Gill net fishing in North Carolina may be coming to an end due to federal and environmental concerns about sea turtles, but commercial fishermen are not going down without a fight.
In an effort to reach a compromise that will save North Carolina’s gill net fishing industry the Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) voted to continue to allow large mesh gill net fishing, restricting it to four days a week.
The MFC had been considering eliminating large mesh nets from May 15 to Dec 15 to prevent interactions with sea turtles.
That may not be enough to keep gill nets in NC waters however, said the state’s top fisheries official.