COMMERCIAL FISHING OPERATIONS – ATLANTIC OCEAN

Preston P. Pate, Jr., Director, Division of Marine Fisheries, hereby announces that effective at 12:01 A.M., Monday, January 16, 2006, the following restrictions shall apply to the commercial flounder fishery:

I. HARVEST LIMITS

A. During the period beginning at 12:01 A.M., Monday, January 16, 2006 and ending at 6:00 P.M., Monday, January 30, 2006, no commercial fishing operation, regardless of the number of people involved, may have total landings of more than 15,000 pounds of flounder taken from the Atlantic Ocean. These operations require a valid License to Land Flounder from the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean flounder fishery will close immediately after the Director issues a public notice that the winter quota of flounder has been landed from the Atlantic Ocean, or at 6:00 P.M., January 30, 2006, whichever occurs first.

II. PERMITS

A. Finfish dealers may not buy more than 100 pounds of flounder per day per commercial fishing operation unless the dealer has a valid 2006 Atlantic Ocean Flounder Dealer Permit. Vessels landing more than 100 pounds of flounder per day from the Atlantic Ocean are required to possess a valid License to Land Flounder from the Atlantic Ocean from the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries. Permits will be issued only to those licensed fish dealers holding a valid license as authorized in G.S. 113-169.3. Dealers must abide by all conditions of the 2006 Atlantic Ocean Flounder Dealer Permit.

B. Dealers possessing a 2006 Atlantic Ocean Flounder Dealer Permit shall report daily by noon through FAX transmittal (252-726-3903) to the Division of Marine Fisheries flounder landings from the Atlantic Ocean for the previous day.

III. GENERAL INFORMATION

A. This proclamation is issued under the authority of N.C.G.S. 113-134; 113- 170.4; 113-170.5; 113-182; 113-183; 113-221.1;143B-289.52 and N.C. Marine Fisheries Rules 15A NCAC 3M .0503 and 3O. 0503.

B. It is unlawful to violate the provisions of any proclamation issued by the Fisheries Director under his delegated authority pursuant to N.C. Marine Fisheries Rule 15A NCAC 3H .0103.


C. The landing prohibition beginning at 6:00 P.M. on January 30, 2006 will allow the Division to review landing reports. Landings for the second harvest period may be adjusted by proclamation if the winter quota of flounder has not been taken.

D. For the purposes of this proclamation, fish shall be considered landed when fish are unloaded or the vessel is tied to the dock, whichever occurs first.

E. Marine Fisheries Rule 15A NCAC 3M .0503 (c) (1) states it is unlawful to land more than 100 pounds per trip of flounder taken from the Atlantic Ocean unless the vessel has been issued a North Carolina License to Land Flounder from the Atlantic Ocean. This is in addition to the normally required licenses.

F. Marine Fisheries Rule 15A NCAC 3M .0503 (c) (2) specifies that it is unlawful for a fish dealer to purchase or off-load more than 100 pounds of flounder taken from the Atlantic Ocean by a vessel that has not first produced a valid North Carolina License to Land Flounder from the Atlantic Ocean.

G. Marine Fisheries Rule 15A NCAC 3I .0113 specifies that it is unlawful for any licensee under Chapter 113, Subchapter IV of the General Statutes to refuse to allow the Fisheries Director or his agents to obtain biological data, harvest information, or other statistical data necessary or useful to the conservation and management of marine and estuarine resources from fish in the licensee’s possession.

H. The intent of this proclamation is to establish trip limits and a reporting process for the taking of flounder from the Atlantic Ocean to assure that the winter, 2006 quota allocated to North Carolina in the joint Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council - Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Fishery Management Plan for Summer Flounder is not exceeded.

I. Atlantic Ocean Flounder Dealer Permits are available at no cost from all Division of Marine Fisheries License Offices.

WEEKLY UPDATE: (01/13/2006)
NORTH CAROLINA FISHERIES ASSOCIATION
"Serving Commercial Fishing Families of North Carolina"

Last Call Ya’ll; the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) is looking for interested individuals to fill some commercial vacancies on its advisory committees.

The MFC will be accepting applications for these openings until January 16, 2006. Applications are available at North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries offices or can be obtained by calling Jess Hawkins at 800-682-2632 or 252-726-7021 or Jess.Hawkins@ncmail.net.

PROCLAMATIONS

Beginning Jan. 16, recreational and commercial fishermen will be faced with a first-ever maximum size limit for the crabs they harvest - no mature female crabs can be kept over 6 � inches from spike to spike and no female peeler crabs can be kept over 5 ‰ inches from spike to spike. The maximum size limits will be lifted April 30, but will go back into effect Sept. 1 and will stay in effect until April 30, 2007. The maximum size limits will continue to go into effect September through April of each year until the stock status improves.
Visit http://www.ncdmf.net/fmps/index.html to learn more about the Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan. For more information on these new restrictions, please contact Sean McKenna at sean.mckenna@ncmail.net or by calling 800-338-7804 or 252-946-6481.

