Response to NC Trawlers Slaughtering Striped Bass

Have you seen the sickening video recently of thousands of dead and dying fish floating on the surface out of Oregon Inlet? If you haven't seen it, go see it here!

Apparently a commercial trawler out of Oregon Inlet, North Carolina was dragging nets for Striper (Striped Bass). Since they can only keep 50 fish, the trawler is reported to have been picking out the bigger fish and throwing the small ones overboard. From what I gather, this practice is pretty typical among the trawlers. The small ones aren't surviving the release after being crushed and injured in the nets, and the video shows the lifeless fish floating in the waters off the Outer Banks.

Once the youtube video was posted, fishermen and other concerned individuals started spreading it online and with government officials. It's just sickening to watch the trawler illustrate one reason why our fish stocks are depleting.

The North Carolina Department of Marine Fisheries responded promptly with a statement about the incident:

The NC Division of Marine Fisheries is investigating reports of numerous dead striped bass floating in the ocean waters in northern Dare County areas.
The estimates of the numbers of dead fish have ranged from in the hundreds to in the thousands. The division is trying to determine the actual extent and cause of this event. However, the fish appear to be discards from fishing activity. There was extensive commercial and recreational striped bass fishing in these waters over the holiday weekend. Both commercial and recreational fisheries have had issues with discards of striped bass in the past. However, this is the first time in several years that striped bass have migrated this close to the shore. The commercial striped bass trawl fishery is scheduled to close at 6 p.m. Thursday. The division will evaluate the effort and landings in this fishery to determine if quota remains and if the fishery should reopen. The division will also consider if alternative management measures could be used to prevent future discard mortality.

As we wait for their "alternative measures," Carolina fishermen are already coming up with suggestions of their own. One idea: c hange the regulations to a certain tonnage of fish instead of the current 50 fish per day. Another suggestion: change the fishery to hook and line only.

If the rules were changed so that commercial striper fishermen could bring in a set weight-amount of fish then they would haul their nets and keep what's in the nets. They wouldn't be picking through and throwing smaller (within regulation sizes) striper overboard. They bring in their tonnage of fish and that's that.

The other idea is having the commercial striper fishery hook and line only. The first issue with this is, according to North Carolina Department of Marine Fisheries, "Hook-and-line fishing equipment is not commercial fishing equipment in the striped bass fishery and it is illegal to sell or purchase striped bass taken by hook-and-line in accordance with N.C. Marine Fisheries Rule 15A NCAC 03M .0201(b)." Other states already have a Striper Hook and Line Fishery and are doing well to suit commercial needs, fish stocks, and minimize conflicts.

One thing is for certain, this youtube video has definitely served as evidence that we need a change! What do you think?