State fisheries regulators want to know what the public thinks about a commercial ocean hook-and-line season for striped bass.
Earlier this month, the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission decided to take the idea to regional advisory committees as a possible alternative to ocean trawling with nets.
Trawling created an uproar this winter after thousands of discarded fish were seen dead on the water and pictures and videos circulated on the Internet.
The commission also went on record as opposing pending legislation that would designated striped bass, as well as red drum and speckled trout, as game fish, effectively putting it off limits to commercial fishing, according to a statement from the state Division of Marine Fisheries.
Read the complete story from The Outer Banks Voice.