Division of Marine Fisheries officials have opened the public comment period on draft amendments to the management plans for eastern oyster and hard clam fisheries.
“The goal of the fishery management plans is to manage the resource to maintain wild populations to provide long-term harvest and continue to offer protection and ecological benefits to North Carolina estuaries, “officials said Wednesday in the announcement.
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Previous plans for both addressed wild harvest and shellfish aquaculture. Now that shellfish leases, aquaculture and franchises are under the division’s shellfish lease and aquaculture program, amendments to these two management plans only apply to wild harvest. Additionally, stock assessments have not been completed for these species due to data limitations, according to the division.
There is no stock assessment for status determination of eastern oyster or hard clam. Both draft amendments discuss the need to establish a way to quantify recreational shellfish effort and landings and to establish a mechanism to provide all recreational shellfish harvesters with health and safety information.
Draft oyster amendment 5 recommends establishing deep-water oyster recovery areas in the Pamlico Sound, Pamlico River and Neuse River that would not be open to mechanically harvesting oysters. Officials said this “is to allow these reefs to accumulate shell material to gain the height necessary to be resilient to storm events.”
The amendment also recommends for the Pamlico Sound linking mechanical oyster harvest management to the division’s cultch planting effort and increasing the number of cultch planting sites.
The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission voted during its November 2024 business meeting to send the draft amendments out for public comment and advisory committee review.Â
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Comments must be submitted by 5 p.m. Jan. 15, 2025, either by through the online form or by mail to Draft Oyster/Clam FMP Amendments Comments, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, NC 28557. The public also has the option to speak during any of the following advisory meetings:
- Northern Regional Advisory Committee 6 p.m. Jan. 7, Dare County Administration Building in Manteo.
- Southern Regional Advisory Committee 6 p.m. Jan. 8, Division of Marine Fisheries Central District Office in Morehead City.
- Shellfish/Crustacean Advisory Committee 6 p.m. Jan. 9, Department of Environmental Quality Washington Regional Office in Washington.
- Habitat and Water Quality Advisory Committee 6 p.m. Jan. 15, Division of Marine Fisheries Central District Office in Morehead City.
