Saving Seafood

NORTH CAROLINA: Applicants needed for southern flounder advisory committee

March 27, 2026 —  Commercial and recreational fishermen, scientists, nongovernmental organization representatives and others with an expertise in southern flounder have an opportunity to guide the latest amendment to the state management plan for the fishery.

Applications are due by April 10 to volunteer to serve on the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 5 Advisory Committee.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries will work with the advisory committee to develop the amendment intended to address the Marine Fisheries Commission’s request to expand recreational access to the flounder fishery while continuing to rebuild the southern flounder stock, as well as issues in the commercial fishery.

Read the full article at CoastalReview.org

NORTH CAROLINA: Wind farm deal off Wilmington coast canceled. Here’s why.

March 26, 2026 — With the political climate, at least in Washington, working against it, a French energy giant has cut a deal with the Trump administration to cancel its offshore wind lease off Southeastern North Carolina for investing an equal amount in fossil fuels.

The agreement by TotalEnergies is another move that brings into stark question the chance of any wind farms rising in the waters off the Cape Fear coast − at least in the short term.

It also is another front opened by the White House on the future of offshore wind, an energy source that President Trump, a Republican, has vocally criticized since his first term in office.

“The Trump Administration is spending nearly $1 billion in taxpayer money to pay off a company to stop investments in the clean energy we need,” N.C. Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, said on a social media post. “This is a terrible deal for the people of North Carolina and our country.”

Read the full article at Star News Online

 

Trump administration’s $1B deal to stop offshore wind shows an evolution in its anti-wind strategy

March 25, 2026 — The Trump administration’s $1 billion payout to a French energy company to walk away from U.S. offshore wind development is a novel tactic against the industry that supporters see as creative — but opponents see as foolish and extreme.

The Interior Department announced Monday that TotalEnergies agreed to what is essentially a refund of its leases for projects off the coasts of North Carolina and New York, and will invest the money in a liquefied natural gas export terminal in Texas and other fossil fuel projects instead. The department hailed it as an “innovative agreement” with the French energy giant so that the “American people will no longer pay for ideological subsidies that benefited only the unreliable and costly offshore wind industry.”

The tactical shift comes after federal courts have thwarted President Donald Trump’s efforts to stop offshore wind through executive action.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the payment “sets a dangerous precedent and is a shortsighted misuse of taxpayer dollars.”

Robin Shaffer, president of the anti-offshore wind group Protect Our Coast New Jersey, applauded what he called “out of the box” thinking. Shaffer said after losing in the courts, the administration needed a way to take back leases that never should have been issued because of the harm offshore wind development causes to the marine environment.

Read the full article at The Associated Press

Trump administration to pay French company $1B to walk away from US offshore wind leases

March 24, 2026 — The Trump administration will pay $1 billion to a French company to walk away from two U.S. offshore wind leases as the administration ramps up its campaign against offshore wind and other renewable energy.

TotalEnergies has agreed to what’s essentially a refund of its leases for projects off the coasts of North Carolina and New York, and will invest the money in fossil fuel projects instead, the Department of Interior announced Monday.

President Donald Trump’s administration has tried to halt offshore wind construction, but federal judges repeatedly overturned those orders.

The Interior Department hailed the “innovative agreement” with the French energy giant and said, “the American people will no longer pay for ideological subsidies that benefited only the unreliable and costly offshore wind industry.″

Environmental groups denounced the deal as an alternate way to block wind projects, with one group calling it a “billion-dollar bribe” to kill clean energy.

Read the full article at The Associated Press

NORTH CAROLINA: Northeast N.C. fishermen want a voice in the science that controls their future

March 11, 2026 — When it comes to being a fisherman, it’s about much more than getting out on the water and bringing home fresh seafood. There are regulations that come into play to prevent overfishing populations in North Carolina waters.

But over the years, fishermen have questioned the stock assessments that lead to restrictions on their catch, feeling they see plenty of the regulated fish out on the water throughout the year.

“They manage us based on the results of a stock assessment. The last thing you want is for somebody to come back and say, oops, we were wrong. They put you out of work, you couldn’t send your kid to college, you couldn’t pay your mortgage,” said Glenn Skinner, executive director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association.

Skinner is a lifetime fisherman and one of a handful to voice concerns in person about stock assessments to the Marine Fisheries Commission in late February in the Outer Banks, saying the regulations impact the everyday fisherman’s bottom line.

Read the full article at WTKR

Fishing lawsuit could reshape NC’s coastal industry. Here’s the latest

March 9, 2026 — Closing arguments have been made in a case in Raleigh that could help determine the future direction of how North Carolina manages its fisheries.

But it still could be several months before the Wake County Superior Court judge makes a decision.

The Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina is suing the state alleging that it hasn’t effectively maintained its fisheries, which are considered a natural resource to be managed for the benefit of all North Carolinians.

After several court wins for the association against moves by the state to dismiss the case, which was filed in 2020, the trial began Jan. 20.

Read the full article at Star News Online

NORTH CAROLINA: Is the NC Legislature about to take another shot at a shrimp trawling ban?

March 5, 2026 — The fishing community and many on the Outer Banks breathed a major sigh of relief in June 2025 when a NC Senate measure that would have imposed a shrimp trawling ban died in the NC House.

The hard-fought victory came after protestors opposed to the measure—which would have banned trawling in all of the state’s inland waters and within a half-mile of the Atlantic shoreline—showed up in force in Raleigh to pressure legislators. The Outer Banks Voice – Shrimp trawling ban dies in NC House this session

Read the full article at the Outer Banks Voice

States could net control of red snapper season

February 17, 2026 — The Trump administration is taking steps toward shifting regulatory authority over red snapper in Atlantic Ocean federal waters to states, a move that some state leaders have argued is necessary to sustain their sportfishing economies.

NOAA Fisheries announced Wednesday it would open a 25-day comment period on “exempted fishing permits” for Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

The permits would allow the states to “test new data collection methods and strategies for state-led management of the recreational red snapper fishery,” the agency said.

Read the full article at E&E News

Debate grows over NOAA plan to expand snapper access

February 13, 2026 — Today, NOAA Fisheries announced that they are accepting public comments on applications for Exempted Fishing Permits (EFPs) from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

These permits propose to extend recreational fishing seasons for vulnerable red snapper in the South Atlantic. Overfishing drove the red snapper population to just 11 percent of its historical abundance; in response, seasons were reduced as part of a rebuilding plan set to last through 2044.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NOAA leaps forward on collaborative approach for red snapper

February 11, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries announced today a major collaborative step toward boosting red snapper recreational fishing opportunities in the South Atlantic. The agency invites public comments on applications for Exempted Fishing Permits (EFPs) from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The EFPs are designed to test new data collection methods and strategies for state-led management of the recreational red snapper fishery.

This 25-day public comment period marks an important step in NOAA’s review and consideration of management strategies for the recreational harvest of red snapper, which will balance sustainability and economic benefits. These actions are also expected to increase opportunities for American recreational fishermen.

Read the full article at NOAA