Landings to be limited to one per vessel

The ocean needs more sharks, say federal fishery managers.

In an effort to rebuild the populations of several shark species, a new slate of regulations goes into effect Friday, with more changes coming in February.

The rule changes, aimed at cutting annual catch levels for large coastal sharks by 45 percent, will settle seven years of lawsuits lodged by environmental groups and others.

"Now we can get these much-needed regulations in place to strengthen our rebuilding plan for large coastal sharks and to manage all Atlantic sharks for the long-term benefit of the species and the nation," said Bill Hogarth, director of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries (formerly known as the National Marine Fisheries Service), in a statement.

Effective Friday, recreational fishermen may possess only one large coastal shark per vessel per trip, with a minimum size-limit of 4 1/2 feet.

A recreational boat also can take one bonnethead shark, with no size limit. Only hook-and-line gear can be used to take sharks recreationally.

Shark species covered by the one-shark-per-trip recreational limit include the nurse, lemon, bull, tiger, hammerhead, sandbar, silky, blacktip and spinner.

New rules, commercial rules and quotas also will be imposed. Including in those is a closure off North Carolina for commercial vessels with bottom longline gear. That January-to-July closure takes effect Jan. 1, 2005, in an area deemed a critical breeding ground for sandbar and dusky sharks.

The slate of changes seeks to shorten the timeframe for rebuilding the population of all large coastal sharks to 26 years. Previous goals were 30 to 39 years, depending on the species.

"The 2002 stock assessments for large and small coastal sharks included some good news about these species. In the large coastal complex, blacktip sharks have been rebuilt and sandbar sharks are no longer overfished," said a NOAA report. "However, the assessment showed this complex as a whole was overfished and overfishing was still occurring."

Most sharks reproduce slowly but are considered an essential part of the marine ecosystem.

Nineteen shark species are fully protected and may not be landed by fishermen. All 19 species have been identified for protection since 1997. These sharks include the white, whale, Caribbean reef, basking, sand tiger, bigeye sand tiger, white, dusky, night, bignose, Galapagos, narrowtooth, longfin make, bigeye thresher, seven-gill, sixgill, bigeye sixgill, Caribbean sharpnose, smalltail, and Atlantic angel sharks.

Updated shark-regulation brochures will be printed.

Information on the rule changes can be seen online at: www.nmfs.noaa.gov; or call (301) 713-2347.

Anglers fishing for sharks offshore are required to hold a federal permit, and must report landings within 24 hours. For information, go to www.nmf spermits.com.