THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 1, 1996 TAG: 9610010287
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
TYPE: NORTH CAROLINA BRIEFS
LENGTH: 33 lines
At the request of charter boat captains and recreational anglers, Dare County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr. has arranged a meeting with federal officials to discuss the future of bluefin tuna catches off Hatteras Island.
Owens and Hatteras Island charter boat Capt. Walt Spruill plan to meet at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in Washington, D.C., with Sen. Lauch Faircloth, R-N.C., National Marine Fisheries Service Director Rolland Schmitten, National Marine Fisheries Service Highly Migratory Species Chief William Hogarth and a representative from North Carolina's Marine Fisheries Service.
``We're going to ask federal fisheries officials to keep the angling category opening date at Jan. 1,'' Owens said Monday. ``We want our fishermen to be able to keep at least one bluefin tuna per boat per day. Sen. Faircloth has agreed to help us.''
One of the largest, most costly and controversial fish in the sea, bluefin tuna weigh 200 to 1,000 pounds each and fetch as much as $60,000 per fish at Japanese sushi markets. This winter, fishermen tagged and released at least 2,700 giant bluefin off the Outer Banks. Anglers caught and kept hundreds of others.
Officials at the National Marine Fisheries Service are considering delaying the opening date for keeping recreationally caught bluefin from Jan. 1 to June 1. Since the giant tuna school off North Carolina's coast only from January through March, Outer Banks anglers wouldn't be able to retain any of the tuna next year. For most of this winter, they were allowed to keep one fish per boat per day. by CNB