Tuesday, February 07, 2006

North Carolina to Challenge NMFS Shark Ban

Earlier this year the National Marine Fisheries Service enacted a ban on the harvest of large coastal sharks in federal waters, out to 60 fathoms (roughly 30 to 40 miles offshore), from Pea Island to Cape Fear from Jan. 1 to July 31 each year. The ban is designed to reduce bycatch of the endanger dusky shark and juvenile sandbar sharks, for which NMFS has determined are being overfished. Originally the ban was to be for all waters between Delaware Bay and South Carolina but the final version was for a ban only off North Carolina's coast. The NC Marine Fisheries Commission and the Joint Legislative Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture last week gave their blessings for the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources to push forward with litigation against the NMFS. More on the shark ban is available from the Sun Journal.

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