Key Points of Concern For The MFC Meeting This Week
Blue Crab FMP
No stock assessment, reliable estimates of abundance, or mortality to base management on.
No reliable methods for monitoring, estimating, or managing recreational removals or effort.
All management options are arbitrary without the necessary information.
We believe the use of adaptive management violates the FMP.
False Albacore Rule
No stock assessment, reliable estimates of abundance, or mortality to base management on.
No Fishery Management Plan.
Management triggers, trip limits, and creel limits are arbitrary without the necessary information to make these decisions.
Approval of the rule was not recommended by DMF.
No way in heck “management” in North Carolina’s waters alone can have a measurable or predictable impact on the overall abundance of a species with such a broad range, especially with no stock assessment!
Hard Clam FMP
No stock assessment, no reliable estimates of abundance, or mortality to base management on.
No reliable method for monitoring, estimating, or managing recreational removals or effort.
Recommendations are arbitrary without the necessary information.
Oyster FMP
No stock assessment, no reliable estimates of abundance, or mortality to base management on.
No reliable method for monitoring, estimating, or managing recreational removals or effort.
Recommendations are arbitrary without the necessary information.
Southern Flounder FMP
No stock assessment, no reliable estimates of abundance, or mortality estimates to base management on.
No reliable method for monitoring or managing recreational quota or removals, especially dead discards.
Reallocation significantly increases the level of uncertainty in the FMP and could jeopardize both rebuilding and the long-term viability of the fishery.
Reallocation places the majority of the burden of reductions on the commercial sector, essentially using commercial access as a conservation buffer to account for the States failure to effectively monitor and manage the recreational fishery.
Spotted Sea Trout FMP
The need for reductions is highly questionable given the apparent health of the fishery.
The proposed measures fail to address recreational dead discards, a major source of mortality according to DMF.
The approval of an inequitable 26.7% recreational and 38.3% commercial reductions does not align with the science or state statutes which require fair management.
The commercial slot limit creates waste, in the form of dead discards, in a fishery that, according to DMF, had very little waste.
Stock assessment results and “overfishing” determination are highly uncertain.
For example, when you compare Spawning Stock Biomass (mature females) estimates from each of the 3, peer reviewed and approved, stock assessments, you’ll see each has drastically different estimates of abundance (SSB) for any given year.
(Note: The graph below is presented in units of thousands of metric tons or 2,204,622 pounds per one thousand metric tons)
Was the spawning stock biomass in 2008 800,000 pounds, 3,000,000 pounds, or 4,400,000 pounds?
What about 2012, was it 2.5 million or 6 million? Who knows!
Remember, management has been adjusted based on the results of each of these assessments.
Was it justified?
What if these assessments had been updated, rather than replaced by another assessment model, would they still have been approved for use or failed review like the Southern Flounder and Blue Crab assessments?
Do we know enough to actually manage these fisheries?
In order to manage a fishery, just like managing money, you have to know certain things. You need to know what’s in the bank (current abundance), what you’re earning (recruitment), and what you’re spending (removals for both sectors).
Imagine trying to manage your business without all of this information. Whether you know it or not, that’s just what the State has been doing, managing your business without the necessary information!
No one is saying we shouldn’t manage our fisheries, by all means “manage” them!
Collect the necessary information, from both sectors, that will allow the state to fairly and effectively assess the health of our fisheries and manage all sources of mortality in a manner that benefits the people, all of them, not just a fortunate few!
Anything less is simply arbitrary regulation, not management!
—
Glenn Skinner
Executive Director-
North Carolina Fisheries Association, Inc.
101 N. 5th Street
Morehead City NC 28557
252-646-7742
MFC Meeting This Week
The Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) meets this week. Everything we have been talking about this past week is on the agenda. There is a lot of material for this meeting. I have provided links below to this information and links to previous NCFA writeups on these issues. If you cannot find the information you need below, please reach out.
Meeting Location:
Hilton Garden Inn – Kitty Hawk
5353 N Virginia Dare Trail
Kitty Hawk, NC 27949
Meeting Times:
Wednesday, Feb. 19th 6:00pm – In person public comment only
Thursday, Feb. 20th 9:00am – In person public comment at 9:00 followed by all day meeting
Friday, Feb. 21st 9:00am – Meeting, scheduled to end at 12:30
Speckled Trout Decision Document
Blue Crab Amendment 3 Revision
Public Comment
Public comment will be accepted on these issues in person at the meeting, through the online portal, and/or through written comments.
In person public comment times are Wednesday, Feb. 19th at 6:00pm and Thursday, Feb. 20th at 9:00am. The following rules apply to in person comments:
- Those who wish to speak may sign up at the hotel prior to the public comment period in which they wish to speak.
- To accommodate as many speakers as possible, the chair will limit each speaker to 3 minutes.
- Those making comments will be asked to speak only once, either Wednesday night or Thursday morning, but not during both public comment periods.
- Those who wish to submit handouts to the commission during a public comment period should bring at least 12 copies to the meeting.
Written comments can also be mailed to:
February 2025 Marine Fisheries Commission Meeting Comments
P.O Box 769, Morehead City, N.C. 28557
Or hand delivered to:
Division of Marine Fisheries’ Morehead City Headquarters Office
3441 Arendell Street, Morehead City, N.C.
The deadline for written public comment is Monday, Feb. 17th at 4:00pm
