Fig 1.
North Carolina (NC), USA coast and study areas within the Albemarle and Pamlico sounds.
Both study areas comprise NC Division of Marine Fisheries management units which may be closed to gill net fishing if the number of Atlantic sturgeon or sea turtle takes approach the seasonal or annual limits specified in the Incidental Take Permit for each species. PSGNRA = Pamlico Sound Gill Net Restricted Area.
Fig 2.
Observed catch per unit effort (CPUE) in the Albemarle Sound study area.
(A) Atlantic sturgeon CPUE and (B) American shad CPUE during the months of February-April from 2004–2006, 2008, and 2012–2016. Potential closures A-D are overlaid on the map.
Fig 3.
Observed catch per unit effort (CPUE) in the Pamlico Sound study area.
(A) Sea turtle CPUE and (B) southern flounder CPUE during the month of September from 2003–2014, and (C) sea turtle CPUE and (D) southern flounder CPUE during the months of September-December from 2003–2014. The corridor boundary lines X-Z are overlaid on the map. PSGNRA = Pamlico Sound Gill Net Restricted Area.
Fig 4.
Relationship between Atlantic sturgeon and American shad change in catch (%CIC) under each combination of closure and effort redistribution pattern in the Albemarle Sound study area.
Atlantic sturgeon versus American shad %CIC for all closures and possible effort redistribution patterns during the months of February-April from 2004–2006, 2008, and 2012–2016. Each combination of closure and effort redistribution pattern is represented by a color-shape combination. The four closures are each represented by a different shape; the four possible effort redistribution patterns and the weighted average of effort redistribution patterns 2–4 (A) are each represented by a different color. The possible effort redistribution patterns are 1) No redistribution, 2) Even redistribution, 3) Proportional redistribution, and 4) Exponential redistribution.
Table 1.
Observer coverage and reported Atlantic sturgeon and American shad catch in the Albemarle Sound study area during the months of February-April from 2004–2006, 2008, and 2012–2016.
Fig 5.
Relationship between sea turtle and southern flounder change in catch (%CIC) under each combination of closure and effort redistribution pattern in the Pamlico Sound study area.
Sea turtle versus southern flounder %CIC during a) September from 2003–2012 and B) September-December from 2003–2012. Each combination of closure and effort redistribution pattern is represented by a color-shape combination. The three closures are each represented by a different shape; the four possible effort redistribution patterns and the weighted average of effort redistribution patterns 2–4 (A) are each represented by a different color. The possible effort redistribution patterns are 1) No redistribution, 2) Even redistribution, 3) Proportional redistribution, and 4) Exponential redistribution.
Table 2.
Observer coverage and reported sea turtle and southern flounder catch in the Pamlico Sound study area during the month of September from 2003–2012.
Table 3.
Observer coverage and reported sea turtle and southern flounder catch in the Pamlico Sound study area during the months of September-December from 2003–2012.