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Contact: Patricia Smith Southern Core Sound to Reopen to Flounder Gill Net Fishing MOREHEAD CITY – Southern Core Sound will reopen to large mesh gill net fishing one hour before sunset Wednesday. The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is reopening these waters to determine if the large mesh gill net fishery can operate during the latter part of the fall season and avoid interactions with threatened and endangered sea turtles. “With few sea turtle interactions in northern Core and Pamlico sounds over the past month and the extraordinary rainfall event of last week, it is important for us to collect information in this area to see if operations can continue,” said division Director Louis Daniel. The southern portion of the sound, between Drum Inlet and the east end of Harkers Island, has been closed to flounder gill net fishing since Sept. 3 due to observed interactions with sea turtles. The waters had just reopened Sept. 1 after a summer closure that began June 28 for the same reason. The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries issued a proclamation today that allows the use of large-mesh gill nets (4-inch to 6.5-inch stretch mesh, inclusive) in southern Core Sound under the same restrictions that apply to the rest of Core Sound. Those regulations can be found on the division website at http://www.ncfisheries.net/procs/procs2k10/M-14-2010.html. Under these restrictions, fishermen who set large mesh gill nets (4-inch to 6.5-inch stretch mesh, inclusive) must use low-profile nets of no more than 15 meshes in height. The nets may be set only on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, no sooner than one hour before sunset each night, and retrieved no later than one hour after sunrise the following morning. Fishermen must use a lead core or leaded bottom line, but they may not use cork, floats or other buoys, except those required for identification. The regulations limit fishermen to 100-yard sets with at least 25 yards between the separate lengths of net. Fishermen may not use more than a total of 2,000 yards of large mesh gill net per vessel. The restrictions do not apply to run-around, strike or drop nets that are used to surround a school of fish and then are immediately retrieved. For more information, contact David Taylor, division Fisheries Management Section chief, at (252) 808-8074 or (800) 682-2632 or [email protected]. nr-50-10 |