July 3, 2o25 — During a recent, failed push to ban shrimp trawling in North Carolina sounds, an opponent mentioned a study commissioned by the General Assembly expected to shed light on the state’s coastal and marine fisheries.
The report is now released and doesn’t take a stand on whether a trawling ban is needed to save fish populations or underwater habitats in this state’s coastal waters.
But it does bring several findings and recommendations related to fisheries in state-managed coastal waters, including the Pamlico, Currituck, Bogue and Core sounds. Among the most significant:
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North Carolina’s fisheries are “intensely managed,” and the level of management equals or exceeds intensity in other states throughout the Southeast, the Mid-Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.
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Despite that, North Carolina “continues to exhibit challenges” in protecting and enhancing coastal fisheries, including its southern flounder stock.
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North Carolina protects more than 80,000 acres of primary maritime nurseries in shallow estuaries by restricting commercial fishing activity and nearby development. Yet “there is no clear evidence” that this increases populations of juvenile fish and crustaceans as much as anticipated. And further study is needed to identify contributing environmental factors.
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State fisheries and coastal habitats are “under pressure from fishing, coastal and inland development, climate variability, and other human activities.”
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Fisheries’ health should be assessed by an ecosystem-based management approach, with quantitative “indicators” tracking pressures on estuary and coastal waters regularly measured and analyzed.
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The state should create a “Science and Statistical Committee” to set species-specific fish harvest control rules, one that makes use of new technologies and data collection to help guide its limits.