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The DIFF Board of Directors is discussing whether to ask the state to amend the current rules on cleaning fish to account for the remoteness of Davis Island.
Preston Pate, the director of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, has taken a fairly strict interpretation of the rule, which forbids removing the head and tail of any fish that's subject to a size or bag limit. Pate made some allowances for the island's remoteness by ruling that fishermen on Davis could fillet their catch but must keep the carcasses so that enforcement officers can measure them. Fishermen, Pate also ruled, could have fish that exceed the daily bag limit if they can prove they've been on the island for at least as many days as the number of fish that exceed the limit.
The club has argued that the interpretation is unreasonable, but Pate refuses to budge, and a number of club members have already been ticketed for having fillets in their possession but no carcasses.
Asking the Marine Fisheries Commission to amend the rule is the only solution. The commission, which sets all saltwater fishing regulations, has a very specific procedure for changing rules. DIFF would first have to write the commission chairman of its intent and then present a text of the proposed changes to the commission along with any supporting information. The commission would refer the request to an appropriate committee and must make a decision within 120 days.
If the club's board of directors
decides at its meeting in September to pursue a rule change, petitions will be available this fall for members to sign at Alger Willis Fishing Camps.
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Saturday, Aug. 19, for the remainder of the year when the 250,000-pound annual commercial harvest cap was met. The cap is an interim measure included in the fishery management plan process to protect over-fished stocks of red drum.
Red drum, one of North Carolina's most traditional fisheries, was listed as over fished in the most recent stock status report from the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries. Several good year classes of red drum, protected by harvest reductions implemented through the fishery management plan process, are now beginning to make their way into the spawning stock.
As part of the fishery management plan process, interim rules can be implemented for over fished stocks to begin the recovery process and prevent any further decline in the fishery while the management plan is being developed. The Red Drum Fishery Management Plan, which is in the final stages of completion, will set out long-term management options for recovery of this important fishery.
Your two cents wanted
The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will hold a hearing Oct. 4 at the Royal Pavilion on Salter path Road in Atlantic Beach to get public comment on a number of fisheries issues, including harvest limits on red drum.
For more information about these hearings, please contact Jess Hawkins by e-mail at Jess.Hawkins@ncmail.net or by calling 800-682-2632.
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Nothing will change this year. If you keep whole fish or carcasses and they don't violate size or bag limits, you should have no problems. For those who might want to eat some fish while they're on the island and don't want to pay for ice to haul around the carcasses, we suggest that you follow all size and bag limits and you keep the fillets at the cabin or in a cooler inside your truck or camper. If the officer asks about additional coolers, lie.
Unless he reasonably suspects that you're breaking the law - say he found six undersize flounder in your bait cooler - the officer has no authority to search your truck or camper without your permission or a search warrant
Mackerel limit raised
In order to comply with the federal fishery management plan, the Marine Fisheries Commission recently increased the bag limit for Spanish mackerel. Effective August 2, the new bag limit increased from 10 to 15 Spanish mackerel per person, per day. The size limit still remains at12 inches fork length.
Commercial drum season
The commercial season for the harvest of red drum, North Carolina's state saltwater fish, closed
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