Saving Seafood

NORTH CAROLINA: Commission to vote on southern flounder harvest allocation

August 11, 2025 — The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission is expected to vote next week on an amendment that will evenly split the southern flounder fishery allocation 50/50 between commercial and recreational fishers.

If the commission adopts Amendment 4 to the state’s Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan, the new allocation would go into effect this year.

Commissioners are also set during their Aug. 20-21 meeting in Raleigh to take a vote on setting the annual cap on standard commercial fishing licenses through the eligibility pool, and electing a vice chair.

The commission is expected to discuss draft Amendment 5 to the Southern Flounder management plan and hear a presentation on the current trends in the commercial and recreational sectors on the state’s sheepshead fishery and potential next steps for exploring changes to that fisheries management.

Read the full article at CoastalReview.org

NORTH CAROLINA: On the Outer Banks, a shrimp ban would rewrite menus — and livelihoods

August 8, 2025 — In a kitchen that runs on the tide, Vicki Basnight’s crew was cleaning 300 pounds of shrimp ahead of the dinner rush. Basnight, who calls herself the “jack of all trades” of the restaurant, has spent three decades serving North Carolina seafood at Basnight’s Lone Cedar Café and, each fall working the water herself.

“I also do commercial fishing during shrimping season,” she said. “We are a rare breed that still commercial fish as women. To me, it’s in my blood.”

As lawmakers in Raleigh debate whether to restrict shrimp trawling in inshore waters, Basnight says the fight is personal. The shrimp she buys is harvested in the same sounds she grew up on.

“I love it. I love every bit of being on the water. It’s not like work to me,” she said. “It’s always been in the Roanoke Sound and that’s just been a passion of mine. It’s heritage. Really, everything I learned, I learned from my granddad.”

That heritage, and the local supply chain it supports, was thrust into uncertainty this summer when a last-minute amendment in the General Assembly sought to ban shrimp trawling in North Carolina’s sounds and within a half-mile of the coast. The measure, which supporters said would protect fish habitat, passed the Senate but stalled in the House. Senate leader Phil Berger has said the push is not over.

Read the full article at WRAL

NORTH CAROLINA: Coastal communities host first meeting to advocate for commercial fishing industry

August 6, 2025 — The North Carolina Coastal Counties Fisheries Coalition had its first meeting to advocate for commercial fishing and working waterfronts.

The coalition is made up of nearly 20 county leaders from across Eastern North Carolina, all looking to advocate for the local fishing industry. The first meeting’s goals were to adopt a mission statement, discuss organization and identify share priorities.

Read the full article at WNCT

NORTH CAROLINA: New coalition aims to unify coastal voices against restrictive fishing regulations

August 6, 2025 — Commercial fishing is one of eastern North Carolina’s most important industries. Leaders from across the region met today to protect local fishermen.

The idea came about after the latest fight against legislation to regulate shrimping along our coast, proposals that fishermen say would have put them out of business.

Leaders from North Carolina coastal counties met here at the Crystal Coast Civic Center to form the North Carolina coastal counties fisheries Coalition. The goal of this new coalition is to create a united front for battling issues that affect the state’s commercial fishing industry

Commercial fishing is the lifeblood of coastal North Carolina. Fishing is especially susceptible to regulations that fishermen say limit their ability to make a living.

Read the full article at WCTI

NORTH CAROLINA: Group forms to represent commercial shrimpers’ interests

July 29, 2025 — More than half of North Carolina’s 20 coastal counties will be represented at the launch of what commercial shrimping advocates envision as an organization poised to fight for the industry in Raleigh.

The inception of the North Carolina Coastal Counties Fisheries Coalition is set to kick off in an Aug. 5 meeting in Morehead City, where coastal-based local and state elected officials and their constituents are invited to converge, discuss and formulate a plan to combat what they deem politically charged threats to commercial fishers.

“Bottom line, simple mission statement: We want to provide fresh, local seafood for our citizens and visitors and protect the livelihoods and families that harvest it,” said Dare County Board of Commissioners Chair Bob Woodard. “We’re going to do everything humanly possible to protect our commercial fishermen.”

The meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. in the Crystal Coast Civic Center’s main hall, 203 College Circle.

The idea to form a coastwide coalition to defend and protect the state’s commercial fishing fleet sprouted fresh on the heels of a fierce fight that ensued in the North Carolina Legislative Building in late June.

That’s when a last-minute amendment to ban shrimp trawling in inland and nearshore coastal waters was tucked into a House bill originally authored to expand recreational access to southern flounder and red snapper. A companion bill, House Bill 441, was gutted and revised to establish a program that would pay out annual installments over three years to qualifying shrimpers.

Read the full article at Island Free Press

NORTH CAROLINA: Blue crabs from North Carolina could be harder to find, too

July 28, 2025 — Fans of Maryland blue crabs have known they have been difficult to find in recent years, and that many of the crabs at fish markets and restaurants are from North Carolina and Louisiana.

Now, North Carolina is considering restrictions that could drop the annual harvest by 21%.

According to the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries, North Carolina has historically provided 22% of the annual blue crabs catch since 1950. In 1996, watermen in North Carolina caught 65 million pounds of blue crab.

Read the full article at WTOP

NORTH CAROLINA: A ban nearly crushed NC shrimpers. Why they embrace the life they fight to keep.

