Monday, February 16, 2009

NC Commercial Landings of Red Drum Comprise 97% of Atlantic Coast States Harvest in 2007 According to ASMFC Study


The following is copied directly from the ASMFC website, http://www.asmfc.org/, and can be found in its entirety in the report entitled;
2008 REVIEW OF THE
ATLANTIC STATES MARINE FISHERIES COMMISSION
FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR
RED DRUM
(Sciaenops ocellatus)
2007 FISHING YEAR


III. Status of the Fishery
Few commercial landings of red drum have been recorded in states north of Maryland (Table 2).Coastwide commercial landings show no particular temporal trends, ranging from approximately 55,000 to 422,000 pounds annually over the last 48 years (Figure 1). The greatest harvest was taken in 1980, and the lowest in 2004. In 2007, coastwide commercial harvest increased from 171,823 pounds in 2006 to 249,747 pounds, the majority (97.4%) from North Carolina (Table 2). Landings in Virginia (6,372 lbs), Georgia (<500>