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Rivers closed to shrimp trawling
Researchers say move will save young flounder
By CHRISTINA HALE, Staff Writer
Commercial fishermen are fighting a new state rule that they fear will put them out of business.
The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources announced that, as of today, shrimp trawling is no longer allowed in parts of the Pamlico and Pungo rivers.
The shrimp trawling closure was a recommendation from the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries based on findings that such rules would likely conserve juvenile flounder, according to a press release.
Nancy Fish of the Division said that there is a shortage of southern flounder and the agency had to put together a management plan.
Studies were conducted with biologists and surveys. From that research, the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission came up with a plan to close off the Pamlico River from upstream of Wades Point to Goose Creek. The Pungo River will be closed from upstream of Wades Point to Abels Bay.
“The plan took two years to develop,” Fish said.
The Shrimp Management plan lists that one of the negative effects of closing the rivers is a “loss of resources to (recreational) and smaller commercial trawlers.”
However, Fish said that they had to weigh southern flounder against shrimp. “The (Pamlico) area is not very big in shrimp production,” she said.
According to the plan’s documents, the Pamlico River accounts for only 0.6 percent of the total statewide shrimp production. The Pungo River accounts for 0.05 percent.
Sean McKenna, a biologist for the Division, said that the river closing has “really hit people hard” but that the research showed that the area around the Pamlico River has twice as much juvenile flounder than any other part of the state. He said the shrimp trawlers have a 1.5 inch netting and are more likely to pull up a baby flounder than a crab pot because it has a four-inch netting.
Crab trawling will still be allowed in all parts of the Pamlico and Pungo rivers, according to the press release.
Tony Ipock of Washington has been a commercial fisherman for 27 years and went to the Marine Fisheries Commission meeting Tuesday in Raleigh to protest the closing. He brought along with him a petition with over 400 signatures of other fishermen in Beaufort County who were against it.
“They are trying to shut us down. This is how we make a living,” he said.
He said the price of crabs has dropped to only 30 cents per pound and doesn’t provide enough income because crabs are being shipped into the area.
The petition wasn’t accepted by the Commission because it wasn’t in the official format, Fish said.
Ipock was also told that their group was too late in the planning process and the plan had to go ahead.
The advisory committee wanted only to restrict the total headrope length— the reach of a net— to 90 feet.
The commission restricted the headrope length to 90 feet and closed the areas in the rivers.
Ipock and other fishermen are still trying to appeal the rule, he said.
Donald Woolard of Plymouth is a recreational fisherman, but said he knows a lot of fishermen do “depend on the income and can’t go out to the Sound to find shrimp.”
“They scatter and you have to chase them and find them. You can imagine how much fuel that will burn. It’s not worth it.”
He said many shrimp trawlers plan to join the N.C. Watermen’s Association and use their lawyers to fight the decision to close the rivers. “Most of these guys have been doing it all their lives — five generations. It’s the only thing they know.”
Ipock said that the crab pots also contribute to the killing of the young flounder. Most of the flounder get caught in “ghost pots” or crab pots that get lost underneath the river’s surface, he said.
Ipock went out on the river and after a quarter-mile, he pulled up five “ghost pots” with dead flounder caught inside.
Fish said that the Division does a cleanup every year to pull up those “ghost pots” during the end of January and the first of February.
Ipock said: “I’m not against the crab potters, but it seems the Commission is against shrimp trawlers. They are not looking at the whole picture.” He said the Commission didn’t understand that the shrimp trawling is good for the river because it cleans the bottom and put oxygen back into the water so it doesn’t become stagnant.
The new rule will not change until the Division makes another assessment in 2009. “If the stocks of flounder are doing great, they could potentially open up some of these areas, but that’s the earliest,” said Fish.
By CHRISTINA HALE, Staff Writer
Commercial fishermen are fighting a new state rule that they fear will put them out of business.
The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources announced that, as of today, shrimp trawling is no longer allowed in parts of the Pamlico and Pungo rivers.
The shrimp trawling closure was a recommendation from the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries based on findings that such rules would likely conserve juvenile flounder, according to a press release.
Nancy Fish of the Division said that there is a shortage of southern flounder and the agency had to put together a management plan.
Studies were conducted with biologists and surveys. From that research, the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission came up with a plan to close off the Pamlico River from upstream of Wades Point to Goose Creek. The Pungo River will be closed from upstream of Wades Point to Abels Bay.
“The plan took two years to develop,” Fish said.
The Shrimp Management plan lists that one of the negative effects of closing the rivers is a “loss of resources to (recreational) and smaller commercial trawlers.”
However, Fish said that they had to weigh southern flounder against shrimp. “The (Pamlico) area is not very big in shrimp production,” she said.
According to the plan’s documents, the Pamlico River accounts for only 0.6 percent of the total statewide shrimp production. The Pungo River accounts for 0.05 percent.
Sean McKenna, a biologist for the Division, said that the river closing has “really hit people hard” but that the research showed that the area around the Pamlico River has twice as much juvenile flounder than any other part of the state. He said the shrimp trawlers have a 1.5 inch netting and are more likely to pull up a baby flounder than a crab pot because it has a four-inch netting.
Crab trawling will still be allowed in all parts of the Pamlico and Pungo rivers, according to the press release.
Tony Ipock of Washington has been a commercial fisherman for 27 years and went to the Marine Fisheries Commission meeting Tuesday in Raleigh to protest the closing. He brought along with him a petition with over 400 signatures of other fishermen in Beaufort County who were against it.
“They are trying to shut us down. This is how we make a living,” he said.
He said the price of crabs has dropped to only 30 cents per pound and doesn’t provide enough income because crabs are being shipped into the area.
The petition wasn’t accepted by the Commission because it wasn’t in the official format, Fish said.
Ipock was also told that their group was too late in the planning process and the plan had to go ahead.
The advisory committee wanted only to restrict the total headrope length— the reach of a net— to 90 feet.
The commission restricted the headrope length to 90 feet and closed the areas in the rivers.
Ipock and other fishermen are still trying to appeal the rule, he said.
Donald Woolard of Plymouth is a recreational fisherman, but said he knows a lot of fishermen do “depend on the income and can’t go out to the Sound to find shrimp.”
“They scatter and you have to chase them and find them. You can imagine how much fuel that will burn. It’s not worth it.”
He said many shrimp trawlers plan to join the N.C. Watermen’s Association and use their lawyers to fight the decision to close the rivers. “Most of these guys have been doing it all their lives — five generations. It’s the only thing they know.”
Ipock said that the crab pots also contribute to the killing of the young flounder. Most of the flounder get caught in “ghost pots” or crab pots that get lost underneath the river’s surface, he said.
Ipock went out on the river and after a quarter-mile, he pulled up five “ghost pots” with dead flounder caught inside.
Fish said that the Division does a cleanup every year to pull up those “ghost pots” during the end of January and the first of February.
Ipock said: “I’m not against the crab potters, but it seems the Commission is against shrimp trawlers. They are not looking at the whole picture.” He said the Commission didn’t understand that the shrimp trawling is good for the river because it cleans the bottom and put oxygen back into the water so it doesn’t become stagnant.
The new rule will not change until the Division makes another assessment in 2009. “If the stocks of flounder are doing great, they could potentially open up some of these areas, but that’s the earliest,” said Fish.
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