Ahab's Journal

TBF’s Peel representing U.S. as Commissioner to ICCAT

The Billfish Foundation President Ellen Peel in Brazil for 10 day worldwide summit

but is not overly optimistic about strong conservation measures being passed  

 

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. USA and RECIFE, Brazil -- (November 6, 2009)  --  Ellen Peel who was recently appointed as the new U.S. Commissioner to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) is in Brazil today for the start of the 21st annual meeting of the commission.

    But on the eve of the 10 day (Nov. 6 – 15) summit Ms. Peel, who has been the president of The Billfish Foundation for over a decade, is not highly optimistic any strong changes will be made among the attending countries to conservation of tuna and related species. 

 

RFA & ALLIES OFFICIALLY FILE SUIT ON SEA BASS

Charges NMFS With "Failure to Comply With The Law"

 

November 6, 2009

- In a 40-page legal challenge submitted before the U.S. District Court of New Jersey on November 4, the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) and industry allies have officially brought legal action against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke due to the recent recreational closure of the Atlantic recreational black sea bass fishery.   The challenge contends that the recent closure is not only unprecedented for a fish whose stocks are considered rebuilt and not overfished, but that the action is also based upon "misapplication and misuse of a fatally flawed angler survey which NMFS itself has acknowledged is not to be used for this type of decision."

Is catch-and-release a threat to rockfish?

In Maryland last week, natural resource officials pored over recommendations to limit preseason catch-and-release fishing for trophy striped bass, locally called rockfish.

The state's volunteer Sport Fish Advisory Commission recommended outlawing preseason fishing for rock with bait and banning trolling all but three days a week in the month and a half before trophy rockfish season opens the third Saturday of April. Resource managers are responding to a five-fold increase in effort in recent years, from an estimated 50,000 trips in March-April 2002 to about 250,000 last spring.

Read more

Protecting a coastal way of life

RALEIGH - "This isn't over, not by a long shot."

With those words, Joe Albea left the room where a state House committee had just met. It was May, and the committee failed to take a vote on legislation that the Greenville resident and other recreational fishermen were pushing to put two species of fish -- speckled trout and red drum -- off limits to commercial fishermen.

Read "Protecting a coastal way of life"

CCA NC Call to Action on Striped Bass Quota Rollover

On Nov. 2 the Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission will vote on a proposal to allow half the commercial striped bass quota that states fail to catch in one year to be added to the next year.  CCA NC strongly disagrees with this plan to kill more striped bass. Striped bass fishing has declined greatly in recent years, and it is already costing jobs in the guiding and tackle communities where the value of striped bass far exceeds commercial landings. 

 

COASTAL RECREATIONAL FISHING LICENSE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO MEET

MOREHEAD CITY –The N.C. Coastal Recreational Fishing License Advisory Committee will meet at 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 28, in room 305, Center for Marine Sciences and Technology on the Carteret Community College campus, 303 College Circle, Morehead City. 

CCA: Conservationists encouraged by fisheries amendments

The pace and breadth of federal oceans and fisheries policies have caused apprehension in the angling community in recent months, but a pair of amendments to a Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill filed by Sen. David Vitter (R-La) this week signals that some elected officials are concerned as well. The amendments, proposed as part of spending bill HR 2847, would force the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration to do new analyses of offshore fish farming and catch-share programs in federal fisheries. 

Read "CCA: Conservationists encouraged by fisheries amendments"

CCA Position Statement on Weakfish and Striped Bass

In response to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC):

Ø  Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Weakfish

Ø  Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan

 

Improving Engagement with the Recreational Fishing Community

Message from Jane Lubchenco:

Since becoming NOAA Administrator, it has become obvious to me that although NOAA and recreational anglers should be allies in ecosystem management, we are all too frequently at odds over policy and process. Following a number of conversations with members of the recreational fishing industry and media, it is clear that while we have a lot of common interests and goals, we have some long-standing issues that get in the way of a more productive partnership. Strengthening our relationship will require sustained interaction built on a solid foundation of trust and respect. In short, we need to have more and better conversations.

