October 1, 2026 — Jamie and Paul Lane had expected to spend their week before Christmas fishing for perch in the Albemarle Sound. Instead, restrictions on gillnet use led to them losing an important part of their season.
A Dec. 17, 2025, proclamation from the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries restricted gillnets across Management Unit A under the state’s federal permit for protecting endangered Atlantic sturgeon and sea turtles. Jamie Lane said four observed sturgeon interactions in a small-mesh fishery were extrapolated to nearly 85 estimated takes, threatening to shut the fishery down.