After months of springtime and summer repairs due to damage from multiple 2019 and early 2020 storms, the Avon Fishing Pier is ready to reopen to the public as of Friday, July 17, at 10:00 a.m. “We’re feeling really great about things that looked like, at one time, there was going to be no more [...] Fishing |  Full Article

A recent feasibility study on North Carolina’s shellfish mariculture industry recommends building three regional business incubators in Onslow, Carteret and Hyde counties to serve as hubs for startup shellfish growers and kick-start growth. Shellfish mariculture is the commercial farming of bivalve shellfish such as oysters, clams and mussels. With investment, there is potential to grow [...] Fishing |  Full Article

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries will collect red snapper carcasses from recreational fishermen during the upcoming red snapper season. Also, new gear requirements for the snapper-grouper fishery will go into effect shortly after the red snapper season opens. The division has set up four new freezer locations, in addition to the seven carcass collection [...] Fishing |  Full Article

by Robert Michelson Red drum, North Carolina’s official state saltwater fish, live in coastal and estuarine waters from Massachusetts to Mexico. The colors can range from a deep blackish, coppery color to almost completely silver. The most common color is reddish bronze. In 1971, the North Carolina General Assembly designated red drum as the state saltwater [...] Fishing |  Full Article

Summer is in full swing and is cruising right along. The weather is in typical summer fashion, with a chance of rain in some form most days of the week, and an ever-changing wind direction, but for this week, the weather looks amazing, with light and variable winds. The lighter winds are definitely welcome, as [...] Fishing |  Full Article

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries has extended the deadline to renew current commercial and for-hire fishing licenses by one month in response to COVID-19. Fiscal year 2019-2020 commercial fishing licenses, for-hire fishing licenses, and permits issued by the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries with an expiration of June 30, 2020 will remain valid until [...] Fishing |  Full Article

Oyster sales in North Carolina and other coastal states throughout the country tanked when restaurants halted dine-in service in March as part of the effort to curb the spread of COVID-19. “Everyone – East Coast, West Coast – once COVID-19 shut down restaurants pretty much all growers saw their sales drop between 95 and 100%,” [...] Fishing |  Full Article

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is accepting proposals for the Boating Infrastructure Grant Program (BIG) for federal fiscal year 2021. BIG is a grant program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that reimburses up to 75 percent of costs for projects that construct, renovate, or maintain tie-up facilities and related amenities for recreational [...] Fishing |  Full Article

The Shellfish Lease and Aquaculture Program at the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries has launched a new interactive mapping tool to assist the public in finding information about shellfish leases in North Carolina. Potential shellfish growers, riparian property owners, and others interested in shellfish leases can use the tool to find the location, size, and [...] Fishing |  Full Article