To that end, I’m announcing my commitment to take a fresh look at our relationship with the angling community. As a first step, I will create a new position of senior policy advisor for recreational fishing that will report directly to the assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries and be charged with addressing the interests of the recreational community within the agency as we consider policy. The advisor will help coordinate recreational fisheries policy. In addition, the position will facilitate dialogue with recreational fishermen to better understand the options that exist to improve support for recreational fishing. NOAA Fisheries will also identify coordinators within each regional office and science center and appropriate headquarters offices to work closely with the advisor. The goal is to ensure that there is a network of knowledgeable staff and resources within NOAA Fisheries that is focused on recreational fishing issues. Additionally, I intend to task Andrew Winer, NOAA’s new director of external affairs, to work closely with NOAA Fisheries on recreational fishing issues.

As a first task, the advisor will coordinate, in cooperation with the angling community, a recreational fishing summit to identify issues of concern and possible solutions.

Read "Improving Engagement with the Recreational Fishing Community"

CCA NC Capital Campaign

You do not have to look far to see that this a challenging time for our country and state. But even in times like these, it is good to know your CCA is able to continue the work of conserving North Carolina’s coastal marine resources. As we face these challenges, our focus remains on our state’s marine resources and habitat.  We do this through fiscal responsibility, chapter development, and membership growth. In short, CCA NC is maintaining itself as the driving force working for the future of fishing and a healthy resource.

With this battle comes a price! In this letter, I’ll outline some of the things we have accomplished this year and some of the items we plan to accomplish in the future. Most important, I want you to know how you can be a part of our success. CCA NC needs your help!

David Sikes is seeing red

Heated debate over snapper numbers still rages, even as party boats flourish

 So what’s all the fuss about?

It stems from a CCA document submitted to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council as a way to shake up a broken regulatory process that was going nowhere with an outcome that was pleasing no one. The primary point of the paper was to spark discussion outside of traditional parameters and specifically to introduce an open or free market approach to the distribution of shares within the annual snapper quota.

By open market, I mean the CCA wanted recreational anglers to have access to commercial snapper allotments. Under the current system, commercial share holders may trade among themselves. In about 18 months commercial operations will be allowed to buy and sell all or part of their quotas to other commercial reef fishermen who don’t already own shares, but still only to other commercials. CCA would like to see some of the commercial allotment shift to the recreational side.

Why not make these shares available to individuals, charter outfits, party boats, states and organizations? The market would set the price, so potentially a commercial fisherman could boost his profits by working less. There is no question that a recreationally caught snapper is more valuable than one caught by a commercial boat.

Another aspect of the CCA plan calls for the creation and distribution of non-reusable snapper tags, which could be sold in lots to the highest bidder quarterly. 

Read "David Sikes is seeing red"

New Data Collection Method Tested at Fishing Tournament

Anglers are invited to help scientists test a new recreational fishing data collection method based on text messaging at the 25th annual Raleigh Saltwater Sportfishing Club King Mackerel Tournament in Atlantic Beach that opens July 31.

Called "RecText" by scientists, the method requires an angler to simply text the results of the boat's daily fishing effort and catch to a computer database.

Read "New Data Collection Method Tested at Fishing Tournament"

NOAA Report: Saltwater Angling a Sign of Coastal Vitality

Saltwater recreational fishing continued to provide important economic benefits to America’s coastal communities in 2008, bringing fishermen to the shore to reel in fish, book spots on charter and party boats, buy bait and tackle, stay in local inns and eat at local restaurants, according to a report issued this week by NOAA’s Fisheries Service.

Saltwater recreational anglers took an estimated 85 million fishing trips in 2008, down slightly from the 93 million trips estimated in 2007. Saltwater anglers caught an estimated 464 million fish in 2008, down slightly from the 475 million caught in 2007. That the decreases were moderate reflects stability in saltwater angling.

Read "NOAA Report: Saltwater Angling a Sign of Coastal Vitality"  

GRANT MONEY AVAILABLE FOR RECREATIONAL BOATING INFRASTRUCTURE

MOREHEAD CITY – The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is accepting proposals for the Boating

Infrastructure Grant (BIG) Program for federal fiscal year 2010. 

 

BIG is a program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that reimburses up to 75 percent of projects that provide docking and other facilities for recreational transient vessels that are at least 26 feet long. It was authorized by Congress in 1998 and is funded by excise taxes on fishing equipment and motorboat fuel.

