Saving Seafood

NORTH CAROLINA: Pilot project extends summer red snapper season 62 days

May 6, 2026 — Recreational red snapper season will be open 62 days this summer for anglers willing to take part in a pilot project designed to monitor the tightly regulated fishery.

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries is one of four Southeastern states to receive a federal exempted fishing permit, or EFP, that lets anglers take part in testing out a data-collection program that will use a mobile application to monitor the recreational red snapper season. The hook-and-line-only season will be July 1-Aug. 31.

Anglers who would like to participate must dowwnload the VESL mobile application to receive a copy of the EFP, which they will be required to keep throughout the season. Participants must agree to record their red snapper harvest and discard information.

Read the full article at CoastalReview.org

NORTH CAROLINA: Webinar set on developing new blue crab stock assessment

April 28, 2026 — A webinar is scheduled for late May to share with the public steps in the process to develop a new benchmark blue crab assessment, intended to better understand population dynamics and determine the fishery’s stock status.

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries is holding the online meeting 6-8 p.m. Thursday, May 28, via WebEx. Register online to join the webinar. There will be a listening station in the division’s office in Morehead City as well.

A 2018 benchmark stock assessment indicates the state’s blue crab stock is overfished, which means that the population size is too small, and overfishing is occurring, which means that the removal rate is too high.

There was a 2023 stock assessment update but division staff and external peer reviewers identified concerns with model specifications and results, so the assessment is not being used for management,” officials said. “However, available data from Division sampling and monitoring programs indicate a continued decline of the Blue Crab stock. The Division has started the process of developing a new benchmark stock assessment.”

Read the full article at CoastalReview.org

NC Division of Marine Fisheries urges fishermen to complete license, permit renewals early

April 24, 2025 — The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries began renewing commercial fishing, seafood dealer and for-hire licenses and permits on April 15, and the division is asking fishermen go ahead and get this business done in April or May.

Those who renew in these months may find reduced wait times, as opposed to those who wait until late June, noted a DMF news release.

Another way to avoid long lines is to renew by mail or drop-box or schedule an appointment for April or May. Those with appointments will be given priority over walk-ins.

Read the full story at The Coastland Times

NORTH CAROLINA: NCDMF Distributes $4.3M in CARES Funds to Commercial Fishing and Seafood Industry Participants

March 4, 2022 — Commercial fishermen and seafood dealers in Carteret County and elsewhere in North Carolina are getting $4.3 million in federal assistance for income losses due to COVID-19.

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries announced Feb. 17 more than $4.3 million in financial relief is on its way to eligible members of the fishing industries who sustained income losses from March to December of 2020, during the ongoing pandemic.

During the week of Feb. 14-18, the division issued funds to 265 commercial fishermen and marine aquaculture operations, for-hire fishing operations, seafood dealers and processors deemed eligible for relief from the federal North Carolina Consolidated Appropriations Act Fisheries Relief Program, or CARES Act II.

According to DMF, in Carteret County, $612,763.33 in CARES funding was sent to 67 recipients. Of these recipients, 53 were commercial fishermen or aquaculture operations, three were for-hire fishermen and 11 were seafood dealers or processors.

Read the full story at Seafood News

North Carolina Accepting Applications for Round 2 of Fisheries CARES Act Funding

August 20, 2021 — Monday, Aug. 16 was the starting date for accepting N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries applications for the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act (CARES Act II) Fisheries Relief Program. There will be financial assistance available for seafood dealers, processors, commercial fishermen, marine aquaculture operators, and for-hire fishing operators. However, financial assistance will only be available to for-hire fishing operators who have a revenue loss greater than 35% in 2020.

The application packets are available through the Economic Relief Programs website linked here.

Read the full story at Seafood News

North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries accepting applications for CARES Act II relief

August 18, 2021 — Members of the seafood industry in Carteret County and elsewhere across the state may apply to the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries for financial relief.

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is accepting applications for the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act, also known as the CARES Act II, Fisheries Relief Program. The financial assistance is available to eligible commercial fishermen and marine aquaculture operators, seafood dealers and processors and for-hire fishing operators who can document a greater than 35% revenue loss in 2020 compared to the previous five-year average due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The division mailed application packets to eligible license, lease and permit holders. Application packets are available online at deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/marine-fisheries/grant-programs/economic-relief-programs or at division offices for eligible stakeholders who are not licensed by the division. In Carteret County, the DMF headquarters is located at 3441 Arendell St. in Morehead City.

Read the full story at the Carteret County News-Times

NORTH CAROLINA: Fisheries-related coronavirus relief funding available

August 17, 2021 — The state Division of Marine Fisheries is accepting applications for the second round of federal coronavirus pandemic relief for seafood-related operations.

Commercial fishers, marine aquaculture operators, seafood dealers and processors and for-hire fishing operators who can document a revenue loss of more than 35% last year compared to the previous five-year average due to COVID-19 are eligible to apply for the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act, or CARES Act II, Fisheries Relief Program, the agency announced. The deadline is Oct. 1.

Application packets are on the division’s Economic Relief Programs webpage or at division offices for eligible stakeholders who are not licensed by the division.

The state is to receive $4.5 million in federal relief to be distributed through direct payments to fisheries-related groups affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding is in addition to the $5.4 million in federal fisheries coronavirus relief distributed in the state earlier this year.

Read the full story at Coastal Review Online

North Carolina commercial fishermen landed less seafood in 2020

July 23, 2021 — Commercial fishermen sold nearly 20% less fish and shellfish to North Carolina seafood dealers in 2020, a decline from the previous year that’s being blamed on the state’s stay-at-home order brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, a state agency said Friday.

A news release from the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries says commercial fishermen sold 42.9 million pounds of fish and shellfish last year, a 19% decline from 2019 and about a 23% decrease from the previous five-year average.

The decline was linked to a 41.3% decrease in hard blue crab landings from 2019 that may have been partly due to impacts from COVID-19. The division said it heard from several fishermen who said they found it difficult to move blue crabs at the beginning of the state’s stay-at-home order when many restaurants were closed.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

North Carolina adjusts flounder seasons to rebuild stocks

June 23, 2021 — The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries announced Wednesday it has adjusted the recreational and commercial flounder seasons for 2021 to ensure a sustainable fishery.

In 2019 the Division of Marine Fisheries recommended, and the Marine Fisheries Commission approved, substantial harvest reductions in the flounder fishery to rebuild the southern flounder stock. The season adjustments are necessary to meet that goal, the division said.

The recreational flounder season will open Sept. 1 and close Sept. 14 in internal and ocean waters of North Carolina. The minimum size limit will remain at 15 inches total length, and the creel limit will remain at four fish per person per day during the open recreational season.

Since all species of flounder are managed under the same recreational regulations, the recreational season applies to all recreational flounder fishing.

Read the full story at Coastal Review Online

NC to limit flounder seasons again, leaving fishermen in disbelief

May 21, 2021 — North Carolina is trying to slow down flounder fishing on the coast, but leaders of the effort say some fishermen still aren’t doing their part.

To protect the population, the state’s planning on tightening the net on flounder fishing even further.

“There’s definitely been an impact, that’s for sure,” Sound-N-Sea Morehead charter captain Matt Paylor said. “It’s got some people in a whirlwind.”

In fall 2019, North Carolina’s Division of Marine Fisheries said flounder were being over fished, and that anglers needed to be allowed to catch only about a quarter the amount of fish they were catching to get the population back to a healthy size.

Read the full story at WRAL