As per the press communiqué the season will reopen for one day at a time until the seasonal quota is met, but trawls will be limited to 30-minute tows. Limiting the time nets are pulled in the water was based on research tows showing that it can reduce mortality.
Although trawlers were found to have done nothing illegal, state officials changed catch limits from 50 fish a day to 2,000 pounds and allowed catches exceeding the limit to be transferred to other boats at sea. The change in the rule was aimed at minimising the number of fish culled from catches and discouraging high-grading, the practice of throwing back legal fish and keeping larger ones.
Division Director Louis Daniel said that the new limit changes little since 50 large fish could easily reach 2,000 pounds. The commercial minimum length for striped bass is 28 inches. The division was inundated with e-mails, phone calls and letters after word spread of the dead fish off the Dare County coastline in January.
When the season reopened for two days at the beginning of this month, the state received more complaints about dead fish. A total of 251 dead fish were counted on the beach or floating in the water. The striped bass trawl fishery has been closed since then.