RFA Testifies Before House Resources Subcommittee Tells Congress Recreational Fishing Activities Must Be Protected

On June 18, Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) Executive Director Jim Donofrio testified before the House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife, chaired by Del. Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-GU).  The hearing was convened to review H.R. 21 a bill which would establish a new national policy for our oceans.  The RFA was the only recreational fishing organization invited to testify before the Congressional Committee.  
 
Introduced by Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), H.R. 21 is meant to strengthen the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration while establishing a national and regional ocean governance structure, and for other purposes. According to the RFA, H.R. 21 would add undue bureaucracy to the fisheries management process, to the eventual exclusion of fishermen.  Donofrio told House members that the RFA continues to have substantial objections to sections of the bill, and cautioned that any new ocean policies mandated by Congress should not overstep the basic tenets of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. 

RFA To President Obama - Just Say "No" To Catch Shares

New Quota Scheme "Flies In The Face Of The Public Trust Doctrine"

Washington DC - In an official letter dated June 12, 2009, the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) Board of Directors and Executive Director have asked President Obama to maintain traditional recreational fishing access consistent with the public trust doctrine, while also allowing fishing and the rebuilding of coastal fisheries to occur simultaneously.  "Although we have seen no formal position from your administration regarding recreational catch shares, we are concerned that the environmental groups are seeking to kill our open access tradition with little thought to impact such actions will have on coastal communities and individual freedoms," the letter said. 

Letter from CFRG to NMFS Law Enforcement

We have a serious problem here in North Carolina, and it is not going away. Our NCDMF is so understaffed and we have more coastal and joint waters than any other state on the Atlantic Seaboard. The amount of territory these enforcement officers have to cover is overwhelming!

 

We have folks that out of fear will not come forward publicly but have attested to the following;

NC Marine Fisheries Commission "Inaction" is in Fact an "Action"

"At the May meeting of the NC Marine Fisheries Commission, the true political bias favoring the Commercial Fishing Sector and its interests were on full display as usual.

Why continue pandering to a system that obviously is not working and is politically designed for paralysis by analysis? Let's do away with the MFC and move the DMF to where it should be, and that is under the direction of the North Carolina Wildlife Commission."

Read "NC Marine Fisheries Commission "Inaction" is in Fact an "Action" "

RFA Calls On Moratorium On Recreational Closures

Galloway, NJ - In a letter this week to Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) has called for an immediate moratorium on any closures to the recreational harvest of red snapper until better scientific analysis can be conducted.  

CCA Announces Scholarship Selections

The Coastal Conservation of North Carolina -- an association dedicated to preserving and protecting our marine fisheries for current and future generations -- announced that it has selected two students to receive a $1,000 scholarship each to further their educational goals in the area of Marine Science.

 

“... a force to be reckoned with’’

"Two years ago, Gary Loomis, the Woodland-based graphite fishing rod guru, brought the Coastal Conservation Association to the Pacific Northwest.

Already, the organization has grown to 10,000 members in Oregon and Washington and has gotten the attention of lawmakers and fishery managers — and especially Columbia River gillnetters.

The CCA calls itself a conservation group, and its leaders say they aren't trying to ban commercial fishing on the Columbia River, just change the way it's conducted to protect wild stocks of fish."

Read " “... a force to be reckoned with’’ "

 
 

STATE SEEKS APPLICANTS FOR SALTWATER FISHING LICENSE PROJECTS

MOREHEAD CITY – The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is accepting applications for proposals for the 2010 funding cycle from the N.C. Marine Resources Fund.

 

The fund, which receives proceeds from the sale of Coastal Recreational Fishing Licenses, provides grants for projects that help manage, protect, restore, develop, cultivate and enhance the state’s marine resources. This is the first request for proposals issued for the fund.

 

Free market taking over Gulf

"What this is all about is a proposal by the CCA that includes issuing nonreusable tags to catch red snappers. The tags would permit record-keeping of the total allowable catch during an annual cycle. The tags would be available at a public auction every year, and people who want to catch red snappers would have to bid on available fish tags.

