGS:
No dealer shall possess, buy, sell, or
offer for sale striped bass taken from the Albemarle Sound Management Area
without having a N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries issued Albemarle Sound
Management Area striped bass tag affixed through the mouth and gill cover. In case of striped bass imported from other
states, a similar tag that is issued for striped bass in the state of origin
shall be affixed.
V. LANDING
RESTRICTIONS:
Striped
bass taken from areas opened by this proclamation may be sold only to and
purchased by a dealer possessing a STRIPED BASS DEALER PERMIT validated for the
Albemarle Sound Management Area.
VI. SEASON CLOSURE:
The striped bass season for commercial fishing operations in
the Albemarle Sound Management Area will close at 8:00 P.M., Thursday, April 14, 2005, unless
closed by proclamation at an earlier date due to the harvest allocation being
met. Dealers shall have until two weeks
after the closing of the season to sell, offer for sale, transport, or have in
possession unfrozen striped bass taken in this fishery.
VII. GENERAL
INFORMATION:
A. This proclamation is
issued under the authority of N.C.G.S. 113-169.1; 113-170.4; 113-170.5;
113-182; 113-221.1 (b); 143B-289.52; and the Marine Fisheries Rules 15A NCAC 3H
.0103, 3M .0201 and 3M .0202.
B. It
is unlawful to violate the provisions of any proclamation issued by the
Fisheries Director under his delegated authority pursuant to Marine Fisheries
Rule 15A NCAC 3H .0103.
C. The intent of this proclamation is to allow
the harvest of striped bass in the Albemarle Sound Management Area by
commercial fishing equipment within the harvest quota established by the North
Carolina Estuarine Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan.
D. Hook-and-line fishing equipment is not
commercial fishing equipment in the striped bass fishery and it is illegal to
sell or purchase striped bass taken by hook-and-line in accordance with N.C.
Marine Fisheries Rule 15A NCAC 3M .0201 (b).
E. Holders
of RCGL licenses or hook-and-line fishermen shall follow the bag limit and
harvest restrictions of the recreational fishery for striped bass.
F. All
striped bass taken during the season closures and all undersize striped bass
shall be immediately returned to the water where taken, regardless of the
condition of the fish.
G. STRIPED
BASS DEALER PERMITS validated for the Albemarle Sound Management Area are
available at no cost from all N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries License
Offices.
H.
Dealers whose
businesses are located in Hyde, Dare, Tyrrell, Washington, Bertie, Chowan,
Pasquotank, Camden, Hertford and other northern counties may obtain tags by
contacting the Columbia Marine Patrol Office at 1-800-405-7774 or (252) 796-1322. Allow 48 hours for delivery.
I.
This proclamation
supersedes Proclamation FF-32-2004, dated April 2, 2004.
December 23, 2004
10:20 A.M.
FF-66-2004
/sab