NC Marine Fisheries Commission Pursues Continued Destruction of Depleted Fish Stocks: Asks NC Legislators For Permission To Circumvent Law

In a move that shocked even some of the most hardened political observers in NC, the NC Marine Fisheries Commission has requested permission from the NC legislature to exclude Southern Flounder and Speckled Trout from a new law that would require the ending of overfishing in two years. Both Southern Flounder and Speckled Trout are depleted and overfished here in NC. The commercial fishing industry that controls the MFC here in NC has decided that they are above the law, and if the law will not allow them to overharvest fish, they will change the law!

In the letter above, the NCMFC asks the Joint Legislative Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture to agree with them that any Fisheries Management Plan that was completed before the new law requiring the ending of overfishing in 2 years be exempt from the law. What this conveniently means is that commercial fishermen can continue to overharvest Flounder and Speckled Trout because the FMP's for those 2 fish were completed before this law was enacted.

The problem is that all of the legislators that overwhelmingly voted to make this law this past session did so with the understanding that this law applied to ALL FMP's past and present, and would apply to all future modifications to the plans as well. Since Flounder is the big money fish here in NC, the commercial seats and their hand-picked recreational seats on the MFC decided once again to ignore the state of the fishery, and make the rules so they could make money at the expense of the depleted resource.

This blatant disregard for both the law and our marine resources is unacceptable.

CFRG Addresses NC Marine Fisheries Commission: "The MFC is Obliged by Law to Take Corrective and Remedial Action"

The following statement was delivered to each of the NC Marine Fisheries Commissioners and was read aloud during the public comment period at the recent MFC meeting in Wilmington, NC on August 11, 2010;

The Coastal Fisheries Reform Group (CFRG) is an association of concerned sports fishermen who support sound, scientific management of our marine fisheries for the benefit of the marine resource and all who enjoy these valuable assets of NC. Several issues need to be brought to the attention of the MFC at this time. The MFC is the state agency given the responsibility and duty by law to manage NC’s fisheries in an effective and fair manner so that our resources will not be depleted and all our fishermen will have opportunities now and into the future. When a fishery becomes depleted from overfishing or from any adverse condition, the MFC is obliged by law to take corrective and remedial action as soon as possible to begin the process of eliminating overfishing and restoring the fishery to a sustainable level at targeted healthy levels of abundance and growth.

This summer we learned that our speckled sea trout (SST) fishery, the most popular, sought after fish in our coastal waters, is depleted from years of overfishing. The current fishing regulations, both recreational and commercial, are not sufficient to begin recovery of the SST. We call upon the MFC to immediately develop and implement restrictive rules on the harvest of SST. DMF staff has already done the research on fishing mortality from all sources and can recommend the rules required to begin recovery of the SST. These restrictions must be designed to reduce fishing mortality to eliminate overfishing within two years as now required by state law. Furthermore, the rules must have at least a 50% chance of success of eliminating overfishing within two years and of bringing the stock to a sustainable level within ten years.

The total fishing mortality reduction required to eliminate overfishing in two years should be divided between recreational and commercial fishing based upon the historical ratio of annual recreational harvest of SST to the commercial harvest. Recreational limits on size and creel and possible season closures are tools that can be used. Commercial harvest can be controlled by Total Allowable Catch limits or by season closures in primary nursery areas in the months of December through February. The data is available and the problem is documented. Rules need to be in effective this fall, preferably by October 1.

Now is the time to protect our valuable SST fishery and rebuild the population for the future. The SST is a robust fish with high reproductive capacity. A little sacrifice now will pay huge dividends for the future.

Speckled Trout; We Told You So! Latest Failure of NC Marine Fisheries Management

On July 1, 2010, a press release from the NC Division of Marine Fisheries announced that the current status of the Speckled Trout (Spotted Sea Trout) here in NC had been downgraded to "DEPLETED" and "OVERFISHED". It also stated that the "overfishing" had been occurring for years!

Let's flash-back now to just over a year ago to the Spring of 2009 when the Director of the NCDMF stood in Raleigh before a committee in the General Assembly and gave a "glowing" report of the NC situation on Speckled Trout. He said "There is no biological or scientific reason that Speckled Trout should be given "Game Fish" protection."

