April 15, 2021 — North Carolina Marine Fisheries Proclamation FF-25-2021 opens the recreational cobia fishery in coastal fishing waters effective May 1, 2021. The recreational season will remain open through Dec. 31, 2021.
The proclamation maintains the season for the commercial cobia fishery.
For the recreation fishery, the size limit is 36 inches fork length or greater with a possession limit of one per person per day.
April 7, 2021 — The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission voted to amend the previously adopted sector allocations for Amendment 3 to the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan to gradually equalize allocations between the commercial and recreational fisheries.
The commission voted to change the allocation to 70% commercial and 30% recreational in 2021 and 2022, 60% commercial and 40% recreational in 2023 and 50% commercial and 50% recreational in 2024, states a media release from Division of Marine Fisheries.
In February, the commission had selected sector harvest allocations of 70% commercial and 30% recreational for the duration of Amendment 3. That allocation was similar to the harvest landed by each sector in 2017, the terminal year of the stock assessment on which draft management measures in Amendment 3 are based.
April 7, 2021 — NOAA Fisheries announces the final rule for Regulatory Amendment 34 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region. The final rule will create 34 special management zones around artificial reefs off North Carolina and South Carolina.
There will be additional gear and harvest restrictions within the proposed special management zones. The purpose of the gear restrictions is to reduce adverse effects to federally managed species at these sites.
WHEN THIS RULE WILL TAKE EFFECT:
Regulations will be effective May 3, 2021.
SUMMARY OF CHANGES:
April 5, 2021 — More than 3,000 crab pots were collected from coastal waters earlier this year during a collaborative effort to address marine debris.
The Commercial Fishing Resource Fund Program provided $115,599 for the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project, which was headed up by the North Carolina Coastal Federation, to hire 60 commercial watermen and women to collect lost crab pots in January from the Virginia line to Cape Carteret.
Pots typically end up lost as the result of weather and can become hung in structures such as bridges or drift into channels over time, increasing the likelihood of buoy detachment by vessel traffic.
“We all take great pride in our livelihoods and waterways. In my opinion, this project has been unbelievable in helping keep our waterways clean and to make sure that the crab mortality rates continue to remain low, since removing the gear also frees any fish or crabs left behind,” said Mike Mixon, who has been fishing for 36 years and docks in Wanchese.
March 29, 2021 — The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission is making plans to protect and preserve the southern flounder population off North Carolina’s coast, but its decision on how it will allocate the supply between recreational and commercial fishermen is causing people to get upset.
“The stock is in trouble, big trouble,” said the chair of the commission, Rob Bizzell, “And we’re looking at an overall 72 percent reduction in the take, which is significant. Some people are scared that the stock is going to collapse, and when the stock collapses, there’s no hope for recovery. We’re trying to avoid that.”
The commission is working on limiting the amount of the catch in a single season to around 500,000 fish. A recent vote by the commission to give the commercial industry approximately 70 percent of that supply and the recreational fishermen 30 percent of that supply is upsetting some.
“I got almost 900 letters of concern about the 30/70 allocation,” Bizzell said. “And, you know, for every one letter you get, good gracious, probably 20 or 30 individuals who feel the same way, but just don’t take the effort to speak up.”
March 25, 2021 — The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will meet by web conference on March 31 beginning at 1 p.m.
The public may listen to the meeting by phone or listen and view presentations online.
For to the link and phone number to join the meeting go to the Marine Fisheries Commission Meeting webpage.
Members of the public may submit written comments to the commission in two ways:
Public comment will not be accepted during the meeting or through email.
Following the meeting, an audio recording will be posted online.
March 24, 2021 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:
North Carolina Fisheries Stakeholders
Coastal Carolina Riverwatch seeks your valued input and participation in a new program that will be developed by fisheries stakeholders to benefit fisheries in North Carolina – Water Quality for Fisheries (WQ4F) Program.
The WQ4F program, through the development of an inclusive Industry Working Group, will determine, from the fishing communities, what water quality issues are impacting our fisheries, will evaluate current water quality programs and research in coastal North Carolina, and will collaboratively develop outreach for coastal citizens and visitors to better understand water quality impacts on fisheries and what all of us can do in our daily lives to help improve coastal water quality.
As a valued member of the fishing community, we look to you for your guidance, input, and participation in this process by attending a series of facilitated Industry Working Group stakeholder meetings.
Please register for the first Stakeholder meeting to be held on Wednesday, April 7th from 4:30 – 6:00 PM.
This will be a virtual (Zoom platform) meeting with participation by phone available. We will begin the meeting at 4pm to troubleshoot with those who need assistance with connecting to the Zoom meeting. Click here to register.
Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to working with you to protect and improve our fisheries for today and for future generations.
March 16, 2021 — For a state heavily dependent on Navy operations and tourism to drive its economy, particularly in Hampton Roads, Virginia should welcome efforts to permanently ban oil and gas exploration off the coast.
The prospect of drilling rigs perched in the Atlantic — with their perpetual threat of environmental calamity — should send shivers across the commonwealth, and a new push to enact a ban deserves Virginia’s enthusiastic endorsement.
Rep. Donald McEachin, a Democrat representing Virginia’s 4th Congressional District, introduced a bill barring the Interior Department from issuing leases for exploration or production of oil or gas off Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and Delaware. McEachin has introduced similar legislation in the past, but it got nowhere.
In recent years, the fate of drilling off Virginia’s coast has been swinging in the partisan political winds.
March 5, 2021 — Two local lawmakers are taking different approaches, but they share the common goal of restoring the state’s troubled flounder fishery. And they have both rejected a call by the state wildlife agency to impose a season on the popular species.
A bill by state Rep. Lee Hewitt that would reduce the catch limit from 10 to five flounder and increase the size limit from 15 to 16 inches was approved by a House subcommittee this week. The bill now moves to the Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs committee.
The bill also allows anglers to keep only one flounder larger than 20 inches. A female that size can lay a million eggs.
“That would help the fishery come back quicker,” Hewitt said. “I’m trying to get more eggs in the system.”
State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch plans to take a different approach in a bill he intends to file.
“My bill is going to end up increasing the cost of a fishing stamp by a few bucks,” he said. The money, which he estimated at $1.2 million annually, will be used to create a flounder fish hatchery.
March 3, 2021 — Recreational and commercial fishermen may see new requirements for circle hooks on a species-by-species basis in the future.
The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission met online Feb. 25 via Webinar, during which the commission unanimously agreed to maintain current circle hook requirements while considering additional rules on a species-by-species basis through the fishery management plan process. Circle hooks are a type of gear recommended by conservationists and marine scientists to reduce dead discards.
N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries Executive Assistant for Council Steve Poland delivered a report on a commission-requested study on the effectiveness of barbless circle hooks. According to the report, current scientific opinions support the use of hook modifications to reduce discard mortality.
“The general consensus is the science supports circle hooks,” Mr. Poland said. “However…science also suggests not all circle hooks are created equal.”
Existing state and interstate regulations require circle hooks for some fisheries, but not all. The DMF requires them in areas of Pamlico Sound when fishing for red drum. Meanwhile, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission requires non-offset circle hooks when fishing for sharks in state waters and when using natural bait to fish for striped bass in the Atlantic Ocean. The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council also has some circle hook regulations, requiring the hooks when fishermen are in possession of snapper-grouper species in South Atlantic Ocean waters.