That's where problems arise. The red snapper fishery is extremely popular. Commercial fishing interests already are involved in IFQs that freeze out sport anglers in certain areas. If unaffected waters become available for recreational fishermen on a bidding basis, how could the average income earner compete with professionals like attorneys, doctors and business executives who would surely be throwing their hats into the bidding ring and offer sums of money that a Wal-Mart store clerk, for example, couldn't possibly compete with?"

Read "Free market taking over Gulf"

CCA Call to Action on SB 885 and SB 886

On April 23, two very important bills -SB 885 (Protect Oyster Sanctuaries) and SB 886 (Improve Success of FMPs) – will be heard in the NC Senate Agriculture/Environment/Natural Resources Committee.  These bills are sponsored by Senator Don Vaughan of Greensboro and endorsed by CCA-NC.

 

Please take a few moments to e-mail all of the members of this committee  and tell them that you support SB 885 and SB 886. 

 

Here are some talking points to assist you in crafting your own personal message:

 

Favorite Saltwater Fish In North Carolina

"Saltwater game fish populations are subject to more ups and downs than an amusement park roller coaster ride. While fishery management plans can and have smoothed many of the peaks and valleys in the indices of many of North Carolina's favorite saltwater fish, there is little that can be done when environmental factors exert an even larger influence on populations of a specific species than can be offset by tweaking such angler-induced mortality factors as commercial quotas and by catch and recreational angler retention and catch-and-release mortality figures that can run as high as 15 percent."

Read "Favorite Saltwater Fish In North Carolina"

Coastal "Conservation" Association's Dirty Little Secret(s)

Fishing For Freedom takes a revealing look at the CCA and why this Slippery "Conservation" group needs to be exposed.

 

Watch video

Push to rebuild N.C. pier reaches success with state funds

"Jennette's Pier at Whalebone Junction has escaped another close call, this time with the budget knife.

With officials from the North Carolina Aquariums - the pier's owner - holding their breath, the governor signed legislation late Tuesday that provides existing storm-water funds for construction of a new pier and pier house."

Read "Push to rebuild N.C. pier reaches success with state funds"

Urban sports fishers’ motives to nix commercial fishing are transparent

"Legislation pending in Salem would effectively end gillnetting except in special targeted areas like Youngs Bay that host salmon runs born and bred only to be netted. This is an old and weary battle, but one that still deserves to be fought with gusto by us on the lower Columbia who treasure the traditions and economic contributions of commercial fishing.

The anticommercial agenda has been adopted in recent years by urban sports fishermen under the guise of the Coastal Conservation Association, which alleges that hook-and-line fishing will result in less mortality for endangered wild salmon while bringing more recreational money to Oregon businesses."

Read "Urban sports fishers’ motives to nix commercial fishing are transparent"
 
 

Message from CCA-NC on Lobby Day

First, I would like to personally thank everyone for their time and effort to make CCA Lobby Day a huge success. For those who were unable to attend, we had about 40-45 CCA members and about 15 or so additional folks from the Coastal Recreational Fishermen Group.  This was a total of 55-60 people which is a great turnout for our first lobby day.

CCA Members- Save the Date-April 8, 2009

CCA NC is organizing a special day for visiting our legislators in Raleigh on April 8, 2009. Please mark your calendars and make plans to join us for this first time event. Our goal is to visit every member of the General Assembly on this day.  Come to Raleigh and help us place our agenda in front of our legislators.

The day will begin with a short orientation session in the DOT Auditorium at 10:00 AM. During this meeting, we will discuss our agenda and distribute information packets to be left with each Representative or Senator. We want to visit every Senator and every Representative! We wish to make sure they know who CCA is and the legislative agenda we are supporting. The information packet provided will include a separate sheet on each of our issues that explains our position clearly and concisely.

 

EIGHT RESPECTED INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS JOIN RFA BOARD

TOP TACKLE, TOURNEY & MEDIA REPS UNITE TO PROTECT ANGLER RIGHTS

In its ongoing efforts to build strategic alliances within the recreational fishing and boating industry while strengthening its representation of individual members, the Executive Board of Directors for the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) appointed eight, highly qualified new members to begin two-year terms starting in 2009.  

CCA NC Supports Concept of Gamefish Status

Coastal Conservation Association North Carolina supports the concept of gamefish status for specific species important to the recreational fishery. 