Being pushed by the commercial fishing interests and politicians that basically run our Marine Fisheries here in NC, the director did everything in his power to derail the "game fish bill" that was introduced last year that would have taken Red Drum and Speckled Trout into a realm of protection from commercial harvest and sale.

One of the director's arguments against HB 918 (the game fish bill) was that even though our sister state South Carolina has made Speckled Trout a "Game Fish", NC recreational anglers still caught more Speckled Trout total than South Carolina anglers did. On the surface, that sounds like a powerful argument doesn't it? But the details on those numbers were conveniently omitted.

In comparing NC to SC and the numbers on Speckled Trout, consider this;

South Carolina has banned “gill nets” in coastal waters, and has given “game fish” designation to Speckled Trout and Red Drum.

SC has around 100,000 issued saltwater licenses for fishing in its coastal waters. NC has over 500,000.

Even with five times as many saltwater recreational anglers pursuing the Speckled Trout, NC only caught a mere few thousand pounds more than SC anglers did during the time frame that the director mentioned. That means that per angler, SC is catching almost five times as much speckled trout per angler than NC is.

For some reason, this wasn't pointed out to the committee that day. Why wasn't it?

This fact proves that the Speckled Trout fishing in SC is five times better than it is here in NC, and would explain the following as well. NC issued about 1500 non-resident saltwater licenses to South Carolinians during this time frame, while SC issued over 10,000 non-resident saltwater licenses to North Carolinians during the same time frame!

Is it any wonder that North Carolinians are trekking to SC to fish for Speckled Trout? We are losing sport fishing revenues to not only South Carolina, but to Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Texas, and Louisiana as well!

Will the current oil spill in the gulf send more commercial fishing pressures our way?

North Carolina has 4,000,000 (four million) acres of coastal/joint waters, and 4,000 miles of shoreline. Those numbers dwarf the coastal waters of South Carolina! Yet, NC anglers just barely caught more Speckled Trout total than SC anglers did. Now we hear the real truth, NC Speckled Trout are depleted and overfished.

Could our director of Marine Fisheries have known this fish was in dire straits last year when he stood in front of our NC legislators and news reporters in Raleigh declaring there was no need for "game fish" protection?

The Speckled Trout is the number one targeted fish by saltwater anglers here in our state. Its future is of tremendous importance for both economic and recreational reasons. Historically this fish has only represented .4% (less than one half percent) of the commercial harvest revenues here in NC.

Something is desperately wrong here!

We ask the question now, is there any biological or scientific reason to offer "Game Fish" protection to our NC Speckled Trout?

New Restrictions on Gill Nets Not Working! NCDMF Director Shuts Down Core Sound Large Mesh Gill Net Fishery; Too Many Sea Turtles Entangled, 4 Killed

With the ink barely dry on the settlement with the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Hospital, and with new gill net restrictions in place, the NC Division of Marine Fisheries shut down the large mesh gill net fishery in Core Sound today. This came as a result of too many sea turtle entanglements that resulted in the death of four sea turtles. Dr Louis Daniel issued a proclamation today declaring the season closed until September 1, 2010.

Why didn't the new restrictions work? Why didn't the shallower nets of only 15 meshes, with no floats, and shorter shots of only 100 yards not protect these endangered turtles? Why aren't these gill nets target specific as their proponents argue on their behalf?

The answer is simple, and all of us who live here on the NC Coast know it; gill nets are indiscriminate, underwater walls of death, and the only answer to stopping by-catch (by-kill) is the removal of gill nets from our coastal waters forever!

It is time for North Carolina to join South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas in the 21st century and end this archaic and inhumane method of fishing in our coastal waters! How much more can we tolerate? When will the citizens of NC stand up and say enough is enough.

How much longer can NC Senator Marc Basnight and his cronies protect this insanity?

Gill nets have no place in modern day commercial fishing! The time has come for their end here in North Carolina, period!

Game Fish Status for Speckled Trout and Red Drum in North Carolina!

The following game fish "primer" was developed in the Spring of 2009. These two fish are far too valuable to our NC economy as sport fish to not consider all the benefits that would be realized by removing them from commercial harvest and sale.

