Chandler Harris plays near stacks of webbing. 



closed off part of Pamlico Sound to fishing with gill nets with a 

 mesh greater than five inches. The area was shut off for a 

 month because of the strandings of 74 sea turtles in the sound 

 — 23 loggerheads, 12 green turtles and 39 endangered Kemp's 

 ridley sea turtles. 



After the closing, the Coastal Conservation Association of 

 North Carolina (CCA-NC), which has more than 8,000 

 members including some salt water recreational fishers, 

 requested that the Marine Fisheries Commission establish a 

 fisheries management plan for all gill nets in state waters. 



"Under the Fisheries Reform Act, the state is required to 

 manage fisheries by stock, region or gear," says the 

 association's executive director Jay Kriss. "North Carolina 

 hasn't attempted to manage fishing gear. Gill nets are an 

 effective commercial gear. We don't want to ban nets. We 

 want to manage how long nets are in the water and where they 

 are set to secure bycatch reduction." Now, he says, the bulk of 

 gill nets are set out and left for days on end, often without 

 being checked by fishers. 



However, Jerry Schill of the N.C. Fisheries Association 



disagrees. "Gills nets are not indiscriminate. They can be very 

 species- and size-selective, even more so than a hook and 

 line." 



Marine Fisheries Commission Chairperson Jimmy 

 Johnson says once the fishery management plans — which 

 are species-specific and include management options for gill 

 nets — are completed, it will be easier to look at a holistic 

 gill-net plan. 



"It would be difficult to do a gill-net plan for the whole 

 state because our fisheries are so diverse," he adds. "However, 

 we could do a special gill-net plan for specific bodies of 

 water, including the Pamlico and Albemarle sounds and the 

 Pamlico and Neuse rivers." 



Net Traditions 



Netmaking is as old as the fishing industry. Years ago, 

 fishers would weave nets in their backyards. 



One legend has it that Kerosene John in Southport made 

 the first shrimp net, according to Harris. 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 17 



