Many thanks to Mel Bell, Robery Boyles, Angus McBride and a handful of other DNR biologists for the great discussion last night. After painting a life cycle picture of the sheepshead Mel went on to explain how, after Jan 1, 2012, there will be NO regulations on sheepshead in SC. That is inshore, nearshore and offshore. DNR will make a recommendation to the SC legislature that SC adopt a 12" min and a bag limit of 10 per person per day for recreational fishing, state and federal waters. This is based on the fact that the vast majority of sheepshead become mature by the time they reach 12" and spawn regularly. One hiccup here, our legislature has then got to approve this recommendation for this to become law and on the books. This could happen the first of the year, it could be delayed until the summer session or it could be voted down (depending on how the law is presented). All fishing regulations in SC are mandated by law, not just by DNR’s recommendation. This means we need to contact our representatives and encourage them to pass this resolution.
One thing that still worries me a little is the commercial sheepshead fishery. right now the commercial licensing in SC is so strictly regulated that there is only an annual commercial harvest of 300-400lbs per year. Florida and NC have much larger commercial harvests.
Kudos to SCDNR for getting “out in front” of the sheepshead regulation issue. I had a nice conversation with Robert Boyles afterwards and I told him it feels good knowing our state resources are being proactive in the fight to regulate this fishery and keep it viable for many years to come.
On a down side though I expected to see a lot more people there last night. Saltfisher and I both felt like that auditorium should have been full. Of the approx 15 people there, nearly half of them were DNR.
Bottom line is let’s encourage our state reps to make this into law and protects this fishery. Thanks DNR, you are on the right track.
The Morris Island Lighthouse www.savethelight.org
