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THE OUTER BANKS SINK NET FLEET 



Sink nets are tended gill nets fished and retrieved the same day. Sink nets 

 are weighted to fish just above the bottom. Sink nets are set anywhere from 

 just beyond the surf zone's outer bars to depths of 15 to 20 fathoms. (Ross, 

 1989) 



Sink netting began in the 1920s at Hatteras, N.C. In the 1930s, the sink 

 net fleet consisted of 30 to 35 boats fishing out of Hatteras. The 1950s 

 and 1960s saw little sink netting due to the lack of available weakfish and 

 croaker. Sink netting off Cape Hatteras became more popular in the late 

 1970s due to the increased availability of weakfish and bluefish and due to 

 the availability of hydraulically powered net reels. (Ross, 1989) 



The sink net fishery on the Outer Banks is most active fron December through 

 April. During those months, sink nets are utilized to harvest weakfish, 

 bluefish, dogfish, spot and croaker. The sink net fleet fishes every day 

 possible during this period. It is important to renien±)er, however, that 

 weather conditions at that time of the year severely limit the activity of 

 the fleet; it is not unusual for entire weeks to be lost due to adverse 

 weather conditions, as was the case just recently with our March 13th storm. 



The sink net fleet consists primarily of sole proprietors. These fishing 

 operations typically have a two man crew but it is not atypical for the 

 proprietor to fish singlehandedly. The boats that participate in the sink 

 net fleet are not large vessels. The length of the sink net boats average 

 from 30 to 42 feet; however, boats under 30 feet long also participate. 

 (Cden & Whi taker, 1993) 



The value of the weakfish fishery is critical to these small fishing 

 operations. For the September 1990 - April 1991 season, the ex -vessel 

 value of weakfish landed by sink nets in Dare County was $490,980. (DMF) 

 The economic multiplier used by many economists to estimate the" value that 

 a landed fisheries product has to the gross national product of a region is 

 eight. Using that multiplier of eight, the value of weakfish landed by 

 sink nets in Dare County for the 1990-91 season was $3,927,840. 



FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR WEAKFISH 



In 1985, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission published its 

 Fishery Management Plan for Weakfish. The goal of the management plan is 

 "to perpetuate the weakfish resource in fishable abundance throughout its 

 range and generate the greatest economic and social benefits from its 

 comttercial and recreational harvest and utilization over time." 



The plan repeatedly mentions that "tremendous fluctuations in the apparent 

 levels of abundance of weakfish have been reported throughout the history 

 of the fishery." "Historically, weakfish landings have been highly 

 variable. Reported commercial landings of weakfish have fluctuated 

 between <1 and 19,000 metric tons from 1880 to 1984. Peaks in landings 

 occuarred in the early 1900s, the early 1930s, the mid-1940s, and in 1980. 

 Periods of high landings have generally been followed by sudden and 