CCA Members- Save the Date-April 8, 2009

CCA NC is organizing a special day for visiting our legislators in Raleigh on April 8, 2009. Please mark your calendars and make plans to join us for this first time event. Our goal is to visit every member of the General Assembly on this day.  Come to Raleigh and help us place our agenda in front of our legislators.

Response to "Conflict heightens over fishing rules"

"Dear Mr. Mooneyham,

This letter is in reference to a recent column that appeared in the "Coastland Times" regarding one of the latest efforts to eliminate commercial fishing in this state by a Mr. Hislop and friends.

I operate the Albatross Fleet charter service out of Hatteras (a business started by my late father in 1937).  And, having fished every charter season since 1958, I perhaps have as good a sense of "why people recreational fish" as does Mr. Hislop.

I also grew up in a "fishing community" populated by fishermen who earned their living by producing food from the sea for consumers.  Most of the people I knew as a youngster fished both charter and commercial and produced something other than just a "personal good time" when they went fishing.

I found your article very troubling.  It was troubling not because of the reporting which I believe to be accurate.  Rather, it was troubling because it conveyed, to people all over this state, a false premise.  A premise that, repeated often enough, becomes "accepted knowledge", a "real fact" and ultimately, a "literal truth" that will form the basis for legislators to take legislative action, action taken in good faith but, sadly, based on a false assumption.  Your article in complicit in spreading "the false assumption"

Response to "A Rising Tide"

(Note: The Mooneyham column called 'A Rising Tide' ran under various titles in different state newspapers, including 'Conflicts heighten over fish rules,' posted below.)

"In response to Scott Mooneyhams’ PUBLIC RELATIONS press release (3-1-09 article in The Coastland Times, A Rising Tide) on CONFLICTS between commercial and recreational fishermen in North Carolina, I must again try to wade through the deceit and negative PR coming from my hometown of RALEIGH. 

Conflicts Heighten Over Fishing Rules

"Since at least the mid-1990s, calls for an end to the commercial netting of fish in inshore waters, as several other states have done, have risen and ebbed.

That tide appears to be rising again.

John Hislop, a Swansboro retiree and recreational fisherman, has enlisted friends and supporters to begin a new campaign to ban gill nets, which are staked out mainly in tidal creeks to await any fish that swim through the area. Hislop has rented billboards on Interstate 40 near Benson and U.S. 70 in Kinston to proclaim the evils of gill netting."

Read "Conflicts Heighten Over Fishing Rules"
 

CCA Seeks Gamefish Status & Other Things

CCA North Carolina is building momentum to support legislation and management changes in North Carolina that will help better protect our marine resources. Below are CCA’s objectives in 2009 to accomplish this task.

PHONE NUMBERS REQUIRED ON FISHING LICENSE APPLICATIONS

MOREHEAD CITY – Don’t be surprised if, come March, the person selling you a fishing license at the bait and tackle shop asks for your phone number – even if he hasn’t in the past.

 

The state is making telephone numbers a mandatory field in the computer program that issues Coastal Recreational Fishing Licenses. License agents will be required to collect and enter the numbers from those purchasing a saltwater recreational fishing license. Up to this point, telephone numbers has been a non-mandatory field on license applications.

 

Group wants more regulation of spotted seatrout fishery

"A newly formed Coastal Fisheries Reform Group is pushing for more regulations on the harvest of spotted seatrout.

"At this time we are not pursuing an all out strike-netting ban ... our goal is not to put anybody out of commercial fishing," said Dean Phillips a Surf City resident and one of CFRG's founders."

Read "Group wants more regulation of spotted seatrout fishery"

 

These Fishermen are Angry

CCA-NC, RFA, NC Camo Coalition, NC Sportsman Magazine, and several fishing clubs are angry, and want NC to put an end to gillnetting.

Learn more here

Coastal Fisheries Reform Group

The Coastal Fisheries Reform Group is headed by Dick Hamilton, former executive director of the NC WRC, Joe Albea, host of Carolina Outdoor Journal on UNC-TV, and Surf City charter-boat fisherman Dean Phillips.  The group "represents the 414,000 license buying recreational sport fishermen in NC who support sound fishery management based upon sound science, strong law enforcement, fairness, and resource protection," according to its weblog.

