March 



7: Cd/3 



NORTH CAROLINA STATE LIBRARY 

 RALEIGH 



1979 



Doc. 



MAR 6 1980 



COASiyWATCH 



UTSTC Sea Grant College Program 105 1911 Building NCSU Raleigh, 3ST.C. 27650 



The 200-mile limit: slowly but surely taking hold 



It's been about two years since the 

 Fishery Conservation and Manage- 

 ment Act (FCMA) went into effect. In 

 that time, the concept of 200 mile fish- 

 ery conservation zones has become an 

 accepted international standard. In the 

 United States (US), the act's major ef- 

 fects have been two-fold: 



— Foreign fishing within 200 miles of 

 US shores has decreased by 27 percent, 

 according to John M. Murphy, chair- 

 man of the House Merchant Marine 

 and Fisheries Committee. In fact, on 

 the East Coast, foreign vessels have 

 taken catches well below their alloca- 

 tions. 



— Domestic fishing, according to 

 Representative Murphy, has increased 

 by 8 percent. Observers say the in- 

 crease in domestic fishing will be 



Hey look at US. We're still the Sea 

 Grant College newsletter, but we've 

 made a few improvements. We've 

 given ourselves a name, Coastwatch, 

 which says in a nutshell what we're all 

 about. We've redesigned the news- 

 letter to make it more readable and at- 

 tractive. And we've added a new sec- 

 tion "The Back Page" which will keep 

 you informed of progress in Sea Grant 

 research, marine education, recrea- 

 tion, advisory services and publica- 

 tions. We hope you'll approve. Be sure 

 to let us know what you think of our 

 new format. 



We'd like to thank those of you who 

 responded to the survey we sent out 

 (one out of five readers was randomly 

 chosen to receive it). Many of your 

 suggestions are incorporated in the 

 changes you see here. 



gradual because some of the fisheries 

 must rebuild. 



But fewer than 10 of the more than 

 70 fishery management plans being 

 developed by the eight regional man- 

 agement councils around the country 

 have actually been implemented. As 

 those plans go into effect, domestic 

 fishermen are coming under regula- 

 tions ranging from mandatory catch 

 reporting to gear restrictions. 

 (Preliminary management plans were 

 drawn up to exclude or reduce foreign 

 fishing in jeopardized fisheries.) 



The plans, which are drawn up to 

 manage fishery resources for individual 

 species, affect recreational as well as 

 commercial fishermen. Seven plans are 

 being drafted by the South Atlantic 

 Fishery Management Council, which 



has jurisdiction from North Carolina 

 to the east coast of Florida. "Most of 

 them are really going to affect recrea- 

 tional fishermen," says Ed McCoy, of 

 the North Carolina Division of Marine 

 Fisheries and a member of the South 

 Atlantic council. 



Many fishery resources are at or 

 near full exploitation, according to 

 Ernie Premetz, executive director of 

 the South Atlantic Fishery Manage- 

 ment Council. The stocks for which 

 there is most concern are billfish, 

 swordfish and some species in the 

 snapper-grouper and mackerel com- 

 plexes. Those fisheries are primarily 

 recreational. 



With the exception of the billfish 

 fishery, there has been little foreign ac- 



Sport fishing off Morehead City, North Carolina 



