The Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership (APNEP) has published a report showing…
The Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership (APNEP) has published a report showing a net loss in the extent of high-salinity submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) habitat in North Carolina’s sounds between 2006 and 2013. Also known as seagrass or underwater grasses, this valuable natural resource improves water quality, decreases shoreline erosion, and is an essential habitat for many fishery and wildlife species.
While the data also confirm that the state possesses the largest acreage of seagrass along the east coast of the United States, around 100,000 acres, the overall extent of seagrass meadows in the Albemarle-Pamlico estuary decreased by 5,686 acres or 5.6% between 2006 and 2013 despite the availability of suitable habitat for expansion of the resource. Seagrass is declining worldwide; North Carolina is experiencing annual rates of seagrass loss at or below the global average.
The observed decline in seagrass was not evenly distributed–within the southern end of the study area, which includes Back and Bogue Sounds, seagrass acreage decreased by 1.5% per year compared to a decline of 0.5% and 1.1% per year in the central and northern portions of the study area, respectively. It is likely that increased water pollution within the relatively highly-populated, densely-developed southern region contributed to its higher observed rate of seagrass decline.
Because seagrass is very sensitive to water quality, including nutrient and sediment pollution, a decrease in the acreage of these underwater meadows indicates that the overall health of North Carolina’s estuaries may also be worsening. Further mapping of seagrass extent is essential to clarify the current status and long-term trends of this resource in North Carolina. Additionally, integration of seagrass mapping with other collaborative environmental monitoring programs is critical to identifying and managing the causes of seagrass decline.
The data analyzed for this report were collected using two aerial surveys from 2006-2007 and 2013. A third survey coordinated by APNEP and partner organizations, including the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, was completed in 2019-2020. Analysis of these additional survey data are underway and will enable APNEP to provide a more complete picture of seagrass status and trends in the Albemarle-Pamlico estuary.
These findings will provide guidance for the development of protection and restoration strategies for the region’s underwater grasses, including conservation and management actions supported by the N.C. Coastal Habitat Protection Plan.
The report and an associated interactive map are available online. For more information, check out APNEP’s SAV Monitoring webpage, or contact Dr. Dean Carpenter, APNEP’s Program Scientist, at (919) 707-8634 or dean.carpenter@apnep.org.
Recreational anglers will be required to use circle hooks when fishing for striped bass with natural bait in coastal ocean waters beginning Jan. 1, 2021.
The requirement pertains to all recreational fishing (including possession) using a hook and line with natural bait for striped bass. The circle hooks must be non-offset and made of a non-stainless-steel material. The circle hook requirement does not apply to recreational striped bass fishing in internal coastal waters.
A non-offset (also called inline) circle hook is a hook with the point pointed perpendicularly back towards the shank and the point and barb are in the same plane as the shank. Offset circle hooks and stainless-steel circle hooks are not allowed for striped bass fishing.
Natural bait is any living or dead organism or part of an organism (animal or plant).
The circle hook requirement complies with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan and is designed to reduce release mortality in the recreational striped bass fishery.
For more specifics on the regulation, and other requirements for recreational striped bass fishing in ocean waters, see Proclamation FF-1-2021.
For more information, contact Division of Marine Fisheries biologist Charlton Godwin at (252) 264-3911 or charlton.godwin@ncdenr.gov.
In early December, NOAA’s Marine Recreational Information Program published an updated implementation plan that highlights the program’s 2020 milestones and its priorities for the coming year.
NOAA’s Marine Recreational Information Program is the state-regional-federal partnership that uses a national network of recreational fishing surveys to produce estimates of total recreational catch. These estimates are vital to the assessment and management of U.S. fish stocks. They could not be produced without the active participation and cooperation of state agencies, interstate marine fisheries commissions, and regional fishery management councils. These partners have shaped the program’s goals, contributed to its accomplishments, and informed the priorities described in this implementation plan.
