M-3-2019

PROCLAMATION

RE: GILL NET RESTRICTIONS: INTERNAL COASTAL WATERS – GEAR EXEMPTIONS FOR THE SHAD FISHERY AND OPEN REMAINDER OF MANAGEMENT UNIT B.

This proclamation supersedes proclamation M-10-2018 dated September 28, 2018. This proclamation implements gear exemptions for portions of the Internal Coastal Waters south of Management Unit A to allow fishermen to set gill nets for the shad fishery (See Section III.). It also opens the remaining portions of Management Unit B to the use of gill nets with a stretched mesh length of 4 inches through 6 ½ inches (except as described in Section III.) in accordance with the Sea Turtle Incidental Take Permit.
 
Stephen W. Murphey, Director, Division of Marine Fisheries, hereby announces that effective at 12:01 A.M., Friday, February 15, 2019, the following provisions shall apply to the use of gill nets south of Management Unit A (south of 35° 46.3000’ N latitude):

I. AREA DESCRIPTIONS (See maps):
It is unlawful to use gill nets with a stretched mesh length of 4 inches through 6 ½ inches in Internal Coastal Waters except those described below. Areas not listed below are closed to gill nets (including trammel gill nets) with a stretched mesh length of 4 inches through 6 ½ inches; (except as described in Section III.; SEE SECTION II. FOR ADDITIONAL AREA RESTRICTIONS):

A. Management Unit B: Internal Coastal Waters, bounded on the north by 35° 46.3000’ N latitude which runs approximately from the north end of Pea Island (old Coast Guard station) westerly to a point on the shore at Point Peter Canal, on the south by 34°48.2700’N latitude which runs approximately from the Club House on Core Banks westerly to a point on the shore at Davis near Marker “1”, and on the west by 76° 30.0000’W longitude.

B. Management Unit C: Pamlico, Pungo, Bay and Neuse river drainages and Internal Coastal Waters of Pamlico Sound west of 76° 30.0000’ W.

C. Management Unit D2: all Internal Coastal Waters west of a line running from 34° 40.6740’ N – 76° 37.0000’ W to 34° 42.4800’ N – 76° 37.0000’ W then to the head of Turner Creek, and northerly up the western shoreline of the North River; and east of the NC Hwy 58 Bridge. Management Unit D2 includes Newport River (including the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and Harlowe Creek up to NC Hwy 101 Bridge) and Bogue Sound.

D. Management Unit E: all Internal Coastal Waters south and west of the Highway 58 Bridge to the North Carolina/South Carolina state line. This includes the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and adjacent sounds and the New, Cape Fear, Lockwood Folly, White Oak, and Shallotte rivers.

II. ADDITIONAL AREA RESTRICTIONS - MANAGEMENT UNIT E

A. It is unlawful to use gill nets with a stretched mesh length of 4 inches through 6 ½ inches (except as described in Section III.) in the following portions of Management Unit E:

1. Cape Fear River and its tributaries north of the Railroad Bridge described as a line running from a point on the west shore at 34° 15.5760’ N - 77° 59.3000’ W; running easterly to a point on the east shore at 34°15.6270’ N - 77° 59.2300’ W.
2. Northeast Cape Fear River and its tributaries north of the Interstate 140 Bridge described as a line running from a point on the west shore at 34° 17.9430’ N - 77° 57.5540’ W to a point on the east shore at 34° 18.1320’ N - 77° 57.3790’ W.

III. GEAR EXEMPTIONS AND RESTRICTIONS FOR RUN-AROUND, STRIKE, DROP, TRAMMEL, AND DRIFT GILL NETS

A. Exempted gear definitions (including trammel gill nets):

1. Run-around, strike, drop, or trammel gill nets - gill nets that are set and then are immediately retrieved.
2. Drift gill nets - gill nets that are used to capture fish while being moved along by water currents and the net being actively fished and attended from deployment through retrieval.

B. It is unlawful to use run-around, strike, drift, drop and trammel gill nets with a stretched mesh length greater than 6 ½ inches.

C. It is unlawful to use or possess more than 800 yards of run-around, strike, drop and trammel gill net per commercial fishing operation.

D. It is unlawful to use or possess more than 2,000 yards of drift gill net per commercial fishing operation.

E. Run-around, strike, drop, drift and trammel gill nets are exempt from the restrictions specified in Sections IV., V. and VI.