State fisheries regulators rejected a proposed ban on large mesh gill nets used for flounder fishing, but adopted other restrictions Thursday to reduce the incidental capture of sea turtles in fishing nets.
Now the state and fishermen are holding their collective breath, waiting to hear if the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) will decide the measures offer adequate protection to sea turtles.
"I don't believe they (NMFS) will accept this," said Louis Daniel, director of the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF).
NMFS put the state on notice in July that it was not in compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) after observing the incidental capture of turtles in flounder nets in Core Sound. All five species of turtles – green, loggerhead, leatherback, Kemp's ridley, and hawksbill – found in North Carolina are listed as either endangered or threatened.