FF-62-2016
PROCLAMATION
RE: STRIPED BASS SEASON – GILL NETS: ATLANTIC OCEAN
This Proclamation opens the 2016/2017 Atlantic Ocean striped bass gill net fishery and sets harvest restrictions.
Braxton C. Davis, Director, Division of Marine Fisheries, hereby announces that effective at 12:01 A.M., Sunday, January 1, 2017 the following provisions shall apply to the use of gill nets in the following areas:
I. SIZE LIMIT
It is unlawful to possess, transport, buy, sell or offer for sale striped bass less than 28 inches total length taken from the Atlantic Ocean.
II. HARVEST AND LANDING RESTRICTIONS
A. The quota for the Atlantic Ocean striped bass gill net fishery will be 120,120 pounds.
B. It is unlawful to take striped bass with a gill net from the Atlantic Ocean without having an Atlantic Ocean Striped Bass Commercial Gear Permit (AOSBCGP) designated for the gill net fishery.
C. It is unlawful to possess striped bass taken with a gill net from the Atlantic Ocean without having an AOSBCGP designated for the gill net fishery except that possession of striped bass transferred from a properly permitted AOSBCGP gill net operation to AOSBCGP holders of any gear (beach seines, gill nets or trawls) is allowed. Transfers will count against the gill net portion of the quota regardless of the type of AOSBCGP held by the person receiving the transfer.
D. It is unlawful for an AOSBCGP gill net permit holder to possess more than 50 striped bass per calendar day unless the striped bass exceeding the limit are being transferred to another holder of an AOSBCGP at the point of landing.
E. It is unlawful for a striped bass dealer to purchase more than 50 striped bass from a single AOSBCGP holder from the gill net fishery per calendar day.
F. Striped bass harvested in this fishery may only be sold to and purchased by a dealer possessing a 2016/2017 STRIPED BASS DEALER PERMIT validated for the Atlantic Ocean.
G. It is unlawful for an AOSBCGP holder to fail to accompany each harvest limit of striped bass until the time of sale to a dealer who possesses a valid 2016/2017 Striped Bass Dealer Permit validated for the Atlantic Ocean.
H. It is unlawful to sell, offer for sale or purchase striped bass taken by hook-and-line.
III. GILL NET CONSTRUCTION AND USE REQUIREMENTS
For the purpose of this proclamation, a gill net is defined as a net deployed from and retrieved into a vessel and set vertically in the water to capture fish by entanglement by the gills in its mesh as a result of net design, construction, mesh size, webbing diameter or method in which it is used.
IV. SEASON CLOSURE
The Atlantic Ocean gill net season for striped bass SHALL CLOSE by proclamation when the harvest allocation of 120,120 pounds is reached or 8:00 P.M. on Tuesday, February 14, 2017, whichever occurs first. The February 15 through March 15 gill net closure in the Atlantic Ocean is due to federal harbor porpoise restrictions.
