The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is accepting comments from the public on proposed management changes to reduce blue crab harvest in the state to end overfishing and rebuild the overfished stock. Draft Amendment 3 to the Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan contains several proposals to achieve sustainable harvest as well as additional blue crab [...] Fishing |  Full Article

At a September 12 meeting in Hatteras Village, Steve Poland and Randy Gregory from the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (NCDMF) explained how Spanish mackerel are managed, described the major past management actions, and presented information on landings, gear, number of trips, and number of participants, based on N.C. trip ticket information. Wanchese commercial fisherman [...] Fishing |  Full Article

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is asking fishermen to keep a close eye on the progress of Hurricane Dorian and to start getting ready for the storm now. Weather forecasts show high risk of heavy rain, strong winds and dangerous storm surge along the North Carolina coast later this week. Governor Roy Cooper has [...] Fishing |  Full Article

The recreational and commercial southern flounder seasons will close Sept. 4 in North Carolina waters. The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission made the decision at its meeting last week, adopting the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 2 as proposed by the Division of Marine Fisheries. The commission did give the director of the Division of [...] Fishing |  Full Article

A meeting will be held Thursday, September 12, 4 PM, at the Hatteras Village Community Building for commercial fishermen to identify ways to improve management of the Spanish mackerel fishery. Fishermen will have an opportunity to review landings and other data and discuss short-term and long-term management options with Steve Poland and Randy Gregory from [...] Fishing |  Full Article

As affected parties may already know, the commercial Spanish mackerel fishery for the Northern Zone, (North Carolina and north), closes this weekend.  The closure, along with the new flounder regulations, will deal a harsh blow to many fishermen and fish houses on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands, and we need to propose solutions that could prevent this [...] Fishing |  Full Article

The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) voted 6-3 on Friday morning to adopt the Draft Amendment 2 to the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan, with three additional amendments made to the current draft that were voted on in separate motions. An amendment to the current Draft Amendment 2 was passed in a 9-0 vote to [...] Fishing |  Full Article

Commercial harvest of Spanish mackerel will close at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, in state and federal waters. The fishery is closing because the regional commercial quota has been met. The National Marine Fisheries Service projects that commercial landings have reached the 662,670-pound quota for the Atlantic Migratory Group Spanish Mackerel Northern Zone, which runs [...] Fishing |  Full Article

On Thursday, the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) voted 5-4 against a rulemaking petition that would have placed certain conditions on shrimp trawling in order to reduce the bycatch of juvenile fish such as spot, Atlantic croaker and grey trout. The petition, put forth by the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, asked the commission to [...] Fishing |  Full Article