Draft Addendum II to the Atlantic Sturgeon FMP

[NCangler]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, MARCH 16, 2005
PRESS CONTACT, TINA BERGER (202)289-6400
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission

Draft Addendum II to the Atlantic Sturgeon FMP Approved for Public Comment
Addendum Explores Commercial Aquaculture in North Carolina

The Commission’s Atlantic Sturgeon Management Board approved Draft Addendum
II to Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic
Sturgeon for public review and comment. The Draft Addendum provides
exemptions to Amendment 1 to allow a commercial aquaculture operation in
North Carolina. Specifically, the exemptions will permit importation of
Atlantic sturgeon from Canadian sources and allow possession, production,
and sale of cultured fish by a private company in North Carolina.

Amendment 1 establishes a moratorium on harvest and possession of Atlantic
sturgeon to allow for recovery of spawning stocks to population levels that
will provide for sustainable fisheries and viable spawning populations.
The target of the Amendment is to have at least 20 protected age classes of
females in each spawning stock, which may take 20 to 40 years from
initiation of the moratorium. Historically, the United States supported a
large market for Atlantic sturgeon products. Draft Addendum II seeks to
reestablish part of that market by providing a domestic product through an
environmentally and socially sound aquaculture operation.

Copies of Draft Addendum II are available via the Commission’s website at
www.asmfc.org under Breaking News or by contacting the Commission at (202)
289-6400. Public comment will be accepted no later than 5 PM, April 29,
2005, and should be forwarded to Braddock Spear, Fishery Management Plan
Coordinator, 1444 Eye Street, NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, DC 20005; (202)
289-6051 (fax) or comments@asmfc.org (subject line: Atlantic Sturgeon).
*************************
Tina Berger
Public Affairs Specialist
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
1444 I Street. NW, Sixth Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202)289-6400
FAX: (202)289-6051
Email: tberger@asmfc.org
www.asmfc.org

ASMFC Vision: Healthy, self-sustaining populations of all Atlantic coast
fish species or successful restoration well in progress by the year 2015.