News from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
May 18, 2009 - Vol. 39, No. 225
For more information, contact Roy Miller, 302-739-9914, or Joanna C. Wilson, Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.
DNREC Issues New Tidal Finfish Regulations to Protect Atlantic Sharks, Expand Coastal Spiny Dogfish Catch
The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has issued modifications to the state’s Tidal Finfish Regulations that take effect June 11 for conservation of Atlantic sharks and for expanding the commercial fishing catch for spiny dogfish.
The regulations bring Delaware into compliance with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Coastal Sharks and liberalize commercial requirements in concert with the most recent revision to the ASMFC’s Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Spiny Dogfish.
The Interstate Plan for Coastal Sharks mirrors requirements for shark fishing in federal waters by requiring all states from Virginia to New Jersey to prohibit recreational and commercial landings of 10 shark species known to reproduce in the mid-Atlantic area - silky, tiger, blacktip, spinner, bull, lemon, nurse, scalloped hammerheads, great hammerhead and smooth hammerhead - from May 15 through July 15.
Delaware and all other states also must prohibit recreational and commercial landings of sandbar sharks year-round, except for those commercial fishermen who hold a valid sandbar shark research permit issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Sandbar sharks have been declared overfished and the population of these slow-to-mature, long-lived species is in need of recovery.
Delaware Bay is an important pupping and nursery area for this species, which migrates extensively along the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Even though juvenile sandbar sharks are abundant locally in our waters in the summer, these juveniles are critical to the survival of this depleted species and are in need of additional protection. Sandbar sharks can be identified by their relatively large single dorsal fin and sharp teeth. Many shark species resemble the sandbar shark, but sandbars are by far the most abundant shark of this type in Delaware Bay and nearshore Delaware ocean waters. They can reach weights of several hundred pounds when mature.
Additional revisions to the coastal sharks plan are as follows:
- Shore-bound anglers may harvest one shark per day not otherwise prohibited, excluding smooth dogfish sharks, plus one additional bonnethead and one Atlantic sharpnose shark per day.
- Recreational fishing vessels will be allowed to harvest and possess one shark not otherwise prohibited per trip, regardless of the number of people on the vessel.
- In addition each recreational angler aboard a vessel may harvest and possess one bonnethead and one Atlantic sharpnose shark per person per trip.
- All sharks possessed by recreational fisherman must have the heads, tails and fins attached naturally to the carcass prior to landing on shore.
- Commercial fishermen may eviscerate and remove the head of any shark reduced to possession, but the tail and fins must remain attached to the carcass.
- When the NMFS closes the recreational or commercial fishery for any species of shark in federal waters other than the spiny dogfish, the recreational or commercial landing, harvest and possession of that species shall be prohibited in Delaware waters until the NMFS reopens the fishery.
In the draft regulation there were recreational catch limits proposed for smooth dogfish sharks, which are Delaware’s most common species of sharks in nearshore waters during the summer months. These proposed restrictions on smooth dogfish were deleted from the regulations signed last week pending additional consideration by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Also deleted for the time being were proposed requirements for commercial fisherman possessing sharks taken in large mesh gill nets not to use a gill net that exceeds 2,735 yards when otherwise legal to do so, and requirement that the net must be tended at a minimum of every two hours if the sharks are to be landed. The Commission will be re-considering the need for gill net limits in nearshore ocean waters and the requirement to check these nets at two hour intervals. If the Commission elects to retain these provisions in the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Coastal Sharks later this year, the Department will propose new regulations to remain in compliance with the revised Coastal Shark Plan.
The coast-wide commercial quota for spiny dogfish has been liberalized to 12 million pounds per year, to be allocated among a Northern Region, Southern Region and North Carolina. The Southern Region, which includes Delaware, is allocated 26 percent of the annual quota. When the quota in the Southern Region is projected to be reached, the commercial landing, harvest and possession of spiny dogfish for commercial purposes will be prohibited for the remainder of the year.
The daily landing limit for any Delaware commercial foodfishing license holder will be 3,000 pounds of spiny dogfish, except for those taking spiny dogfish from federal waters or for any Delaware fisherman selling spiny dogfish to a federally-permitted dealer, in which case federal possession and landing limits apply, including federal closures on the possession and landing of spiny dogfish. Any Delaware commercial fisherman in possession of a federal permit will have to abide by the most restrictive spiny dogfish landing limits, whether they are federal or state.
To read the Secretary’s Order on the new regulations, please visit http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/Info/Pages/SecOrders.aspx .
For more information, please contact the Fisheries Section at 302-739-9914.