THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 30, 1994 TAG: 9410300068
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MOREHEAD CITY LENGTH: Short : 33 lines
Sports anglers got their extra two months of flounder fishing, as promised, but they won't be able to keep as many as they have in the past.
Robert J. Jamieson, interim director of the Division of Marine Fisheries, last week officially extended the season for recreational anglers to catch the popular food fish to Dec. 31, but lowered the number of flounder fishermen can catch and keep during this period.
They must limit their catch to six fish per day starting Tuesday, down from the eight-fish limit in effect before that date. The size limit for ocean-caught flounder - 14 inches - will stay the same.
The flounder season for sports anglers who fish in the Atlantic Ocean was scheduled to close next week under a plan established by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to help the flounder fish population recover.
But at a meeting this month, an ASMFC panel agreed to a compromise presented by state fisheries officials that would let the season continue to the end of the year, if North Carolina agreed to lower the daily catch limit for the fish.
``We feel that North Carolina has achieved our 1994 reduction requirement for the recreational fishery,'' Jamieson said.
For more information contact the Division of Marine Fisheries district office. by CNB