North Carolina is interested in your catches

By Lee Tolliver
The Virginian-Pilot
© July 4, 2010

If you saltwater fish in North Carolina, you're likely to get a call from the state's Division of Marine Fisheries. Or you might get asked a bunch of questions at the dock.

Either way, the state wants to know what you're catching.

It's all part of an effort to improve statistics used by federal fisheries managers to determine future quotas and bag limits.

North Carolina has hired six additional port agents to interview anglers about their catches. The state now has 28 agents who do daily surveys.

The new agents will focus on anglers who fish after the sun goes down.

"In the past, we have only been able to assume that anglers catch about the same thing at night as they do during the day," said Doug Mumford, the division's recreational statistics coordinator. "We haven't had a structured nighttime sampling program.

"We plan to increase our survey by 5,000 interviews, which will provide more accurate recreational catch statistics, as well as additional biological data."

In addition to the new surveys, anglers now can help the state by logging their catches online. The division just launched its new Internet-based reporting system.

"By providing an Internet-based reporting tool, we hope to capture some of the more tech-savvy anglers who no longer use land line telephones or regular mail," said Chris Wilson of the division's Coastal Angling Program.

To log in your recent North Carolina catches, go to the Hot Topics link at www.ncfisheries.net.

STAND UP AND PADDLE

A group of stand-up paddlers are out to raise money for autism Saturday when they take part in a 10-mile tour.

Surfers Healing Virginia Beach, Team Hoyt Virginia Beach and the Surfers Environmental Alliance will take part in Saturday's paddle, which will start at the old Duck Inn site at Lynnhaven or at Little Island Park - depending on sea conditions.

Each participant has agreed to raise at least $250 through sponsorships for autism.

The event starts at 9 a.m. For more information, call Ginny Cohen at (757) 339-3995.

RESULTS

From the ninth annual Steve Gambill Cancer Classic fishing tournament:

Bass Division - 1. Jared Allbritten, 15.3 total pounds (including the 5.9 lunker winner), both are tournament records; 2. Mark London, 11.2; 3. Sid and Abby Ryan, 10.9.

Open Division - 1. Josh Pemberton, 3.1 total pounds; 2. Joel Smith, 2.85; 3. Brian Hicks, 2.7.

Junior Division (no weights were provided) - 1. Cody Hayes, 2. Michael Sandhoff; 3. Jackson Sandhoff.

From largemouth bass fishing tournaments held out of Bob's Fishing Hole on the Northwest River:

June 23 - 1. Kevin Mills of Chesapeake, 8.55 total pounds (including the 3.74-pound lunker winner); 2. Joe and Tyler Glazebrook of Chesapeake, 7.64

June 26 - 1. Joe and Tyler Glazebrook of Chesapeake, 8.23 total pounds; 2. Kevin Mills of Chesapeake, 6.06. Lunker award - Dennis Padgett of Virginia Beach, 2.1.

June 30 - 1. Al Napier and Bob Glass, both of Virginia Beach, 12.31 total pounds (including the 4.39 lunker winner caught by Glass); 2. Joe Glazebrook and T.E. Jones, both of Chesapeake, 9.62; 3. Jack Rowell of Franklin, 8.66.

From last Sunday's largemouth bass fishing tournament held out of West Neck Marina in Virginia Beach:

1. Jim Bauer of Virginia Beach, 12 pounds, 3 ounces total weight (including the lunker winner at 3-14); 2. Al Napier of Virginia Beach, 7-10.

UPCOMING

The Great Bridge Fisherman's Association will hold its monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Great Bridge Baptist Church, 640 S. Battlefield Blvd., in Chesapeake. The guest speaker will be Capt. Don Lancaster of the Fishing Tidewater radio show. For information, call Butch Pierce at (757) 287-0330.

The sixth annual Virginia Beach Tuna Tournament will be held Wednesday through Saturday out of Marina Shores inside Lynnhaven Inlet. Registration is $400. Last year's tournament paid out more than $123,000. Boats can weigh in at Rudee or Lynnhaven inlets. For information, call (757) 222-2983 or go to www.vbtuna.com.

A pre-registration party for the Virginia Beach Invitational Marlin Tournament will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at Fisherman's Wharf Marina on Rudee Inlet. The tournament is July 22-25. For information, call Paula Owen at (757) 652-8409.

- Lee Tolliver

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Submitted by hatterasnc on Sun, 07/04/2010 at 9:46 am.

I will tell you what recreational fishermen feel about this and the Federal "registry." There are dozens of State and Federal Agencies trying to regulate - they do not know their boundaries and authority, they overlap, they conflict. They use "studies" which, to date have done nothing to improve fisheries, fish populations or the enjoyment of angling by the public. Each "study" results in reductions, costs, reductions, costs, reductions...with little to no scientific basis - just best guess. Recreational fishermen have always been the "one variable we CAN control" in their guesswork of fisheries "management."

The vast majority absolutely will not cooperate with a dysfunctional system such as this. It is NOT the fishermens' fault - it is the fault of state and Federal bureaucracies who have made it too hard to simply spend the day fishing.

Please get out and talk to the folks about the myriad of regs and how fishing has changed in only the last 5 years. People are frustrated and angry. And, the commercial watermen? Take the above X10.