July 23, 2025 — All was still on the New River near the Davis Seafood fish house. But when 83-year-old William “Buddy” Davis walked out of his home and pulled on tall rubber boots, it signaled the work was about to begin.

Not far from tourist-filled beaches of Topsail Island, the Davis family began preparing for the homecoming of the 58-foot Capt. Davis and more than 10,000 pounds of shrimp it harvested from the South and Neuse rivers.

Jody Davis, co-owner of the Sneads Ferry fish house, hosed down the concrete floor and filled a metal vat with water. Using a skid-steer loader, he scooped buckets of ice into large bins.

Soon Capt. Billy Davis, one of Jody’s older brothers, was docking his boat between two others with the help of his crew — both kin.

Then the unloading began. Tons of brown shrimp were washed, counted, weighed and packed with ice into boxes ready to be sold or shipped. Everyone, including Jody’s father-in-law, who’s allergic to shrimp, pitched in.

As the packing continued, Billy Davis stepped ashore to get a closer look.

“I love shrimping,” he said. “It gives me that competitive thing that I need, where sports used to give it to me. Now I try to catch as many shrimp as I can.”

In a surprise move last month, state legislators almost banned shrimpers from trawling state waters including the Pamlico Sound and the Neuse River.

Members of the Davis family were among those who rushed to Raleigh to help defeat the ban. For now, they are back shrimping.

“It’s just not what it used to be, but it’s really the only thing we know,” Jody Davis said. “So we’re going to do it as long as we can.”

But how long he can continue is not clear. Families like his are fighting to preserve a job — and a way of life — that has supported them and their ancestors for generations.

Some challenges have been around for years. Recreational fishing advocates and conservationists accuse shrimpers of killing fish and damaging coastal habitats. Required to protect fisheries, state regulators limit where, when and how they can trawl.

Often cheaper shrimp imported from Ecuador, Indonesia and Vietnam have flooded the U.S. market, making it harder for North Carolina shrimpers to sell their catches for a decent price.

In a surprise move last month, state legislators almost banned shrimpers from trawling state waters including the Pamlico Sound and the Neuse River.

Members of the Davis family were among those who rushed to Raleigh to help defeat the ban. For now, they are back shrimping.

“It’s just not what it used to be, but it’s really the only thing we know,” Jody Davis said. “So we’re going to do it as long as we can.”

Read the full article at the News & Observer

Commercial fishers and businesses challenge US federal red snapper plan over dead discards

July 16, 2025 –A group of commercial fishers, seafood processors, and buyers from the U.S. states of North Carolina and Florida have filed a lawsuit against the federal government’s management of the Southeast Atlantic red snapper fishery, claiming that regulators are not adequately taking action on dead discards from the recreational sector.

“This case challenges the ongoing lack of accountability for dead discards of red snapper in the South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper fishery, which directly harms commercial fishermen in that region and violates the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act,” the lawsuit states.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NORTH CAROLINA: Several counties respond to Dare County proposal for coastal fisheries coalition

July 15, 2025 — In the wake of Dare County Commissioners Chair Bob Woodard’s proposal to form a coastal coalition to protect the commercial fishing industry, several counties have already responded positively.

Woodard made the proposal in a July 3 letter to the board chairs of 19 NC coastal counties, after a measure to ban shrimp trawling in the state’s inland waters and within a half mile of the Atlantic shoreline was killed by the NC House on June 25. He also suggested that the coalition kick off with a meeting in August at “a central location.”

According to Dare County Public Information Director Dorothy Hester, as of Friday, July 11, Dare County had heard from five counties. Two of the counties, Craven and Currituck, have appointed a representative to the coalition. Three others, Brunswick, Carteret and Tyrell, are placing it on their boards’ next meeting agendas for action.

Read the full article at Outer Banks Voice

NORTH CAROLINA: NC shrimp trawling ban bill saga ends

July 11, 2025 — House Bill 442, introduced in April, aimed to extend the recreational flounder fishing season to six weeks and establish a year-round red snapper season with catch limits.

The bill passed the House in May with bipartisan support and was sent to the Senate. After that, the bill’s focus shifted dramatically when the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Energy, and Environment met June 17.

During that meeting, Sen. David Craven (R-Randolph) proposed a committee substitute with a ban on shrimp trawling in all inshore waters, including sounds, estuaries, rivers and within a half mile of the Atlantic shoreline. The change, which would go into effect Dec.1, proposed making it a Class A1 misdemeanor for violating the bill’s ban.

Environmental groups like the North Carolina Wildlife Federation and North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission supported the change, citing rates of bycatch of juvenile fish and various marine habitat damage.

The shrimp industry, including the North Carolina Fisheries Association and Southern Shrimp Alliance, opposed the ban. They argued that 70-80% of shrimp come from inshore waters, and many small boats can’t operate offshore. Also cited were existing regulations addressing environmental concerns, like weekend trawling bans and nursery areas closed since 1978.

The Senate’s changes were added without prior notice to House sponsors or the shrimp industry. The Senate passed the amended bill June 19 with a 39-4 vote.

Coastal area Sens. Tom Lazzara (R-Onslow) and Norman Sanderson (R-Pamlico) voted against it in committee. Lazzara and Sen. Bobby Hanig (R-Currituck), who also opposed the change, were not present at the Senate vote sending the measure to the House.

Read the full article at North State Journal