The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm.
The meeting began and noted that there was one new attendee to welcome this month.
First, the board provided a financial report by John McClain. Next, Jim Spatharos gave a report on the membership; the club membership to date is 81 paid members.
It’s that time of year when we ask that members update their membership for the following year. The cost is $20.00 for the year. Most of the funds support operating costs, events, and refreshments at the meetings.
Reminder about the Christmas Party.
The party will be held Wednesday, December 6th at 6:00 pm. The last day to sign up is November25th. The cost is $10.00 per person. Smithfield chicken and side dishes to be provided. Pulled pork is being donated by one of the club members. If everyone could bring a small appetizer or dessert that would be great.
We are also having a White Elephant/Dirty Santa gift exchange. To participate bring a wrapped gift in the $25.00 range and join in the fun!
Harvey and Steve Allen Harrop Mike McHale
Lucas and Ami Lucas
Next, a presentation was provided by Lucas Pensinger and Ami Staples, they are Marine Biologist with the Department of Marine Fisheries of North Carolina. The topic of the evening was Fish Tagging.
The multi-species fish tagging program began in 2014. They developed standards for tagging procedures and data collection across species. The tagging studies help the biologist assess fish populations by providing various information such as migration patterns, habitat use, population structure growth rates and mortality rates be it by nature or by fishing. The fish are tagged at different times of the year, for example Stiped Bass are tagged April through May during spawning season, and October through May around Cape Fear only.
The species of fish that are tagged are Striped Bass, Red Drum, Flounder, Spotted Sea Trout and Cobia.
Several agencies are commissioned to tag fish such as university researchers in partnership with commercial pound netters, volunteer taggers under the guidance of the NCDMF (North Carolina Department of Fisheries) and NCWRC (North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission).
A minimum of 1,500-2,500 fish get tagged annually with a yellow tag which is a low reward tag. As fishermen catch a tagged fish, rewards can be offered if the tagged fish is reported to the NCDMF. Some of those tags are red and pay $100.00 reward for reporting the catch. Some fish are tagged with two tags in case one falls off mainly from growth. Yellow tags have a small reward such as a $5.00 item like a hat or fish towel for reporting the catch.
It was pointed out that Spotted Sea Trout can migrate anywhere from 35 to nearly 300 miles.
Lucas spoke about one of the fish tagged-G05144, had not been caught for 1099 days, that’s just over 3 years. At the time it was caught and tagged the fish was 17 inches and then 3 years later when it was caught by a fisherman, it had grown 6 inches and had traveled some 148 miles during that time.
There are tens of thousands of tagged fish of various species out there. Perhaps in the near future we can help out in the tagging program if there is enough interest in the club to do so.
It was a very informative night. Lucas and Ami did a great job!
The 50/50 drawing was won by Harvey Pye. He generously donated $30.00 of his win to the Warriors fund.
Local fish catches: Some of our group went to Fort Macon for surf fishing and we caught several species of fish such as Lizard fish, Puffers, Pin fish and Art caught 3 flounders. Steve caught the largest Pin Fish ever! Craig Myler must have been nearby because he took a BIG picture of the fisherman’s catch!
The Club meeting ended at 8:30 pm and the social gathering began.
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