News Release Archives: April 2019

Release: Immediate
Contact: Cameron Rhodes
Date: April 30, 2019
Phone: 843-224-7258

May 1st Triggers Opening of Shallow-Water Grouper
and Other Species in the South Atlantic

Check out the latest from the Council's website and download the
Fish Rules mobile app for easy access to regulations 

Spring is in the air — and that means fishing! Beginning May 1st, fishermen will have a few more species to target in South Atlantic federal waters (greater than 3 miles off the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and the east coast of Florida). May 1st marks the beginning of the shallow-water grouper season, following the annual spawning season closure from January 1st through April 30th.

Regulations also change for red porgy, greater amberjack, snowy grouper and several other species.

Check out the latest blog for more details.

Always Have the Latest Regulations with You!

Before heading offshore, download the Fish Rules mobile application. Then simply check for updates before your next fishing trip and you'll have the information with you no matter how far your fishing trip takes you. No signal? No problem. None required to access the correct information once the app is updated.

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Release: Immediate
Contact: Patricia Smith
Date: April 15, 2019
Phone: 252-726-7021

MEDIA ADVISORY:
Coastal Habitat Protection Plan Steering Committee

MOREHEAD CITY – The Coastal Habitat Protection Plan Steering Committee will meet at 1 p.m. April 23 at N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Washington regional office, 943 Washington Square Mall, Washington.

The meeting agenda includes a review the progress on priority fish habitat issues and discus upcoming flights to identify submerged aquatic vegetation.

For more information, contact Jimmy Johnson, coastal habitats coordinator with the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership, at 252-948-3952 or Anne Deaton with the Division of Marine Fisheries’ Habitat and Enhancement Section at 910-796-7311.

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Release: Immediate
Contact: Patricia Smith
Date: April 4, 2019
Phone: 252-726-7021

State creates no gill net corridor along ocean surf zone
to reduce bottlenose dolphin interactions

MOREHEAD CITY – North Carolina will create a no gill net corridor along the ocean surf zone later this month to reduce bottlenose dolphin interactions.

N. C. Division of Marine Fisheries Director Steve Murphey issued a proclamation today, effective April 22, expanding the current restriction on small mesh gill net use within 100 yards of the ocean surf zone to include large mesh gill nets.

For more specifics on the regulation, see Proclamation M-8-2019 .

The intent of prohibiting all gill net use within 100 yards from shore in the Atlantic Ocean is to provide a safe corridor along which bottlenose dolphins are known to travel.

This no gill net corridor is in accord with recommendations provided by a federal Bottlenose Dolphin Take Reduction Team. These recommendations were addressed in a November 2018 letter from National Marine Fisheries Service Southeast Regional Administrator Roy Crabtree.

Crabtree wrote that bycatch from commercial gill nets continues to exceed allowable levels for two North Carolina stocks of dolphins under the Bottlenose Dolphin Take Reduction Plan, which is required under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act. North Carolina estuarine stock dolphins are known to spend significant time in the surf zone foraging and traversing the area, Crabtree wrote.

This proclamation applies to large mesh and small mesh gill nets. Run around, strike or drop nets that are used to surround a school of fish and are then immediately retrieved are exempt from this restriction. Also, the restriction does not apply to stop nets, which are stationary nets used to trap schooling fish so that they can be harvested with a seine. Stop nets are managed under a different set of proclamations.

For more information, contact Lara Klibansky with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, at 252-808-808-8088.

nr-34-2019

Release: Immediate
Contact: Patricia Smith
Date: April 1, 2019
Phone: 252-726-7021

MEDIA ADVISORY: Workshops scheduled to train fish taggers

MOREHEAD CITY – The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries will hold two workshops this month to train current and prospective taggers in the proper methods of tagging fish.

The workshops are free, and all current and prospective taggers for the division’s Multi Species Tagging Program should plan to attend one of the two workshops scheduled for:

April 11 at 6 p.m.
N.C. Department of Environmental Quality
Washington Regional Office
943 Washington Square Mall
Washington

April 16 at 6 p.m.
UNCW Center for Marine Science
5600 Marvin K. Moss Lane
Wilmington

Division staff will also provide information on the purpose and expected benefits of the tagging program and highlight results from the previous five years of tagging. The workshop will be broken into two parts: a review of the program objectives and results; and hands-on tagging demonstration and training for all new and current taggers.

Division researchers use fish tagging to study the migration, growth, habitat use and population status of striped bass, red drum, spotted seatrout, southern flounder, and cobia in North Carolina. Fish tagging programs are a vital part of a fishery manager's tools for assessing fish populations.

For more information, contact Trevor Scheffel, marine fisheries biologist with the division, at 252-948-3867.

nr-33-2019

Release: Immediate
Contact: Patricia Smith
Date: April 1, 2019
Phone: 252-726-7021

Forty-one readopted rules effective today, but little changes

MOREHEAD CITY – Forty-one readopted fisheries rules become effective today, but very little will change.

The rules, re-adopted under a state-mandated periodic review schedule, are a portion of existing fisheries rules in 15A NCAC 03I, 03J, 03K, 03L, 03M, 03O, and 03R.

The primary changes:

• Bring the rule language pertaining to the For-Hire Coastal Recreational Fishing Licenses in 15A NCAC 03O .0112 into conformity with current state law.
• Alphabetize the permits and delete two obsolete permits in 15A NCAC 03O .0501 and .0503. The permits deleted are the Albemarle Sound Management Area for River Herring Dealer Permit; and the Permit to Waive the Requirement to use Turtle Excluder Devices in the Atlantic Ocean.

Other changes are technical in nature. For specific wording of the rule changes, see the April 1, 2019 Rulebook Supplement on the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission rules webpage. The May 1, 2015 Rulebook is incomplete without this supplement, as some rules and laws have changed.

This is the first of four Marine Fisheries Commission rule packages in 15A NCAC 03 to be re-adopted. Other portions will be up for re-adoption over the next three years. State law requires state agencies to review its existing rules at least once every 10 years.

For more information, contact Catherine Blum, rules coordinator for the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, at 252-808-8014.

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