THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 8, 1995 TAG: 9509080524
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
A federal plan to close East Coast offshore waters to catches of weakfish, one of North Carolina's most valuable finfish, gained momentum this week when a panel of Atlantic Coast fisheries managers continued to back the plan.
But North Carolina fisheries Director Bruce L. Freeman said Thursday the state will continue to press the National Marine Fisheries Service and Department of Commerce officials for a compromise.
``We're not giving up yet,'' Freeman said from Providence, R.I., where the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Weakfish Management Board was meeting. ``We'll do everything we can.''
Freeman conceded, however, that time may be running out for North Carolina to block the federal action.
National Marine Fisheries Service officials this week said the agency may reach a decision within two weeks.
Spokesmen for two state commercial fishing groups have said they will likely challenge NMFS in court if it seeks to close the Exclusive Economic Zone. The challenge may be joined by the state Marine Fisheries Commission according to recent statements by the state's top fisheries managers.
At stake is the bulk of the state's 3.4 million-pound weakfish catch, valued at $1.9 million in 1994, which will likely be curtailed if the zone is closed to weakfish landings.
The EEZ is a conservation zone between three and 200 miles off the nation's coast under the jurisdiction of federal fisheries managers.
North Carolina lost the latest round of discussions with fisheries managers from Atlantic Coast states on Wednesday when the weakfish management board upheld its earlier support of a federal plan to ban offshore catches of weakfish.
The board defeated a motion by Freeman to delay action on the federal proposal until April, 1996, when a new weakfish management plan is to be implemented.
The proposal would also bar fishermen plying EEZ waters from possessing weakfish, also known as gray trout, taken incidental to catches of other species of fish and stipulates that such bycatch must be released to the water as soon as possible.
Proponents of the closure say it offers the best possible conservation measure, it is easy to understand and enforce and is in the best long-term economic interests of both commercial and recreational fishermen of several options considered by federal fisheries regulators.
But opponents of the closure, including most commercial fishermen, the state Marine Fisheries Commission and other state fisheries managers, say the federal government's proposal is based on out-dated data and doesn't give an ASMFC management plan already in place along the Atlantic Coast time to work. Others fear a ban on the weakfish catch in offshore waters may force a large number of commercial fishermen to North Carolina's inshore waters or its sounds and rivers.
The ASMFC is a compact of 15 Atlantic Coast states that oversees management of fish, such as weakfish, that migrate in inshore waters. by CNB