STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG R UTTER
Fishing For Spots
Tiny spots were the only fish biting last Thursday in the H olden
Beach surf. Judy Hogsed of Lancaster, S.C., and Doug Carpenter
of Gastonia had the whole east end of the island to themselves.
Cool Weather Can't
Last Much Longer
BY JAMIE MILLIKEN
The weather continues to be the largest story in regards to offshore fish
ing. Unseasonably cool temperatures for the past five weeks have virtually
stopped our warming trend of the ocean
water. Along with this cool weather we
jjfp rAPTAIM ^ve experienced very high winds. All
UArlAIN Qf factors have made catching a
jtm ^ T JAMIE'S good fishing day about as hard as
W /sccouadc catching a 40 -pound king mackerel.
OrroliUHt ? ? ? ?
\ FISHING ? Captain Adam Sanders and Stuart
______ Foxwonh did make a trip last Wedncs
ncrOn I jhey displayed a lot of true deter
mination to fish as they battled five
foot seas all day. Captain Adam report
ed that he did not find 67-degrcc water until he was 45 miles offshore.
Compare that to the 68-dcgrce water I found the first week of March only 32
miles offshore. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that we
arc going the wrong way.
The long-range forecast this week calls for a few 70-degree days with
mid 40s at night. Well, at least this is a start. The way it stands now it will
take at least two weeks of warm days and mild nights to get fishing equal to
what wc had the first day of April last year.
? ? ? ?
As you can tell from this report, the fishing is slow. I have not been to
sea in so long I wonder if 1 can find my way out the inlet! But there is one
thing for certain, it can't last much longer. I have never seen a cool summer
in 37 years.
Until next time, good fishin' and, if you happen to know a fair weather
dance, please put on your dancing shoes. Wc need it!
Brunswick Oyster Harvest Jumps
BY DOUG RUTTKR
Brunswick County commercial
fisherrnor. had a surprisingly good
year for oysters in 1991, although
the catch continued to tumble on a
statewide basis.
Local fishermen landed an esti
mated 101,903 pounds of oysters
last year compared to only 37,633 in
1990, according to N.C. Division of
Marine Fisheries statistics.
The big increase locally was the
exception to the rule along the North
Carolina coast, where oyster har
vests continued their recent decline
Commercial fishermen in the
state landed only 319,040 pounds ol
oysters last year, with nearly one
third of them coming from
Brunswick County. The state's 1990
oyster harvest was 328,850 pounds
Mike Marshall, fisheries develop
ment chief with Marine Fisheries,
said the parasite "Dcrmo" continued
to devastate the oyster beds last year.
The parasite, which can kill oys
ters but doesn't affect humans, was
found to some degree in all of the
103 sites that were sampled last
year.
Marshall said the southern dis
trict, which includes Brunswick
County, didn't sec as much oyster
mortality as the central and northern
sections of the coast.
"The oyster landings based on our
sampling probably could have been
worse," Marshall added.
The poor oyster haul, coupled
with one of the worst years for
clammcrs in more than a decade,
made 1991 a lousy year fey com
mercial shellfishcrmen.
"They're virtually the same as the
year before," Marshall said of the
preliminary landings. "We had the
same kind of year, which is dismal."
North Carolina fishermen harvest
ed only 984,410 pounds of clams
last year, a drop of nearly 30 percent
from the 1.35 million pounds in
1990.
Marshall said last year marked
only the second time since 1978 that
the state commercial clam harvest
was less than a million pounds.
Brunswick County fishermen felt
the decline, bagging only 126,233
pounds of clams last year compared
to 192,359 pounds the year before.
While oysters and clams suffered.
North Carolina shrimpers had their
best haul in at least five years.
The 10.7 million pounds landed
last year was a 27 percent increase
over the 1990 catch of 7.8 million
pounds.
County shrimpers didn't see
much of a change last year, landing
535,398 pounds compared to
599,225 pounds in 1990.
North Carolina's commercial fis
hermen also had a banner year for
blue crabs in 1991.
"We've had some of the best crab
Elect
Tom Simmons
Brunswick County
Commissioner
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Hwy. 130, Holden Beach Rd., 47* miles from Shallotte
"We had the same kind of year (as '90),
which is dismal -
? Mike Marshall
N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries
years lately that wc have on record,"
Marshall said. "Fortunately not every
fishery has gone like the oysters."
Fishermen harvested about 41
million pounds of hard crabs last
year worth an estimated S9. 1 mil
lion.
Last year was also a good one for
flounder. The state's commercial
fishermen landed about 7.8 million
pounds, an increase of over 30 per
cent from the 5.4 million pounds in
1990.
Fishermen not only had to con
tend with poor landings in certain
spccics last year, but an unstable
market as well.
Overall, fish and shellfish land
ings increased from 1990. but the
number of dollars paid to commer
cial fishermen decreased.
Fishermen landed about 157 mil
lion pounds of fish last year for an
increase of 32 million pounds over
the previous year.
But commercial anglers received
only S28.6 million for the 1991
catch, compared to S31.4 million the
year before.
The market decline also showed
up in shellfish figures. Landings
jumped from 49.8 million pounds to
60 million pounds, but the dollar
amount fell from S39.3 million to
S38.1 million.
Marshall speculates that a drop in
consumer confidence might have
had some cffect on the dollar fig
ures. National media reports of cont
aminated fish and shellfish have hurt
the markets, he said.
As far as oysters arc concerned,
Marshall said there wasn't nearly
the same demand last year compared
to previous years. A good harvest in
Texas also hurt local fishermen be
cause oysters were plentiful on the
East Coast.
Spccics of finfish seeing big de
creases in landings last year includ
ed croaker and mullets.
The croaker catch dropped from
5.7 million pounds in 1990 to 3.4
million pounds last year. Commer
cial fishermen landed less than 1.5
million pounds of mullet last year
alter pulling in nearly 3 million
pounds the year before.
Marshall wasn't alarmed by those
figures. The croaker harvest usually
runs in cyclcs, he said, and the com
mercial effort for mullet wasn't as
great last year as it was in 1990.
Commercial landings of spots and
mackerel didn't sec much change
between 1990 and 1991. Anglers
caught just over 3 million pounds ol
spot, 1.1 million pounds of king
mackerel and XSX.XOK pounds of
Spanish mackerel last year.
r
This Week's
t~ui~
I IUC lUUI^
APRIL
hk;h low
Day Date A.M. P.M. A.M. P.M.
Thursdav 9 1:03 1:35 7:32 7:44
Friday 10 2:07 2:45 8:34 8:53
Saturday 11 3:13 3:54 9:40 10:02
Sunday 12 4:18 4:58 10:42 11:08
Monday 13 5:20 5:59 11:38
Tuesday 14 617 6:54 12:09 12:31
Wednesday 15 7:12 7:45 1:05 1:19
ADJUSTMENTS
SHALLOTTE INLET? add 17 min.
high ude. add 32 nun. low tide.
LOCK WOOD FOLLY? subtract 22
mm. high Ude, subtract 8 min. low tide.
BALD HEAD ISLAND? subtract 10
mm. high tide, subtract 7 min low ude.
SOUTH PORT ? add 7 min high tide,
add 15 min. low tide.
UTILE RIVER ? add 7 min. high
tide, add 7 mm. low tide.
CAROIMAJ
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Karate & Kung Fu ? Sauna
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There's a
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