Steve McKagan of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s habitat conservation division said although it was hard to determine the right size for every species, the tournament participants managed to conform the size of their catch to the derby standard which was not heavier than a pound.
Although they had been spearfishing for years, not too many participants know exactly which size of fish was in the reproductive size, McKagan said. So the Size Matters advocates provided them with the best available information.
The Size Matters campaign, McKagan said, is voluntary. It is neither a new law nor a new regulation. “The idea is just to provide information that a lot of fishermen even those experienced ones have not heard about,” he added.
Hopefully, he said sports fishing aficionados will know which size of fish to catch.
In order for the campaign to continue, sports fishing contestants can show that their catch is in “compliance” by submitting life-size pictures of each fish.
Monthly contest
As the Size Matters campaign continues, its organizers will give out prizes.
Everybody can participate.
“We’re going to review photos probably monthly or every two months. Then, we are going to decide the winners,” McKagan said.
The entries will be used as models for educational brochures and posters.
“There will be pretty big prizes we are going to give to the winners on a monthly basis,” McKagan said, adding that they want to maintain the momentum in bringing information to the public.
According to the Size Matters website, http://sizematterscnmi.blogspot.com, there are about 40 or more of the most commonly caught reef fish in waters surrounding the CNMI.
Aside from McKagan, the Size Matters core team consists of people from the Division of Environmental Quality and the Division of Fish and Wildlife.
They make the campaign possible with help from federal and local partners as well as non-profit groups.
“I want thank all of them,” McKagan said. “It is really a diverse team and each is trying to bring a lot of ideas together.”
He added, “If more people will volunteer, then we can really help fishery here and help the reef.”
