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FF-34-2008 Dr. Louis B. Daniel III, Director, Division of Marine Fisheries, hereby announces that effective at 12:01 A.M., Sunday, March 16, 2008, the following restrictions will apply to the commercial scup fishery in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cape Hatteras (35° 15' N. Latitude): I. SIZE AND HARVEST LIMITS No person may take, possess, buy, sell or offer for sale scup less than 9 inches in length. No commercial fishing operation, regardless of the number of people involved, may possess, sell or offer for sale more than 1,000 pounds of scup per day during the period ending at 6:00 P.M. Monday, March 31, 2008. II. TRAWL MESH REQUIREMENTS The minimum mesh size for the commercial scup fishery will be 5 inches stretched mesh with a minimum length of 75 meshes from the terminus of the net. For small nets with less than 75 mesh codends, the entire net will consist of 5 inch mesh. III. GENERAL INFORMATION A. This proclamation is issued under the authority of N.C.G.S. 113-170.4; 113-170.5; 113-182; 113-221.1; 143B-289.52 and N.C. Marine Fisheries Rules 15A NCAC 3H .0103 and 3M .0514. B. It is unlawful to violate the provisions of any proclamation issued by the Fisheries Director under his delegated authority pursuant to N.C. Marine Fisheries Rule 15A NCAC 3H .0103. C. This proclamation is issued pursuant to action taken by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission establishing trip limits for the scup fishery in the Winter I period of 2008. The intent of this proclamation is to maintain North Carolina’s compliance with the requirements of the joint Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council-Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Fisheries Management Plan. D. This proclamation sets out the harvest periods and limits for the commercial scup season through March 31, 2008. It implements the harvest reductions that are required when 80% of the quota is reached. A proclamation closing the season will be issued when the Winter I quota is being approached. The Winter I Harvest Period ends April 30, 2008. |