THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 23, 1995 TAG: 9511230864
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
On Dec. 21, the National Marine Fisheries Service plans to ban fishermen from catching weakfish in federally controlled waters of the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to Florida, officials announced Wednesday.
State waters - up to three miles offshore - will remain open for weakfish fishing under guidelines established by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
The federal government controls waters from three to 200 miles offshore.
Weakfish, also known as gray trout, are an important recreational and commercial species in North Carolina.
National fisheries officials said they decided to implement the ban to allow weakfish stocks to recover from overfishing. That ban will be in place until the stocks recover, they said. The North Carolina Fisheries Association plans to challenge the ban in court.
``Without the immediate conservation measure of a temporary ban on fishing for weakfish to force rebuilding of the stock, all public users of the weakfish resource along the entire coast would experience the severe and long-term impact of a complete stock collapse,'' said National Marine Fisheries Service Director Rollie Schmitten. ``The fishery should rebuild quickly because weakfish grow rapidly and spawn as 1-year-olds.''
North Carolina has the largest commercial weakfish fishery on the Atlantic. About 38 percent of their catch comes from federal waters.
Most recreational anglers fish for weakfish in state waters, so they will not be severely impacted by the closure of off-shore areas.
For more information, or to comment on the closure, call Scott Smullen at (301) 713-2370. by CNB