Saving Seafood

NORTH CAROLINA: Committee to select candidates for Mid-Atlantic council

October 13, 2025 — North Carolina candidates for the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will be selected next week during a meeting of the state Marine Fisheries Commission Nominating Committee.

The committee is scheduled to meet by webinar at 5 p.m. Oct. 20.

The Mid-Atlantic Council consists of 21 voting members, including a federal representative, constituent states’ fish and wildlife agencies, and 13 private citizens with knowledge about recreational or commercial fishing, or marine conservation. The council also includes four nonvoting members who represent the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of State, and Coast Guard.

Read the full article at CoastalReview.org

NORTH CAROLINA: Fishermen rally at Blessing of the Fleet

October 8, 2025 — As commercial fishing boats processed past crowds gathered for the annual Blessing of the Fleet at Radio Island, North Carolina, on Sunday, fishermen made their feelings clear about recent state legislation efforts to ban shrimp trawling. Nearly 30 vessels hoisted signs reading: “NC SEAFOOD FOR ALL. NO TRAWL BAN.”

The push to ban shrimp trawling came unexpectedly earlier this year. In June, the proposed legislation ultimately failed, thanks to what Carolina Coast Online describes as “massive protests by area commercial fishermen, their families and other supporters.” The protest reflects a united front from the state’s fishing families following the failed legislation.

According to an article from National Fisherman from June 25, House Bill 442, originally drafted in the lower House of the legislature to set fishing seasons for southern flounder and red snapper, was amended June 18 and passed by the state Senate to include the trawl prohibition. That ignited intense protests from shrimp fishermen and supporters, who suspected the Coastal Conservation Association of using the amendment as a vehicle.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Storm warnings for Carolina shrimpers

September 30, 2025 — On the Outer Banks, everybody’s cell phones are buzzing with mandatory evacuation orders, but Hurricane Erin has turned northeast, and not a lot of people are on the move. In Pamlico Sound, it’s business as usual as Gregory Brooks steers his 40-foot shrimp boat, the Rebait, alongside the dock at Newman’s Seafood in Swan Quarter, North Carolina.

He’s got a nice load of mixed shrimp aboard, brown and white, or green tail as they’re called. “Right now, the season’s changing,” Brooks says. “From the brown to the white.” He and his uncle, Tommy Brooks, have been out for less than 24 hours and they’ve landed more than 30 baskets.

“They had 2,200 pounds,” says Michelle Newman, manager of Newman’s Seafood. “That’s not bad for the time they were out.” According to Newman, her family’s packing house has about five or six boats that come in every week. There are about 15 packing houses here in Hyde County,” she says. “Others have more boats. Only the smaller ones can get up in here.”

When a boat comes into Newmans, the crew comes down from the village of Swan Quarter to snap the heads off the shrimp. “It’s money for them to buy school clothes for their kids and things,” says Newman.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Study Challenges Theory Behind N.C. Blue Crab Decline

September 24, 2025 — In a new study, researchers from North Carolina State University compared numbers of juvenile blue crabs across three nursery habitats in Pamlico Sound, both pre- and post-fishery decline, and found that while adult populations declined and have remained low, juvenile populations remained the same during both periods. The work points to a potential population bottleneck for crabs post-nursery but pre-maturity.

The Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System (APES) supports the majority of North Carolina’s blue crab population and provides key nursery habitat. Larval blue crabs are released by mature female crabs from narrow inlets along the Outer Banks during the late spring, progressing through several planktonic molts in the Atlantic Ocean before returning to the estuary in the fall through a combination of wind- and storm-driven transport. The newly arrived juvenile crabs settle in near-shore habitats, like seagrass beds and shallow marsh peat habitats, along the eastern and western shores.

“These juveniles hang out in the nurseries until they’re basically big enough to pick a fight and win, then they move into the rest of the estuary,” says Erin Voigt, a Ph.D. candidate at NC State and first author of the study.

Read the full article at NC State University News

NORTH CAROLINA: Fighting for a fishing future

September 23, 2025 — Fate brought Mark Vrablic to Wanchese, N.C., at a young age. He grew up in the Etheridge family – more specifically, he grew up in the Willie R. Etheridge Seafood Co. Established in 1936, the Etheridges’ fish company has seen decades of history in southeast and Mid-Atlantic fisheries.

On a hot August afternoon, Vrablic, now manager of Etheridge Seafood, is sitting upstairs in his office, contemplating the past and the future and how he can help keep the North Carolina commercial fishing industry alive and healthy. “I ain’t got time, buddy,” he says when I first arrive. “Come back when I got some boats in and I’m in a better mood.”