In 2021, the Marine Recreational Information Program will continue to:
(1) Respond to the challenges of COVID-19. As a result of the pandemic, 20 states decided to suspend, reduce, or modify their conduct of the Access Point Angler Intercept Survey. The total number of intercepts completed between March 1 and August 31, 2020 declined more than 30 percent from that period last year. While states have resumed shore, private boat, and charter boat sampling, at-sea headboat sampling remains suspended. Concerns for angler and field interviewer safety continue to impact field interviewers’ ability to work at high-activity sites and weigh and measure individual fish. In 2021, we will work to address the data gaps caused by the widespread suspension of in-person and at-sea sampling. We will monitor the pandemic’s continued impact on recreational fishing data collection.
(2) Transition to new survey and data standards. We will ensure changes to our statistical processes are communicated effectively and implemented smoothly, with input from the agencies and organizations that rely on them to assess and manage fish stocks.
(3) Improve and expand our network of state, regional, and coastwide data collection programs.
(4) Work with regional partners to develop and implement a logbook-based for-hire data collection program, with intercept survey-based validation sampling, for the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts
(5) Reestablish a data collection program in Puerto Rico, transition to a new or modified data collection design in Hawaii, and begin to develop a new data collection design for the U.S. Virgin Islands
(6) Increase sampling in the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific
(7) Develop improvements to our Large Pelagics Survey.
(8) Support research to improve the data quality of our general catch and effort survey designs.
(9) Engage in continued dialogue with the recreational fishing community. We will research the needs of this key audience and deliver information to build understanding of recreational fishing data, its uses, and its limitations.
In 2020, the Marine Recreational Information Program:
(1) Administered $3 million in Modern Fish Act investment funds to our partners to increase angler sampling levels in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico and improve the precision of regional catch estimates. This supports the National Academies’ recommendation to expand our investments in our partners.
(2) Completed the Pacific Regional Implementation Plan. This plan will inform the financial and technical support the program will provide to recreational fishing surveys in Washington, Oregon, and California. This supports the National Academies’ recommendation to continue our communication and coordination with the Pacific coast states.
(3) Completed the first phase of an angler analysis that will examine the information-sharing habits and opinions of the recreational fishing community.
(4) Published a suite of new outreach materials for anglers. This supports the National Academies’ recommendation to more actively communicate with anglers.
For a complete list of the program’s goals, accomplishments, and priorities, read the 2021 Implementation Plan Update.
The Coast Guard Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy has published Marine Safety Information Bulletin 02-21 “COVID-19 Safety Requirements in the Maritime Transportation System” to provide information related to the requirement of all persons traveling on all commercial vessels to wear a mask.
The President issued Executive Order (13998), Promoting COVID-19 Safety in Domestic and International Travel that requires masks be worn on all “public maritime vessels, including ferries” to mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued order, Requirement for Persons to Wear Masks while on Transportation Hubs, 29JAN2021, requires all persons traveling on all commercial vessels to wear a mask.
This Order requires conveyance operators to use best efforts to ensure that any person on the conveyance wears a mask when boarding, disembarking, and for the duration of travel. Depending on the circumstances, best efforts may include:
(1) boarding only those persons who wear masks; (2) instructing persons that Federal law requires wearing a mask on the conveyance and failure to comply constitutes a violation of Federal law; (3) monitoring persons onboard the conveyance for anyone who is not wearing a mask and seeking compliance from such persons; (4) at the earliest opportunity, disembarking any person who refuses to comply; and (5) providing persons with prominent and adequate notice to facilitate awareness and compliance of the requirement of this Order to wear a mask; best practices may include, if feasible, advanced notifications on digital platforms, such as on apps, websites, or email; posted signage in multiple languages with illustrations; printing the requirement on transit tickets; or other methods as appropriate.
Questions concerning this notice may be forwarded to Coast Guard Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance, at wearamask@uscg.mil.
