THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 14, 1994 TAG: 9410140555
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
Sports anglers who traditionally travel to Hatteras in the late fall for flounder may get two extra months of pleasure this year if state fisheries regulators are successful next week in persuading a compact of Atlantic Coast states to go along with the idea.
State regulators want to extend the season for recreational anglers to catch the popular food fish beyond the planned Oct. 31 deadline until Dec. 31.
It's a move that would benefit not only the sports fishermen but the tackle shops and fishing piers that cater to these fishermen. Anglers flock to the waters on the southern end of Hatteras Island, where summer flounder concentrate in November and December.
``It would mean a lot here on Hatteras Island. Summer flounder is extremely important to the recreational fisherman here,'' said Frank Folb, a Hatteras Island tackle shop owner. ``Closing the season in October would cause more controversy and hardship than keeping the season open would cause damage to the fishery itself.''
It's also a move that has led the director of one commercial fishing trade group to charge that the state's top fisheries regulator is being unfair to commercial fishermen whose requests for regulatory relief have gone largely ignored.
In order to extend the season, however, the state may have to do battle with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a compact of states that oversees the flounder catch along the Atlantic Coast.
The state is scheduled to challenge the ASMFC's policy next week when a panel that oversees flounder fishing along the Atlantic coast meets in Delaware.
If the panel doesn't agree to extend the season for recreational fishermen, the state Marine Fisheries Commission - the board which regulates North Carolina's coastal fisheries - may vote to extend the season anyway and defy the ASMFC, said Marine Fisheries Commission Chairman Robert V. Lucas.
Lucas, a lawyer from Selma and a sports angler, is also a member of the ASMFC flounder management board and will present North Carolina's case to the panel.
``We're not talking about a lot of fish, but economy-wise we're talking about a lot of fishermen who are drawn to the Outer Banks by the fishery,'' Lucas said.
``I've got to do what's right. What's right is right. What's fair is fair.''
Lucas said he will argue that North Carolina can meet ASMFC targets without the seasonal restriction. He will tell the ASMFC that the current regulations unfairly restrict the catch of southern flounder, a relative of the summer flounder that is not managed by the ASMFC and virtually indistinguishable from the summer flounder.
And he will argue that North Carolina's potential recreational catch of summer flounder during November and December is not enough to make any difference to coastwide conservation plans.
Action by the state fisheries commission in opposition to the ASMFC board could lead to sanctions against the state and a complete closure of the summer flounder sports fishery, but Lucas said that in this instance, it's a chance fisheries regulators are willing to take.
Under the compact's management plan for summer flounder, sports anglers were required this year to reduce their catch by 40 percent. The ASMFC also imposed regional targets for reduction in the recreational summer flounder catch that range from 35 percent for northern Delaware to 68 percent for Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.
To that end, North Carolina fisheries regulators imposed restrictions on the size and number of summer flounder that sports anglers were allowed to keep. This year, sports anglers were limited in their catch to eight flounder of no less than 14 inches per day and were limited to a season that ran from May 1 to Oct. 31.
But state fisheries biologists said the action imposed an unfair burden on North Carolina and other states at the southern end of the summer flounder's range.
``The southern states bore the brunt of the reduction,'' said Rick Monaghan, state fisheries biologist. ``What we are seeking is uniformity in the regulations.''
Division of Marine Fisheries statistics show that the size and bag limits and seasonal restrictions currently in place meet the 68 percent reduction requirements. By extending the season through December, North Carolina's summer flounder sports catch would comply with and possibly exceed the 40 percent coastwide reduction target, Monaghan said.
``It's extremely important for us to try to keep this state in compliance,'' said Lucas. ``But when we are already in compliance with general targets, the ASMFC doesn't need to penalize the Outer Banks.''
If the ASMFC board rules against North Carolina, the state Marine Fisheries Commission could meet to consider its response as early as Oct. 27, Lucas said.
Meanwhile, the director of one commercial fishing trade group said that Lucas, in taking on the ASMFC on behalf of the state's sports anglers, was being unfair to the state's commercial fishermen, whose requests for relief from ASMFC rules have been rejected by the state Marine Fisheries Commission in the past.
``What I'm talking about is perception. It does not look good,'' said Jerry Schill, executive director of the N.C. Fisheries Association, a commercial fishing trade group in New Bern.
``We're going to be watching this one real close to see if it's in our best interest.'' ILLUSTRATION: Charts
Summer founder catch
For complete information see microfilm
Flounder catch
For complete information see microfilm
by CNB