Public Input Sought on Commercial Use of Hook and Line in Ocean Striped Bass Fishery
MOREHEAD CITY – The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission has scheduled five meetings to receive public input on allowing the commercial use of hook-and-line for the ocean striped bass fishery.
N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries staff will present a variety of potential management options for allowing this fishery. The commission is seeking any other ideas from the public.
The commission has not yet decided if it wants to allow the commercial use of hook-and-line for ocean-caught striped bass, but will consider public comments at its August meeting in deciding whether to move forward with a proposal.
Currently, North Carolina’s share of the coast-wide commercial ocean striped bass annual quota is split evenly between three commercial gear types: trawls, gill nets and beach seines. The commercial use of hook-and-line in the striped bass fishery has been prohibited since 1985.
Potential management options range from keeping the fishery at status quo, to adding hook-and-line as a fourth gear under the current permit system, to replacing the use of trawl gear with the use of hook-and-line gear. Some of the options include the possibility of establishing a limited entry system for this fishery.
The meetings will be held in conjunction with advisory committee meetings at the below dates, times and locations:
Central Regional Advisory Committee
June 14 at 6 p.m.
N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries
Central District Office
5285 Highway 70 West, Morehead City
Inland Regional Advisory Committee
June 28 at 6 p.m.
Archdale Building
Ground Floor Hearing Room
512 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh
Finfish Advisory Committee
June 15 at 10:30 a.m.
N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Washington Regional Office
943 Washington Square Mall, Washington
Northeast Regional Advisory Committee
June 30 at 6 p.m.
Commissioners Meeting Room
Dare County Administrative Building
954 Marshall C. Collins Dr., Manteo
Southeast Regional Advisory Committee
June 16 at 6 p.m.
N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Wilmington Regional Office
127 Cardinal Drive, Wilmington
Written comments will be accepted until July 18 and should be addressed to Michelle Duval, N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, N.C. 28557 or sent by email to
Michelle.Duval@ncdenr.gov.
For more information, contact Duval at (252) 808-8011 or by email or call the commission office at (252) 808-8021.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
