Marine Fisheries Commission meeting in Kitty Hawk this week
After being delayed due to last month’s winter storm, the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission will hold its first meeting in Dare County since 2018 on Wednesday and Thursday at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kitty Hawk.
Due to the delay, the agenda has been condensed from three to two days for the nine-member panel that oversees regulation of fishing in the marine and estuarine waters of North Carolina.
Commercial and recreational fishing advocates and local leaders have been calling for the commission to hold at least one quarterly meeting per year in the northeast corner of the state.
The panel’s previous chair had been content with just holding their meetings along the central coast, including in New Bern, Beaufort, and Emerald Isle in 2024.
That met the commission’s statutory requirement that at least three meetings each year in coastal regions, and one meeting in Raleigh.
The Dare County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution in February 2024 calling for at least one meeting be held annually in the county that produces the state’s highest volume of seafood and value.
Former Marine Fisheries Commission chair Rob Bizzell, a pharmacist from Kinston and recreational fishing appointee by former Gov. Roy Cooper, told The Virginian Pilot following the Dare resolution that he preferred a centralized location to give “equitable access”, and would not make changes.
Bizzell’s term on the commission expired at the end of last June. The panel is now led by Sammy Corbett, a commercial sector representative from Hampstead who had previously served as chair in the late 2010s.
The location of the other three meetings, scheduled for May, August and November this year, have not been finalized, according to the MFC website.
Topping the agenda of this month’s meeting in Kitty Hawk is final adoption of the state’s Spotted Seatrout (speckled trout) Fishery Management Plan Amendment 1; approval of the draft Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 4 for public and advisory committee review; review public comment and selection of preferred management options for the Oyster Fishery Management Plan Amendment 5 and Hard Clam Fishery Management Plan Amendment 3.
Dare County commissioners passed a resolution last month calling on the Marine Fisheries Commission to reconsider cuts to the quota for speckled trout, and more equitably divide it between the commercial and recreational sectors.
The Marine Fisheries Commission also plans to adopt final rules on simplifying pot marking regulations, False Albacore management, and an interstate wildlife violator compact.
An update on Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan Amendment 3 Adaptive Management, and a presentation by NOAA officials on the Marine Recreational Information Program, were to take place at the meeting in February but have been pulled from this week’s agenda.
The meeting will begin at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12, with a public comment session. The commission will also hold a public comment session at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12, to allow additional opportunity for in-person comments; however, due to schedule constraints, the commission will vote on some agenda items prior to the 6 p.m. comment session. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. on Thursday, March 13.
The following information pertains to the in-person public comment sessions:
- Those who wish to speak may sign up at the hotel prior to the public comment period.
- To accommodate as many speakers as possible, the chair will limit each speaker to 3 minutes.
- Those making comments will be asked to speak only once, either at 2 p.m. or at 6 p.m. but not during both public comment periods.
- Those who wish to submit handouts to the commission during the public comment period should bring at least 12 copies to the meeting.
The public may also submit written comments via the following methods:
- An online form accessible through the Marine Fisheries Commission Meetings webpage.
- Mail to Marine Fisheries Commission Meeting Comments, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, N.C. 28557.
- Dropped off at the Division of Marine Fisheries’ Morehead City Headquarters Office at 3441 Arendell St., Morehead City.
The deadline to submit written comments for this meeting is 4 p.m. on Monday, March 10. Those who submitted comments for the February meeting, which was postponed due to inclement weather, need not submit them again.
The meeting will be livestreamed on YouTube. The link will be posted on the Marine Fisheries Commission Meetings webpage. After the meeting, a recording will be posted online.
The full agenda and briefing book are posted on the Marine Fisheries Commission Meetings webpage.
