THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 19, 1996 TAG: 9609190340
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HATTERAS ISLAND LENGTH: 94 lines
Outer Banks anglers experienced the best season ever for catching bluefin tuna this winter.
But a proposal from the National Marine Fisheries Service that would make it illegal for recreational fishermen to keep the giant fish during North Carolina's peak bluefin months could reel in the entire industry, charter boat captains said Wednesday.
More than 100 captains, anglers, biologists, tourism officials and elected leaders from local, state and national offices plan to attend a meeting tonight to discuss the fate of one of the Atlantic's biggest and most profitable fish - and Hatteras Island's most substantial off-season economy.
The 7 p.m. session at the Hatteras Marlin Club will allow fishermen to express their opinions about proposed revisions to national bluefin tuna regulations.
Focus will be on suggested changes to the angling category, which affect recreational fishermen.
But fisheries regulators also will accept comments on a proposed change to the commercial fishery. That shift would eliminate the requirement that watermen only keep a bluefin tuna weighing 2 percent of their entire haul - instead allowing them to keep one fish for every 3,500 pounds of shark or other species they land. Such an amendment would enable commercial fishermen to cash in on a small portion of the sea's most pricey species.
Hatteras charter boat captains, however, fear that they might be shut out of the emerging industry that has kept them afloat for the past three winters.
``Our primary concern is that we get a quota to keep some of the fish from our bluefin tuna fishery,'' said Hatteras Charter Boat Capt. Walt Spruill. ``They're trying to take our quota away from us.
``We feel like our customers have the right to keep some of the fish if they want to.''
Charter Boat Capt. Rom Whitaker agreed. ``A lot of my customers want to keep at least one fish per trip,'' Whitaker said. ``They should be able to do that - just like the people up north.
``If they can't keep a bluefin, they won't be able to compete for any record fish. They might not book charter trips at all. That would destroy us down here.''
Gulf Stream charters cost $800 to $1,000 per day for a six-person party.
Between January and March this year, about 60 charter boats and dozens of private vessels carried anglers out of Hatteras Village into the Gulf Stream, where bluefin tuna were schooling in record numbers. Anglers from 31 states and all over the world flocked to the fishery, trying to catch the 200- to 1,000-pound giants.
For most of the season, fishermen were allowed to keep one bluefin per boat per day - as long as the fish was between 57 and 73 inches long.
Biologists said North Carolina anglers caught between one-fourth and one-third of the East Coast's 1996 recreational bluefin tuna quota.
National Marine Fisheries Service surveys showed that more than 2,700 additional bluefins were tagged and released off the Outer Banks.
Many recreational anglers just enjoy the sport of fishing for the tuna - which put up great fights - and don't mind tagging and releasing their catches. Commercial watermen want to keep some of the fish, which can fetch $60,000 each at Japanese sushi markets. But some sportsfishermen want to take home a tuna for their own consumption as well.
A proposal by the National Marine Fisheries Service would all but eliminate that option - at least for Outer Banks anglers.
``To improve the fishery for the long term, the agency proposes to delay the opening in North Carolina until June 1, but allow a catch-and-release fishery from Jan. 1 to June 1, with a small set-aside quota,'' National Marine Fisheries Service Director Rolland Schmitten wrote this month.
``This move is designed to provide better equity in catch throughout the East Coast.''
But local fishermen say, however, that move would prohibit them from keeping the tuna. Bluefin swim off North Carolina only during winter months. If they couldn't keep any until June, they couldn't keep any at all.
Schmitten said exceedingly high catches of bluefin off North Carolina, ``an abundance . . . which has not been seen for more than 40 years . . . totally disadvantaged the states of Delaware, New York, Rhode Island and New Jersey'' this summer.
Because North Carolina anglers caught a substantial portion of the entire coast's quota, there were fewer fish available for the northern captains to keep.
``The new rule could go into effect as early as January,'' National Marine Fisheries Service spokesman Bill Hogarth said. ``Before it becomes law, we'll have hearings on the proposals. But there won't be a vote to decide this issue. I'll make a recommendation. Then the director will decide.'' ILLUSTRATION: MEETING ON BLUEFIN TUNA
Fishermen, charter boat captains and interested people are
invited to attend a meeting to discuss North Carolina's bluefin
tuna fishery.
Held at the Hatteras Marlin Club, the free session will begin at
7 tonight. Fisheries regulators, biologists and local, state and
national politicians are expected to be on hand.
For details about the meeting, call Walt Spruill at 919-986-2775.
For copies of the proposed rule revisions - or to ask questions
about suggested changes in bluefin tuna management policies - call
the National Marine Fisheries Service at 301-713-2347. by CNB