DATE: Saturday, October 11, 1997            TAG: 9710110677

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NAGS HEAD                         LENGTH:   72 lines

AUTHORITIES SEIZE SHRIMP WORTH $8,487 3 BOATS CITED FOR ILLEGALLY FISHING OFF THE OUTER BANKS

Authorities seized 3,750 pounds of shrimp from three trawlers that were cited for illegally fishing off the Outer Banks early Friday.

The seafood, worth more than $8,487, is the most valuable catch that state fisheries officers have confiscated in the past 10 years, law enforcement Capt. Monty Willis said.

``It's not that unusual for us to seize fish and gear,'' Willis said. ``But this was a big one.''

State fisheries officials sold the shrimp to local seafood dealers Friday afternoon. The money will be held in Dare County District Court until the boat captains appear for trial in November. If the fishermen are found not guilty, they will get the money from their catch. If they're found guilty, the money will go to the Dare County school system.

Besides the seafood, authorities seized seven nets valued at $750 each from the trawlers.

The captains and their boats were not taken into custody. All the charges are misdemeanors. But the watermen may have to pay hefty court fines, which will be determined by the judge.

On Thursday night, fisheries officials began getting calls about shrimp boats that appeared to be operating too close to shore. State law requires trawlers fishing between Oregon Inlet and the Virginia line to stay at least a half-mile from the beach. Fisheries officers flew over the coast in a helicopter and two patrol boats assisted in the investigation, ultimately checking 18 commercial vessels.

The three boats ticketed were:

``The Redeemed,'' a 55-foot trawler based at Wanchese Fish Co. that was cited for operating within a half-mile of the beach and not having a proper bycatch-reduction device.

``Two Brothers,'' a 68-foot trawler based in Englehard that was cited for operating without bycatch-reduction devices.

``Lady Phyllis,'' a 90-foot trawler based in Belhaven that was cited for operating without a bycatch-reduction device and possession of undersized flounder.

Bycatch-reduction devices are metal braces fishermen place in their nets to allow undersized fish to escape. North Carolina has required such devices for at least the past five years. Although some of the nets on the boats had bycatch-reduction devices, Willis said they were improperly installed or in the wrong places.

Joey Daniels, who runs Wanchese Fish Co., said the captain of ``The Redeemed'' forgot to install his bycatch-reduction device. But he said the boat was not fishing within a half-mile of the shore.

``He was steaming within a half-mile because his boat had electrical problems and he had no lights. He was trying to get out of the way of the other trawlers,'' Daniels said Friday. ``But he wasn't fishing in there - where he knew it was illegal.

``Thursday night was the best night of shrimping he's had all summer.''

Daniels said he learned of the seizure when Willis approached him Friday morning asking if he wanted to buy a few thousand pounds of shrimp - some of which had been confiscated from his boat.

Fisheries law enforcement officers also were investigating thousands of dead fish on Ocracoke and Portsmouth islands Friday.

Nancy Fish, a spokeswoman for the state Division of Marine Fisheries, said ``a couple thousand fish'' were strewn along the shore and floating in the surf between Ocracoke and Drum inlets.

``The spill seems consistent with something from a menhaden vessel. They mostly were small fish,'' she said. ``Captains of those boats are supposed to report any spill and clean it up themselves - but we've had no word from anyone yet.''

As of late Friday, no charges had been filed, and fisheries officers did not know which boat had caused the spill.

Ocracoke tackle shop owners said they'd received reports of dead fish as far north as the pony pens - in the middle of Ocracoke Island. KEYWORDS: ILLEGAL FISHING

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