
DATE: Sunday, November 23, 1997             TAG: 9711230055

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY LANE DeGREGORY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  135 lines

COMMISSION PUTS ROCKFISH ON RECOVERED SPECIES LIST

In the sounds and along the oceanfront, from Corolla through Swan Quarter, rockfish are running - and anglers are reeling them in.

They've shown up earlier this year - both the fish and fishermen. Scores of them are schooling around pilings, piers and bridge abutments.

Rockfish are proving that a species can come back in abundance.

``They're as thick as I've ever seen 'em,'' waterman Billy Beasley said this week from his Colington Island seafood shop. ``We gotta work to keep 'em out of our nets. They're out there top to bottom.

``They oughta turn us loose and let us keep some of 'em - they oughta let us thin some of 'em out.''

In the late 1970s, rockfish began disappearing. Fishermen couldn't find them. State officials began imposing restrictions.

Late last month - after 20 years of strict seasons, catch limits and minimum sizes - rockfish were declared recoveredby the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Within a year, recreational anglers and commercial fishermen may begin seeing longer seasons, looser limits and smaller size restrictions on rockfish.

Capt. Clay Hauser thought he'd never see a rockfish. The 33-year-old guide has been fishing with his father along the Outer Banks for two decades. But he didn't catch a rockfish until 1990.

Last week, he helped anglers reel in more than a dozen on the Albemarle Sound.

But it was Tuesday. So the fishermen couldn't keep their catch.

``We've had two or three years of real good production,'' North Carolina Fisheries Manager Harrell Johnson said. ``There are more rockfish spawning now than at any other time we've seen in history.

``There's lots of 'em out there.''

Rockfish, also known as striped bass, are coveted by commercial and sports fishermen.

They sell for $2 per pound, are a tasty, popular seafood and fight fiercely on a rod and reel.

A mild, flaky fish that can be stewed, baked, fried or grilled, rockfish have black stripes along their sides and big, white bellies.

Once, they were the most popular and prevalent fish around the Outer Banks - and up inland waterways that weave throughout northeastern North Carolina. Commercial fishermen landed more than 2 million pounds of them in 1968. But then rockfish populations began thinning out.

By 1986, the entire catch for the Atlantic seaboard had plummeted to 335,000 pounds.

Almost everyone admits over-fishing contributed to the species' decline. Most agree stringent regulations helped rockfish recover. Pollution cleanup efforts, natural fish cycles and other factors also could have helped, some say.

``I'm surprised they came back,'' Hauser said, releasing a 20-inch rockfish he'd just caught beneath the Manns Harbor bridge. ``I thought rockfish runs were a thing of the past. Now, some days, you can come over here and just slay 'em.

``Not only do they fight good and grow big - they're excellent eating. That's why they're such fun fish.''

Sports fishermen casting in the sounds can keep two rockfish each on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays - as long as the fish are at least 21 inches long. Already, anglers have reeled in more than 2,000 pounds of rockfish.

In the ocean, sports fishermen can keep two rockfish every day all year - as long as the fish are at least 28 inches long.

Commercial watermen can't keep rockfish from the ocean right now.

They each can sell five caught in the sound every day until the season ends - as long as the fish are at least 18 inches long.

Commercial catches in the sound have totaled about 7,000 pounds so far this season.

A 21-inch rockfish is about four or five years old. It weighs four or five pounds. Its fillets will feed a family of four.

``With the number of fish we've had out there this fall, just about everybody can catch their limit,'' Johnson said. ``After January, you should see some adjustments in catch quotas. We'll probably be lengthening the seasons. Next fall, minimum size limits could get smaller.

``Now that rockfish have been declared recovered, we can increase the harvest.

``And the species should keep improving, year after year.''

Rockfish usually don't swim past Stumpy Point. But during the last two weeks, they've been swarming as far south as Swan Quarter. One waterman fishing for speckled trout in Oregon Inlet had to turn loose 250,000 pounds of rockfish, seafood suppliers said.

He salvaged 1,200 pounds of speckled trout.

``It's frustrating to the commercial fisherman. Thick as they are, we can't catch the rock,'' Beasley said. ``Can't target trout because there's so many rock out there it ain't worth our time.''

For the last three falls, Hatteras Island tackle shop owner Fran Folb said, rockfish ``have been steadily showing up sooner. We had small ones around even in summer,'' she said. ``I think it's going to be a super season.''

Kevin Jacobs, who works at Kitty Hawk Pier, agreed. ``There've been days we've seen 25 or 30 rockfish reeled in here - each 12 to 35 pounds. And all of 'em keepers,'' he said.

``There's a lot more of 'em this year - and bigger, too.''

For bait, Jacobs recommends rod and reel anglers use green or white bucktails with plastic twister tails, Rat-L-Trap plugs or cut mullet. Six-ounce Hopkins lures and menhaden also work well, Folb said. Rockfish like a lot of rough water - along the shoals and in swift currents.

``Make sure your bait is on the bottom. And reel real slow,'' Hauser told some friends fishing aboard his 27-foot boat, Tideline. ``You can jig the line a bit to get them back on if you lose a bite.

``I like to troll around 'til I find a bunch of 'em, then cast. I'm sort of looking for a congregation.

``They've been gone for 20 years. I'm glad to see the rockfish are back. They'll definitely bring a lot of people around for Thanksgiving.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot

Capt. Clay Hauser, left, measures a rockfish for angler Bill Golden.

Graphics

ROCKFISH RULES

Rockfish, also known as striped bass, are a recovered species.

But there are still many restrictions on catching and keeping them.

Call the state Division of Marine Fisheries for the latest rules:

(919) 726-7021.

In the sounds, sports fishermen can keep two rockfish each on

Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays - as long as the fish are at least

21 inches long.

In the ocean, sports fishermen can keep two rockfish every day