Captain Ahab notes that the group supports gamefish status designation. 

The group  says its proposed speckled trout rules are necessary to address "the problem (that) occured this year when the rules were changed to require commercial fishermen to tend their nets in an effort to protect red drum."  That reminds the Captain of the old adage about being careful about what you ask for - didn't some recreational fishermen lobby hard for the net attendance rules? 

"On January 21st, 2009, the CFRG presented the following documents to the North Carolina Department of Marine Fisheries Commission at their meeting in Carolina Beach. Each commissioner was presented with an original draft of both documents. The CFRG felt that the combined issues of the vulnerability of the Speckled Trout in the coastal and inland creeks, along with the increased pressure from strike-netting demanded immediate action by the commission."

Read more at the CFRG blog

 

 

CCA NC Scores a Major Victory for Fisheries Management

From CCA-NC:

"Since the Fisheries Reform Act of 1997 passed, many fishery management plans have been developed for North Carolina’s fish.  Sadly, not one single fish stock has been recovered as a result of the plans proposed to and approved by the NC Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC).

 

That's right not one! None! Zero! Nada! 

 

Recreational Grouper Fishing Pays Off Big

"A recent study found gag and red grouper fishing in the Gulf would yield “maximum economic value to the state” only if it allocated 100 percent of the fishery to recreational fishermen. To put it bluntly—cut out all commercial fishing pressure from the fishery and it helps Florida’s economy. The CCA-sponsored study was released just in time for a Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meeting in Mississippi (Jan. 26–29) which will discuss grouper management.

The study was conducted by Brad Gentner, who ran the recreational economics data collection program for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for eight years before starting his own company, Gentner Consulting Group."

Read "Recreational Grouper Fishing Pays Off Big"

Saltwater Fishing Tax Would Sink New York's Recreational Fishing Community

"Albany, NY - January 27, 2009 - When New York Governor David Paterson unveiled his 2009 Executive Budget, many New Yorkers couldn't help but snicker at such belt-tightening proposals as the 15% "obesity tax" on non-diet drinks.  For the recreational fishing and boating industry however, particularly a new coalition called Save Boating and Fishing Jobs in New York, the sweeping set of new taxes levied at their "active" tourism industry in New York is no laughing matter."

Herring research one of 11 approved projects

BY SUSAN WEST, OUTER BANKS SENTINEL | The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission gave final approval Thursday to 11 new projects funded with $1.7 million in revenue from recreational fishing license sales.

"I was especially happy to see money dedicated to herring research," said fisheries commissioner Jess Hawkins.

Saltwater fish taking the bait

"From boat, pier and surf, anglers fishing N.C. coastal waters have been ramping up catches of some saltwater species, including traditional favorites such as king mackerel, red drum and spotted sea trout.

The higher catches come as landings by commercial fishermen continue to decline because of restrictions on catches and the increasing cost of doing business."

Read "Saltwater fish taking the bait"

 

"Understanding Your CCA"

This week's guest is Jay Dail, President of CCA North Carolina.

Saltwater Recreational Fishermen Boon for Economy, Says NOAA

"Recreational saltwater anglers pumped more than $31 billion into the U.S. economy in 2006, with Florida, Texas, California, Louisiana, and North Carolina receiving the largest share according to a new study issued by NOAA’s Fisheries Service."

Read "Saltwater Recreational Fishermen Boon for Economy, Says NOAA"

EU may impose quota curbs on part time fishermen

"THE European Union has set its sights on the thousands of recreational sea fishermen who operate around Britain's coastline by limiting the number of fish they catch.

Brussels wants to impose the same type of quota curbs in force against commercial fishermen to protect endangered species such as pollack, ling and even cod."

Read "EU may impose quota curbs on part time fishermen"

Bids for pier shock N.C. officials into regrouping

"Plans to resurrect Jennette's Pier into an educational and recreational outpost for the North Carolina Aquariums have been stymied by an off-budget construction bid and a distressed economy.

Of the six competitive bids received in December on what was until then a $14 million project, Clancy & Theys firm came in lowest, at about $27 million. The high bid topped $31 million."

Read "Bids for pier shock N.C. officials into regrouping"