Since these two fish are the primary targets of recreational saltwater anglers here in NC, the very elimination of "user conflict" alone is reason enough alone to seriously consider game fish protection for both species. Just and fair compensation to commercial fishermen for determined time frames could be paid for with recreational saltwater license monies for years to come.

If commercial fishing interests here in NC would consider the benefits of removing the user conflict on these two fish with game fish designation, greater support from recreational fishermen for commercial fishing would be accomplished!

Game Fish Act Primer

Due to the recent events in which a petition for rule making was presented to the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission on behalf of the Spotted Sea Trout, and was rejected by the commission, and the fact that the Red Drum is our state fish and is in a state of “recovery”, we feel that we are obligated by our concerns to seek a more expeditious remedy on their behalf. Prompted by the welfare of the resource, we are subsequently forced to intervene through the avenue available to us through our North Carolina General Assembly by introducing a bill that would declare the Spotted Sea Trout and the Red Drum as Game Fish.

This act would prohibit the sale, purchase, transportation for sale, barter, or any other means of exporting for profit, the Spotted Sea Trout and the Red Drum. By enacting this statute, the status of these two fish would be protected for years to come and insure the viability of the fishery and the tremendous values that they posses both recreationally and economically to the State of North Carolina and its citizens.

Since the very first Game Laws were enacted in North Carolina in 1935, management of game animals has been an effort of the government to protect the natural resources through allocation of certain animals to certain user groups for the overall well being of certain species. This action was first seen in the early days of waterfowl hunting on the Pamlico Sound when commercial hunters slaughtered waterfowl by the tens of thousands. The wildlife agencies of that day determined that species survival along with economic impacts deemed it necessary to allocate the hunting of waterfowl to recreational hunters only. The concept was sound and has been very successful both biologically and economically.

Most of our Southern Coastal states have enacted similar or more stringent statutes in their coastal waters to protect both species of these fish. Texas was the first to act by declaring game fish status for both the Spotted Sea Trout and the Red Drum in 1981, in addition to banning all forms of gill netting in all coastal waters. Other states have followed suit with the same or more stringent acts, such as Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. The precedents set by our neighboring coastal states require us to examine the positive impacts on both the protection of the species, and the tremendous financial boons that have occurred as a result of these actions.

Due to the fact that the Spotted Sea Trout and the Red Drum can be pursued year round by recreational fishermen, the recovery of the fish and the tremendous economical boost as a result in these states has been undeniable. Because of its vast coastal water sounds and tributaries which are unique to the whole nation, North Carolina would soon establish itself as the premier sport fishery state for these two fish in the whole country. While saltwater recreational anglers generated $2.5 billion in sales to businesses here in NC in 2006, Florida’s anglers were generating over $15 billion in sales that same year! Much of their success is due to the stringent laws they have in place to protect these two fish.

Management issues regarding user conflict between competing groups have been eliminated as a result of these laws, enabling marine enforcement agencies to concentrate on more serious issues that they face. Survey programs in these states have shown increases in population abundance, spawning success, angler participation, angler catch rates, and mean size of fish landed. Increase in abundance here in North Carolina is of critical importance to insure the presence of sufficient stocks to survive severe freeze-related kills.

Texas credits one of the main reasons for the turnaround in their sport fisheries is the ability to control fishing mortality is more easily managed in a “sport rod and reel fishery” than in a “commercial net fishery”.

NC creel limits on the Spotted Sea Trout for recreational fishermen need to be reduced from 10 fish per day to 6 fish per day, in addition to raising the size limit from 12 inches to 14 inches, with only one fish to exceed 25 inches. This will reduce recreational pressure on the stocks and allow greater survival of mature fish for the spawning season. These restrictions would bring NC protective measures up to date with supporting studies, and more closely mirror successful restrictions in place by our coastal neighbors

In 2007 the NC commercial catch revenues on both of these species combined was $882,220.00 state wide. We realize that this number represents revenues that are spread out in our coastal towns to commercial fishermen and their families. We are offering to mitigate those losses of revenues with monies from our saltwater license sales fund for the next three years. This money can be distributed for the buy-back of licenses, gear, and overall lost income. Please keep in mind that our goals are not to stop commercial fishing here in North Carolina. Although many of our coastal neighbors have banned all nets completely from all coastal waters as part of their management plan for all fish, that is not what we are proposing.

