THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 8, 1996 TAG: 9603080595
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: MOREHEAD CITY LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
After showing signs of serious decline in the late 1980s, summer flounder stocks are on the rebound, North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries officials announced Thursday.
In an effort to restore stocks, the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission developed a plan to rebuild flounder populations by restricting commercial and recreational harvests.
Fisheries managers created a coastwide harvest quota from North Carolina through Maine. About 60 percent of the quota went to commercial watermen and 40 percent was allocated to recreational anglers. The quota then was divided among coastal states - based on historical landings. Individual states were permitted to manage their own quotas.
This year, North Carolina closed its ports to ocean-caught flounder landings on March 3 - two months earlier than last year. The early closure was due, in part, to a lower quota for coastal states, fisheries managers said.
Fishermen, however, report that there were larger amounts of small, juvenile summer flounder in this winter's catch. State Division of Marine Fisheries Director Bruce Freeman also said larger, older fish have been found in recently landed flounder populations.
``This is an excellent sign,'' Freeman said. ``But it will take several more years before recovery of this stock is reached.''
For more information, call the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries at (919) 726-7021. by CNB