New Ga. shrimping rules give break to cast-net anglers

<p>Commercial and recreational shrimpers who use cast nets get a break under new rules signed into law by Gov. Sonny Perdue.</p><p>They are being allowed to use modified cast nets, which have duct tape along the edges or incorporate lawn chair webbing to help keep the net open longer as it sinks through the water.</p><p>That allows the net to catch more shrimp.</p><p>"I expect we will see an increase in the number of cast-netters now that we're allowing modified nets. In the past a lot of people got out of cast-netting because they couldn't use those nets," said Spud Woodward, assistant director of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Coastal Resources Division in Brunswick.</p><p>The revisions signed into law by Perdue on Tuesday were meant to simplify and clarify the state's regulations. They follow two years of study and debate involving cast net-shrimpers, commercial trawler operators, environmental activists and Natural Resources biologists.</p><p>Georgia's commercial and recreational shrimping season is expected to open in mid-June. Because of drought conditions, the shrimp will stay in the estuaries at least until then, or until rain triggers their migration offshore, Woodward said.</p><p>Trawler operators, who are banned from the sounds, contend that shrimp in the sounds frequented by cast-netters breed and fuel the shrimping industry. They are concerned that modified nets could allow over-fishing.</p><p>By law, only 200 commercial cast-net shrimping licenses are available each year. Historically, about 100 licenses are used each year, said Doug Haymans, Coastal Resources Division special projects coordinator.</p><p>"There were 82 commercial cast net licenses in 2006," Haymans said. "I expect we will see all 200 licenses used this year."</p><p>Recreational cast-netters don't need a license in Georgia, where most cast-net shrimping is done in the late summer and fall.</p><p>Although a modified cast net increases the efficiency, it doesn't guarantee a cast-netter will harvest the limit each time. The shrimp population also is protected because the Natural Resources commissioner has the authority to shut down the industry within 24 hours if necessary, Woodward said.</p><p>Rangers will continue checks while on patrol, as well as investigate complaints about possibly illegal shrimping, said Capt. Stephen Adams, who oversees the department's coastal law enforcement division.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x2dec690)</p>