THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 11, 1996 TAG: 9604110319
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 107 lines
Watermen say they know what size nets they need to catch fish of a certain size.
So if the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission tells them they can't keep any weakfish smaller than 12 inches, officials don't need to make small mesh nets illegal, commercial watermen said Tuesday night.
``The people that have come up with these rules have never fished commercially in their lives. So the rules just don't make any sense,'' said Hatteras waterman Bill Foster. ``What they calculate - and tell us we have to use - is inappropriate for what we catch. The fishermen know mesh size. And they know the ones proposed are wrong.''
Next week, members of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will vote on suggested changes to the East Coast's Weakfish Management Plan. North Carolina officials have come up with recommendations to comply with the regional regulations. But many watermen don't agree with all aspects of the state's proposal.
Tuesday night, about 40 fishermen filled a Hatteras Village meeting room to give a North Carolina biologist feedback on the suggestions he plans to take to the Alexandria, Va., meeting April 16.
Most watermen - and the state official - agreed that the regional regulators will inevitably increase the minimum size on weakfish from 10 to 12 inches.
But they asked Division of Marine Fisheries biologist Louis Daniel to alter some of the state's other proposals - and do away with the minimum mesh size on nets.
Daniel said a minimum net size is mandated by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
Weakfish, also known as gray trout, are one of the most valuablefinfish netted in North Carolina. More than 70 percent of the nation's weakfish are caught off the state's coast annually. About 1,000 North Carolina watermen earn at least a portion of their living catching weakfish.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which has a representative from each of 13 coastal states, has been regulating weakfish catches since 1985. North Carolina first adopted a 10-inch minimum limit on the fish in 1991.
Federal officials say weakfish landings have decreased dramatically since 1980, so they need to restrict catches of the tasty trout. But watermen say there are more weakfish in North Carolina's waters now than there have been in 15 years.
While they agree that some regulations are necessary to protect the stocks, watermen say some of the proposed changes to the weakfish management plan are unreasonable and inappropriate.
Each state gets to come up with its own rules to regulate weakfish catches. But the rules have to comply with regional goals. So Daniel said that, in many ways, North Carolina regulators' hands are tied in determining how to run their own fishery.
There is no quota on any state's total catch of weakfish.
But currently, North Carolina watermen aren't allowed to use gill nets with mesh sizes smaller than 2 1/2 inches. They aren't allowed to use gill nets between midnight Friday and midnight Saturday. And flynets can't be fished south of Cape Hatteras.
Under changes Daniel discussed Tuesday, the minimum mesh size on gill nets would be increased to 3 1/8 inches - reportedly to keep fish smaller than 12 inches from getting ensnared.
But Foster and other watermen said nets with mesh sizes that big would catch 14-inch fish - and allow even 12-inchers to slip through.
``Any fisherman worth his salt will use the mesh size appropriate to the minimum fish size,'' said North Carolina Fisheries Association Hatteras Auxiliary President Susan West, whose husband is a Hatteras gillnet fisherman. ``He's not gonna waste his time culling out undersized fish. And if you went to a mesh size of 3 1/8 inches or larger, that would eliminate the fishery for sea mullet.
``Fishermen say if they aren't allowed to use the smaller nets, they should be compensated for the money they've already invested in that gear.''
Daniel said he will ask state managers to request that the regional council grant a compromise mesh size of 2 3/4 inches for North Carolina.
Watermen also asked Daniel to change a recommendation that says if they catch even 50 pounds of weakfish per trip, that trip must be counted as a directed fishery on weakfish. They asked the biologist to raise that limit to at least 150 pounds so that they could keep weakfish they might catch while fishing for croaker, sea mullet or other species. Fishermen can't always control what types of fish swim into their nets, they said.
Many watermen also urged North Carolina to drop out of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
But Daniel said if that happens, federal officials could ban commercial fishing for regionally regulated species.
``The regulations we're looking at now would be painful to a lot of fishermen,'' said Daniel. ``But the only way getting out of the ASMFC would be beneficial is if some state that dropped out were to take the ASMFC to court - and the judge were to find that the entire ASMFC is unconstitutional.
``The state director has the ultimate authority about what proposals we'll take to the ASMFC next week,'' he said. ``But no matter what North Carolina asks for, we're only one vote out of 13 on that regional weakfish management board. And any plan we ask for has to be endorsed - and accepted - by that board.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
FOR YOUR COMMENTS
If you would like to comment on North Carolina's proposed changes to
the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Weakfish
Management Plan - which will be voted on Tuesday - call the state
Division of Marine Fisheries, (800) 682-2632 or (919) 726-7021.
KEYWORDS: WEAKFISH by CNB