Preston P. Pate, Jr., Director, Division of Marine Fisheries, hereby announces that effective at 12:01A.M., Monday, January 16, 2006, the following restrictions shall apply to the commercial black sea bass fishery north of Cape Hatteras (35° 15.3’N. Latitude):

I. SIZE LIMIT It is unlawful to possess black sea bass less than 11 inches total length north of Cape Hatteras.

Preston P. Pate, Jr., Director, Division of Marine Fisheries, hereby announces that effective at 12:01 A.M., Monday, January 16, 2006, the following restrictions shall apply to the commercial flounder fishery:

A. During the period beginning at 12:01 A.M., Monday, January 16, 2006 and ending at 6:00 P.M., Monday, January 30, 2006, no commercial fishing operation, regardless of the number of people involved, may have total landings of more than 15,000 pounds of flounder taken from the Atlantic Ocean.

Flounder landings
01/11/06: 4 dealers, 5 vessels, 53,933 pounds summer flounder landed.
2006 NC Atlantic Ocean Summer Flounder Quota 3,826,099 pounds
Quota for the 2006 winter fishery 3,060,879 pounds
(80% of total 2006 NC quota)
Cumulative harvest for the 2006 winter fishery - 199,301 pounds
2006 winter fishery summer flounder quota remaining 2,861,578 pounds

MEETINGS:

NCMFC Central Regional Advisory Committee
Public is encouraged to attend
C-Mast Building - Room 305 - Morehead City, NC
Contact Jess Hawkins 800-682-2632 or 252-726-7021

NCMFC Sea Turtle Bycatch Advisory Committee
Public is encouraged to attend
NCDENR Regional Office - 943 Washington Square Mall - Washington, NC
Contact Jess Hawkins or Blake Price 800-682-2632 or 252-726-7021

NCMFC Sea Mullet FMP Advisory Committee
Public is encouraged to attend
Room B202 - Brock Admin. Building - Craven Community College - New Bern, NC
Contact John Schoolfield 800-248-4536

NCMFC Northeast Regional Advisory Committee
Public is encouraged to attend
Commissioner's Chambers - County Courthouse - Currituck, NC
Contact Jess Hawkins 800-682-2632 or 252-726-7021

Agenda items; continued discussion about REQUIRING restaurants to label seafood on their menus as to place of origin…

Update on Shark/Snapper Grouper fisheries and the recent federal decisions affecting them, ocean striped bass fishery, and more.

Agenda items include Atlantic Ocean Striped Bass Management; naval presentation on undersea warfare training range being proposed off NC or Virginia coasts.

Capt. Rich captainrich@ec.rr.com

Capt. Mark looney_m@bellsouth.net

NOAA PREDICTS WEAK LA NIÑA

Wayne Higgins, NOAA's principal climate specialist at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center said, "One thing, however, is for certain. La Nina was not the cause of the early January rains in the West and wildfires in the South." He added, "While La Niña can produce similar patterns, there is no indication that these jet stream winds are related to the developing weak La Niña."

La Niña events recur approximately every three to five years. The last La Niña occurred in 2000-2001 and was a weak event.

NOAA will continue monitoring this event and report on any potential impacts as the event progresses. The next ENSO Diagnostic Discussion will be posted on the NOAA Climate Prediction Center Web site on February 9.

The El Niño/Southern Oscillation Diagnostic Discussion is a team effort consisting of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, Climate Diagnostics Center, National Climatic Data Center, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, and the International Research Institute for Climate Prediction.

BIG STRIPER TAKES TOP SLOT

MOREHEAD CITY – In the waning days of 2005, out-of-state angler David N. Hiebert hauled in a monster striped bass, breaking a 34-year North Carolina record.

On Dec. 30, Hiebert, of Scotts, MI, landed a 62-pound striped bass that was 53.5 inches long, with a 32-inch girth. Hiebert caught the big fish in the waters off of Avon aboard the vessel Triple Crown. The boat’s captain was David Bronson of Apex, N.C. The state-record fish was weighed-in at the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center in Dare County.

Catherine Willis held the previous striped bass state record for a 60-pound fish she caught in the surf off of Hatteras Island back in 1972.

In 2005, anglers landed five record-breaking saltwater fish in North Carolina. Derek Williams of Tampa, FL, caught a world record 21-pound, 6-ounce hogfish snapper off of Frying Pan Shoals. Another world record was broken when Frank Ballas of Indiana, PA hauled in a 4-pound, 5-ounce sand tilefish in the waters off of Oak Island. Brandon Bailey of Moneta, VA, caught a 185-pound thresher shark off of Oregon Inlet and Jesse Lockowitz of Carteret County, N.C. broke the tarpon state record, landing a 175-pound fish at the Bogue Inlet pier.

For more information about state record fish, visit the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries Web site at http://www.ncdmf.net/recreational/record.htm or call Partha Howell at 1-800-682-2632 or 252-726-7021.