Statistics will show that commercial fishing interests in our neighboring coastal states currently have thriving markets. Many of these states have developed significant commercial saltwater aquaculture operations that are producing Flounder, Shrimp, and Pompano to name a few, for commercial sale as a result of this allocation.

In closing, we feel that the time has come for North Carolina to grasp the real value of these two fish, and the tremendous financial impacts that this measure would multiply throughout our entire state-wide economy. Optimum yield has yet to be recognized from the Spotted Sea Trout and the Red Drum for all North Carolinians. We believe that day has finally arrived.

NC Marine Fisheries Commission Settles Lawsuit With New Restrictions On Gill Nets; Small Step in Right Direction

Significant change has finally come to NC Marine Fisheries management resulting from a lawsuit filed in Federal Court. In an effort to hide the weakness that the courtroom offers to the stakeholders in our marine fisheries, the NC Marine Fisheries Commission conceded to severe restrictions on Large-mesh gill nets.

Conservation groups have taken notice that legal avenues may be the only avenue to effect serious reform in NC marine fisheries. Since the Marine Fisheries Commission is manipulated by NC Legislators that depend on commercial fishermen for re-election, and since they have enacted legislation to prevent any challenges to the current system, the courts will likely see more activity until the current system is abolished!

Get used to it boys, you asked for it!

The new restrictions will only be as effective as the DMF has ability or the stomach to enforce them. Why would that be a concern? Consider this. In the last ten years, not one single Sea Turtle was reported entangled by a commercial gill netter here in NC when the current permit strictly demands that they be reported.

Now that doesn't mean that turtles weren't entangled. As a matter of fact, quite a few were reported entangled when "observers" were accompanying commercial gill netters on their trips. But not one was ever reported on "unobserved" trips for the last 10 years! Amazing huh?

Observers are "turtle magnets!"

NC's Division of Marine Fisheries claims to have the best data and statistics in the USA. They brag about it, just ask them.

How could the most efficient data gathering agency in the whole country not be alarmed that no turtle entanglements were being reported unless there was an "observer" onboard for TEN YEARS? Maybe they just "missed" that fact, or worse, could they have been looking the other way intentionally?

Certainly one of our powerful politicians wouldn't direct folks to look the other way when his voter base is involved would he?

The citizens of North Carolina no longer trust our Marine Fisheries Commission, and the sooner we take the control of our marine fisheries away from commercial fishermen and their guard-dog legislators, the better!

NCDMF/NCMFC Attorneys Move for Dismissal of Sea Turtle Lawsuit

In an all-out effort to keep the public from learning the ugly truth about NC gill nets, the attorneys defending the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries and the Marine Fisheries Commission have made a motion for "dismissal" of the lawsuit filed by the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Hospital.

If gill nets are not responsible for the deaths of thousands of Sea Turtles, why wouldn't the NCDMF and the NCMFC want their day in court to prove otherwise? Why not once and for all show the state of NC and the whole USA how environmentally friendly gill nets really are, and how they are not wasteful, indiscriminate killing machines?

Obviously NC commercial fishermen have learned methods of gill net fishing that all the other states in the south never acquired! Since from NC to Texas, NC and MS are the only 2 states left that still allow the unbridled use of gill nets in coastal waters, NC must be either really smart or really stupid!

We don't believe that North Carolinians are stupid. Most of them just don't really understand what a gill net is, how does it work, and what's wrong with gill nets!

The CFRG is starting a campaign to answer those three questions; "What is a gill net, how does it work," and "what's wrong with gill nets?"

We have prepared a PowerPoint presentation that answers those questions, and will come to your event or meeting wherever you are in the state of NC to make the presentation. It is a powerful and in-depth expose' on the dirty secret of the NC commercial gill net fishery, and the political framework that has protected it for decades!

Please email us to schedule a presentation for your organization in the near future.