Biologists are asking the public to report any sightings of blue land crabs, a nonnative species that looks like an enormous fiddler crab.
fisheries
Marine Fisheries Commission seeks to fill advisory seats
The Marine Fisheries Commission chairman appoints members to the advisory committees for three-year terms, and several terms will expire in January.
Attention NC seafood consumers: Consider the source
Proposed legislation, lawsuits, petitions, and other drastic efforts have been attempted that would deny coastal North Carolinians access to local seafood.
Edenton culvert upgrade to open up habitat for river herring
Funds from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will go to replace a culvert over an Edenton creek that will allow river herring to reach important spawning ground.
EMC to hear Coastal Habitat Protection Plan presentation
The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission meets Sept. 13-14 at Carteret Community College in Morehead City.
Division seeks comment on proposed oyster, clam plans
Division of Marine Fisheries officials are holding public meetings and accepting comments Sept. 11-22 on potential management strategies for the eastern oyster and hard clam.
State announces commercial estuarine flounder season
N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries officials announced Tuesday this year’s commercial estuarine flounder season dates by area and gear.
Court upholds that trawling doesn’t violate Clean Water Act
Federal court judges upheld last week a 2021 district court decision that commercial shrimpers can continue to harvest by trawler in the Pamlico Sound without a Clean Water Act permit.
Commission to discuss proposed mutilated finfish rule
N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission members will hear during its meeting Aug. 23-25 in Raleigh a presentation on the annual Fisheries Management Plan Review, and there will be a discussion and possible vote on the proposed mutilated finfish rule.
Comment period on DMF incidental take permit begins
The incidental take permit application and conservation plan was submitted to address sturgeon and sea turtle interactions in the state’s estuarine anchored gill-net fishery.
Abundant elsewhere, NC’s blue crab population dwindles
The state’s commercial harvests of blue crabs topped 67 million pounds in the mid ’90s, but there’s been a generally steady decline ever since, and while overfished, that’s not the only reason.
Comment deadline Oct. 2 on proposed fisheries rule changes
A public hearing is set for Aug. 16 in Morehead City for the 103 proposed rule changes to be considered by the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission for oyster sanctuaries, the shellfish lease program, and commercial shellfish sanitation.
State releases annual fishery management plan review
The state has released its fishery management plan review with 2022 updates on the 13 N.C.-managed fishery plans.
NC river toxins threaten subsistence fishing, tribal practices
An advisory alerting people to PFAS contamination in certain fish species that inhabit the middle and lower Cape Fear River basin brings more bad news for people living in the region.
Professional know-how a fisheries biologist’s fishing secret
A quarter-century career as a state fisheries biologist may give Chris Batsavage an edge on the water, but his personal database may be his most powerful advantage.
Hunt club challenges recently approved shellfish lease
The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission’s Shellfish Cultivation Lease Review Committee meets Tuesday to consider the club’s petition.