September 17, 2025 — Educating state and county lawmakers on ways to best serve North Carolina’s commercial fishing industry will be among the top priorities of the newly-formed NC Coastal Counties Fisheries Coalition (CCFC).
The group is made up of county leaders from the state’s coastal regions who have joined together to address critical issues surrounding the state’s fishing industry and advocate for their interests in Raleigh.
The coalition was formed in response to recent legislative efforts to ban shrimp trawling and other perceived threats. In June, a late amendment to House Bill 442 sought to prohibit shrimp trawling along inshore waters and within a half mile of the coast. It was abandoned after hundreds of commercial shrimpers and their supporters protested in Raleigh in opposition to the bill.
The CCFC held its first meeting on Aug. 5 at the Crystal Coast Civic Center and met for the second time on September 16 at the same location.
A total of 12 county representatives were on hand for Tuesday’s meeting. The coalition prioritized the key issues impacting fisheries that they hope to address, including education, water quality decline, fishing/crabbing limits, trip limits, predation management, consumer marketing and increasing the transparency of data from the Marine Fisheries Commission.
The coalition agreed to appoint members to serve on sub-committees that will focus on each of the priority topics.