The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will allow large gill net fishing four days a week in North Carolina waters as it attempts to decrease the fishery’s interaction with sea turtles to better comply with the National Endangered Species Act.
The commission met at New Bern Riverfront Convention Center to consider a proposed proclamation to eliminate gill fishing with nets larger than 3½ inch mesh from May 15 to Dec. 15 to limit interaction with endangered sea turtles.
Member Bradley Styron of Cedar Island, a commercial fisherman and dealer, said the proposed measure would essentially shut down the state’s flounder industry and seriously affect other commercial fish catches.
He proposed the compromise action that was approved in a 5-2 vote of the board on the third motion submitted by members who had listened to passionate pleas from members of the state’s fishing industry fighting for survival and winning a small, and possibly brief, victory.
Read the complete story at The New Bern Sun Journal.