Striped Mullet FMP - NC Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources
Striped Mullet FMP - NC Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources
Striped Mullet FMP - NC Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources
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6.1.9 Major gear types used in the fisherySeines <strong>and</strong> gill nets have been the two primary gear types involved in the fishery sincethe earliest documented l<strong>and</strong>ings in 1887. From 1887 to 1978, 60% <strong>of</strong> the total commercialharvest was l<strong>and</strong>ed by seines <strong>and</strong> 39% from gill nets (Figure 6.13). Gill net l<strong>and</strong>ings were largerthan seine l<strong>and</strong>ings in only five <strong>of</strong> 50 years <strong>of</strong> available l<strong>and</strong>ings data during this time period(Chestnut <strong>and</strong> Davis 1975; DMF unpublished data). The seine fishery dominated early l<strong>and</strong>ingsfrom 1887 to 1934, accounting for 61% <strong>of</strong> the total harvest (36% from gill nets). Total gill netl<strong>and</strong>ings exceeded seine l<strong>and</strong>ings (56% to 44%) for a short period, from 1937 to 1940. Seinesagain accounted for most <strong>of</strong> the fishery harvest (62% <strong>of</strong> total l<strong>and</strong>ings) from 1950 to 1978 (gillnets were responsible for 37% <strong>of</strong> total l<strong>and</strong>ings).100%90%Gill Nets Seine Other Gears80%% Total L<strong>and</strong>ings70%60%50%40%30%20%10%0%20021992198219721962195219421932192219121902189218821872YearFigure 6.13. Gear trends in the striped mullet fishery; proportion <strong>of</strong> total yearly l<strong>and</strong>ingsharvested by gill nets, seines, <strong>and</strong> other gears (Chestnut <strong>and</strong> Davis 1975; Bureau<strong>of</strong> Fisheries; DMF).Gill nets replaced seines as the dominant gear type in the fishery in 1979 (Figure 6.13).Its yearly proportion <strong>of</strong> the total fishery l<strong>and</strong>ings has steadily increased over the past 24 years.By 2001, 94% <strong>of</strong> total l<strong>and</strong>ings were harvested by gill nets, 4% from seines, <strong>and</strong> 1% from castnets.More detailed l<strong>and</strong>ings data with respect to fishing gears became available in 1994 dueto the creation <strong>of</strong> the <strong>NC</strong>TTP. The number <strong>of</strong> gears reported in the striped mullet fishery morethan doubled between the periods <strong>of</strong> 1972-1993 <strong>and</strong> 1994-2002, from 16 to 34 different geartypes. A maximum <strong>of</strong> three gears are recorded by <strong>NC</strong>TTP for each trip ticket <strong>of</strong> l<strong>and</strong>ings (since1994). However, <strong>NC</strong>TTP does not allocate harvest weight to each individual fishing gearreported on the trip ticket when multiple gears are listed. Therefore, unambiguous l<strong>and</strong>ingsfrom trip tickets with only one listed gear <strong>of</strong> harvest were used to proportionally allocate l<strong>and</strong>ings36