But Vrablic is always ready to fight for the industry he’s given his life to. As soon as he answers one question, he’s engaged and telling the story of change on the Wanchese waterfront, a story he hopes the Willie Etheridge Seafood Company will survive.’

Read the full article at the  National Fisherman

NORTH CAROLINA: Coastal Counties Fisheries Coalition stresses lawmaker education as top priority

September 17, 2025 — Educating state and county lawmakers on ways to best serve North Carolina’s commercial fishing industry will be among the top priorities of the newly-formed NC Coastal Counties Fisheries Coalition (CCFC).

The group is made up of county leaders from the state’s coastal regions who have joined together to address critical issues surrounding the state’s fishing industry and advocate for their interests in Raleigh.

The coalition was formed in response to recent legislative efforts to ban shrimp trawling and other perceived threats. In June, a late amendment to House Bill 442 sought to prohibit shrimp trawling along inshore waters and within a half mile of the coast. It was abandoned after hundreds of commercial shrimpers and their supporters protested in Raleigh in opposition to the bill.

The CCFC held its first meeting on Aug. 5 at the Crystal Coast Civic Center and met for the second time on September 16 at the same location.

A total of 12 county representatives were on hand for Tuesday’s meeting. The coalition prioritized the key issues impacting fisheries that they hope to address, including education, water quality decline, fishing/crabbing limits, trip limits, predation management, consumer marketing and increasing the transparency of data from the Marine Fisheries Commission.

The coalition agreed to appoint members to serve on sub-committees that will focus on each of the priority topics.

Read the full article at NEWS TIMES

NORTH CAROLINA: North Carolina coastal leaders unite to tackle fishing industry challenges

September 17, 2025 — Coastal county leaders from North Carolina convened at the Morehead City Civic Center for the second meeting of the North Carolina Coastal Counties Fisheries Coalition. The coalition aims to create a united front to address issues impacting the state’s commercial fishing industry.

During the meeting, leaders set priorities for the coalition, identifying education, water quality, and predator management as the top three concerns. Chris Chadwick, who was sworn in as vice chairman of the coalition, highlighted the challenges facing the industry.

Read the full article at WCTI

NORTH CAROLINA: North Carolina coastal leaders unite to tackle fishing industry challenges

September 16, 2025 — Coastal county leaders from North Carolina convened at the Morehead City Civic Center for the second meeting of the North Carolina Coastal Counties Fisheries Coalition. The coalition aims to create a united front to address issues impacting the state’s commercial fishing industry.

During the meeting, leaders set priorities for the coalition, identifying education, water quality, and predator management as the top three concerns. Chris Chadwick, who was sworn in as vice chairman of the coalition, highlighted the challenges facing the industry.

“Our crab species has become predators of other fish, our water quality runoff, and certain things like that are affecting the nursery areas,” said Chadwick. “Certainly educating our fellow legislatures in the western part of the state who may not be familiar with coastal issues like shrimping and fishing.”

Read the full article at WCTI

NORTH CAROLINA: Fisheries ax pound net trip limits for commercial operations

September 5, 2025 — The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries has removed the pound net trip limits established previously for this year’s commercial fishing season in estuarine waters.

The division announced the commercial fishing season Aug. 26, and explained at the time that “all pound net management areas will open for the harvest of flounder with initial trip limits.”

The limits were 500 pounds for the northern area, which is north of the Pamlico Sound, 1,000 pounds for the central area that includes the Pamlico Sound and its tributaries, and 500 pounds for the southern management area that is from Core Sound to the South Carolina line.

Officials revised the pound net limits and sent out the updated information Friday, explaining that “all pound net management areas will open for the harvest of flounder without initial trip limits.

” Opening dates for the three areas did not change. The northern area is to open Monday, Sept. 15, and the central and southern management areas are to open Oct. 1.

Read the full article at CoastalReview.org

NORTH CAROLINA: A 38-year research project in Pamlico Sound ends with fisheries boat breakdown

August 27, 2025 — Nearly four decades of research ended this year because a dwindling budget in the state Division of Marine Fisheries left its research boat out of commission.

Scientists have trawled the Pamlico Sound netting fish and crustaceans since 1987.

But the boat, named the Carolina Coast, won’t go out in 2025.

“This is the end of the data set. There’s nothing we can do about that. It’s over,” said Kathy Rawls, who directs the Division of Marine Fisheries.

Rawls broke the news about the rotting and leaking 41-year-old boat last week to the Marine Fisheries Commission, a policy-setting board appointed by the governor.

“We lack the resources to repair or replace the vessel,” she said. “As you can imagine, that is a huge blow.”

Doug Rader, an oceans scientist serving on the commission, said the news is “close to catastrophic.”

Read the full article at WUNC