COASTAL 



TIDINGS 



Fisheries 

 Commission 

 Passes Rules to 

 Protect State Fish 



In September, the N.C. Marine 

 Fisheries Commission passed new 

 preventative measures to protect declining 

 stocks of red drum until a fishery manage- 

 ment plan can be developed. 



Red drum, the designated saltwater 

 fish for the state, can live up to 60 years. 

 Unlike many fish that reproduce at an early 

 age, red drum do not reach maturity 

 (spawn and reproduce) until they are 4 

 years old and 27 to 30 inches long. 



The Division of Marine Fisheries' 

 most recent stock status report noted a 

 dramatic decline in the number of red 

 drum reaching maturity and listed the fish 

 as "stressed-declining." A stock is 

 considered to be in trouble if there are not 

 enough mature fish to continue producing 

 young fish at a consistent level. 



The following temporary rules went 

 into effect Oct. 22: 



• size restrictions prohibit the 

 possession or sale of red drum larger than 

 27 inches; 



• bag limits reduce the recreational 

 limit to one fish per day between the sizes 

 of 18 and 27 inches; 



• harvest limits implement a year- 

 round commercial daily trip limit of 100 

 pounds with a 250,000-pound annual 

 quota; 



• gear restrictions require fishers to 

 attend gill nets of less than 5-inch 

 stretched mesh from May 1 to Oct. 31 of 

 each year. 



As part of the planning process, the 

 commission must develop measures to 

 stabilize the red drum stock until a fishery 

 management plan is completed and 

 implemented. The division immediately 

 began the three-year process of developing 

 a management plan for red drum. The 

 temporary rules will be in effect until the 

 plan is completed. □ 



Knauss Fellowships Offer Valuable 

 Experience In Washington 



A Sea Grant- 

 sponsored fellowship 

 program has allowed three 

 North Carolina graduate 

 students to work for a year 

 in the Washington, D.C., 

 offices of a U.S. senator 

 and the National Oceanic 

 and Atmospheric Adminis- 

 tration (NOAA). 



In January, the 

 students will wrap up their 

 participation in the 1998 

 Dean John A. Knauss 

 Fellowship Program, 

 sponsored by the National 

 Sea Grant College 

 Program. 



The program was 

 created in 1979 to offer 

 firsthand experiences for 

 students with an interest in 

 marine, ocean and Great 

 Lakes resources and in 

 national policy decisions 

 affecting those areas. It 

 matches highly qualified 

 graduate students with hosts 

 in the legislative branch, 

 executive branch or 

 appropriate associations in 

 the nation's capital. 



The 1998 Knauss 

 fellows are Kristopher 

 Pickler, Matthew Kendall 

 and Katherine Colborn. 



• Pickler, who 

 is completing his graduate 

 studies at Duke University's 

 Nicholas School of the En- 

 vironment, works in the 

 office of Sen. Judd Gregg 

 (R-New Hampshire). He 

 advises Gregg on various 

 marine policy issues, including New En- 

 gland fisheries management. Pickler also 

 helped draft the National Whale Conserva- 

 tion Fund Act of 1998, which establishes a 



Kristopher Pickler 



Matthew Kendall 



Katherine Colborn 



whale conservation fund 

 for education, research and 

 the protection of whales. In 

 addition, he has reviewed 

 NOAA funding for the 

 Senate Appropriations 

 Subcommittee on Com- 

 merce, Justice and State. 



• Kendall, who 

 recently completed his 

 graduate degree in 

 reproductive ecology at 

 North Carolina State 

 University's Department 

 of Marine, Earth and 

 Atmospheric Sciences, is 

 working in NOAA's 

 Strategic Environmental 

 Assessment Division. He 

 produces fish habitat maps 

 for Puerto Rico and the 

 Virgin Islands. The maps 

 will be used by the 

 Caribbean Fisheries 

 Management Council and 

 the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service for 

 coastal habitat and fishery 

 issues. 



• Colborn, a second- 

 year student at Duke 

 University's Nicholas 

 School of the Environ- 

 ment, works in the Marine 

 Mammal Division at the 

 National Marine Fisheries 

 Service Office of Protected 

 Resources. She developed 

 an in-house policy for 

 marine mammal/aquacul- 

 ture interaction. With the 

 growth in the aquaculture 

 industry, new policies are 

 being initiated to protect 



marine life. Colborn also has written an 

 article in Professional Mariner instructing 

 captains how to avoid striking right whales 

 at sea. □ — AG. 



4 HOLIDAY 1998 



