NC's Floundering Public Resources- No Recreational Flounder Season?????

Listen in to the latest episode of Fisheries Gone Wild!! On this episode we take a dive into Southern Flounder, the states failed management approach and how we got to this point. The state has truly failed the public angler , we have now been shut out of another public trust fishery here in North Carolina with no recreational southern flounder season this year. Why did this happen? How in the world did our public trust fishereies get to this point? Why is the public angler taking the brunt of the States failure to manage our fisheries and what can you do about it? Now is the time to become informed on the issues, contact your legislaters, send that email raising your concerns, become apart of the process. We need your voice now more than ever!! 

 

For nearly three decades, North Carolina has managed its marine and estuarine resources under the auspices of the Fisheries Reform Act.  It sets forth a series of policies and regulations that are overly cumbersome, unflexible, and inefficient.  By design, changes needed to modify the base FMP take an average of 3-5 years to enact. And no matter what those changes need to be, a politically appointed MFC can undo those years of work on a whim. 

Because we are mandated to manage our fisheries resources through separate FMPs, too many problems slip through the cracks, too many issues can be purposely ignored.  All the while, we continue to watch species after species fall into decline.  A few examples follow: 

→  From the speckled trout FMP, it is noted that small mesh gill nets are very effective at removing 14” trout, with very few speckled trout discarded as bycatch.  Because of this, the commercial industry claims that this is a clean, selective gear and that they should be given a greater share of the fishery because they will fish it more effectively than public anglers will.  What isn't mentioned or considered in developing future management measures for speckled trout is the effectiveness that those same nets have when it comes to removing 14” (sublegal), striped bass and red drum. Rather than be allowed to recruit to their respective fisheries, these fish are discarded and left to serve as fodder for scavengers.  In addition, the mullet fishery is closely tied to the speckled trout fishery, with each species being listed as the primary incidental catch for the other. If mullet fishermen catch trout and trout fishermen catch mullet, then the two species should co-managed to mitigate the bycatch losses that the coming restrictions in each amendment to each FMP will generate.  In other words, gill net restrictions in one fishery should be applied to both fisheries. 

→  When it comes to striped bass in NC, we commonly hear, “It's all about flow.”  Clearly, it isn't as good flow rates in the ASMA for the past five years have led to nothing but failed spawns.  The real issues are:  (a) a lack of big fish, the best spawners, which DMF stats show have been historically harvested in gill nets, (b) an increasing problem from blue catfish through food competition and/or direct consumption of juvenile stripers, (c) climatic changes altering spawning cycles, or zooplankton availability, or egg density, or etc...

→  Shrimp trawling in our estuaries continues to destroy millions of juvenile spot, croaker, weakfish, Southern flounder, and blue crab. (a) We continue to cut the legs off of spot, croaker, and weakfish recovery by trawling through a key secondary nursery habitat, the Pamlico Sound, for the coastwide populations of these species.  (b) Ignoring blue crab bycatch in this industry is certainly contributing to the troubled status of that fishery where the latest series of management measures has failed, again. (c) Failing to protect a documented Southern flounder hotspot in the latest version of the shrimp, Southern flounder, and CHPP plans will only further hamper its recovery.

→  The benefits of SAV habitats are undeniable.  In fact, they are one of the most critical areas throughout the coast of NC.  Failing to protect them because of the recommendations of standing ACs that are dominated by the commercial industry shows only a willingness to genuflect to that industry. 

→  Continuing to allow mechanical harvest of our few remaining oyster reefs:  (a) removes more key habitat for numerous species, (b) promotes diminished water quality, and (c) leads to shoreline loss as oyster reefs diminish wave energy during storms.

With no synergy, no connectivity between plans, failures such as this have become the rule instead of the exception. We will not save our fisheries until we can find a way to manage the system as a whole.

Remember your basic biology. Our estuarine system is a resilient, yet fragile one full of complex habitats, food webs, and trophic levels that are all interdependent.  How many important finfish species forage on crabs, mullet, menhaden, shrimp, croaker, and more?  How often do flounder, stripers, trout, redfish, black drum, and sheepshead occupy the same habitat areas?  What untold damage is done by excessive shrimp trawling in Pamlico Sound?  How much longer can we afford to ignore the subtle complexities of our estuaries?  It is a unique system that should be managed and protected as a whole.