Page 10

Red drum is among 11 species
in trouble from over fishing

and Unknown to more accurately reflect the terms used by the federal government. The change allows state and federal fishery management plans to be more compatible. Categories used in previous assessments were Viable, Stressed-recovering, Stressed-declining, Depressed and Unknown.
Of the 39 stocks listed, 13 fall into the Viable or Recovering categories, six are listed as Concern, 11 are listed as Over fished and nine are listed as Unknown.
Red drum, the state's saltwater fish, is considered Over fished because of a decline in the number of fish reaching maturity and a drop in the number of larger or older fish in the population.
Other Over fished species are black sea bass north of Hatteras, gag grouper, monkfish, river herring in the Albemarle Sound, scup, sharks, spiny dogfish, Atlantic sturgeon, tautog, and oysters.

continued on Page 11

The red drum is among the 11 species of saltwater fish in North Carolina that is in trouble because of over fishing. The increased popularity of the southern flounder is putting that fish on the verge of being over-exploited.
On the bright side, gray trout and bluefish have shown strong signs of recovery, according to an annual assessment of 39 of the state's major coastal fish species. The evaluations, done by the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, are used by the Marine Fisheries Commission to develop fishery management plans.
The division this year renamed assessment categories to Viable, Recovering, Over fished 

On the bright side, gray trout and bluefish have shown strong signs of recovery.

Before Hurricane Dennis intruded, the summertime fishing hadn't been too bad on Davis Island.
Gray trout were fairly abundant in July and August in holes up and down the beach. Many were in the 16- to 20-inch range. The grays, or weakfish, have staged a strong back since the state put them under a management plan two years ago. We are reaping the rewards of those reduced catch limits.
Sixty to 100 puppy drum ¾ 25 inches and longer ¾ were caught by about 20 fisherman in front of the bar that stretched just south of Drum Inlet on July 3. The run started at high tide at 1 p.m. and lasted for several hours as the tide fell.
As expected, flounder are abundant behind the hook at the Cape, but most are too small to keep. Fishermen this estimated that they caught 10 flounder for every keeper.