Proposed Changes in Fishing Regulations in 07-08
January 4, 2007
In the next few weeks public meetings will be held across the state for input into the changes North Carolina Wildlife is proposing. As promised I’ll try to highlight some of these and give you my perspective. I welcome feedback from the readers who have opinions on some of these proposals as well.
I’ll be the first to admit that I fish very little despite the great opportunities this state has to offer. As I look over the changes that have been proposed they appear to be appropriate and non controversial in my view but I’m sure if I’m missing something my readers will set me straight.
Changes in the trout regulations appear to be just changes to boundaries and very basic. Black Bass proposed changes focus on a protective slots that seem to be wise to protect the specie. The New River has a proposal for a 14-20 inch protective slot for small mouths. In the costal rivers a 14 inch minimum size and a creel of five fish is what is proposed.
The Roanoke River split striper season will be replaced by a single season that applies to both upper and lower portions of the river.
Crappie changes establish a uniform 8 inch minimum size and a 20 fish creel limit. Probable the biggest change to the fishing laws involve non game species as the state moves to protect river herring.
The Wildlife Resources Commission’s decision to place a moratorium on the harvest of migratory, anadromous adult river herring was based on analysis of fisheries data that clearly indicates North Carolina’s migratory river herring stocks are severely depleted and near collapse.
Herring populations in the lower Cape Fear River are particularly low. Biologists from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington’s Center for Marine Sciences conducted a year-long study on nine tributary creeks in the lower river and collected only 18 river herring, 16 from Town Creek and two from Sturgeon Creek.
The harvest moratorium does not apply to river herring less than 6 inches in length. Stunted herring less than 6 inches are commonly found in lakes and reservoirs and are a favorite bait fish used by many anglers. Migratory river herring in North Carolina’s coastal rivers are all nearly 7 inches in length or greater.
The river herring is in such bad shape one has to wonder if the moratorium has been enacted in time so the specie can recover.
Like I said that the proposals seem to be reasonable and I would not anticipate much opposition at any of the public meetings. In the next few days I’ll post on the big game proposals where I suspect there will be more debate and opposition to the changes they are proposing. So stay tuned.
Moose Droppings is a place that chronicles my journey, Ill explore new places and ideas Ill learn new things and Ill teach the things Ive learned to others. Join me on the adventure and hopefully it will help you in your outdoor endeavors.
[...] In part 1 we covered changes to the fishing rules and today I plan to talk about the proposed changes to turkey hunting. I’ll cover the less controversial changes first. [...]
[...] In Part One we covered Fishing Changes and in Part Two we covered Turkey Changes. There is some significant changes proposed in the area of deer hunting. Implement a two buck limit in the entire Central Zone, currently areas where dog hunting is legal it’s under a four buck limit. I think a statewide two buck limit is a great way to go as a common sense balance between “meat hunters” and “trophy hunters”. This would be a step closer to that leaving only the Eastern part of the state under the 4 buck limit. [...]