The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission meets Sept. 13-14 at Carteret Community College in Morehead City.
fisheries
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.
State seeks requests for US boating infrastructure grants
The 2024 request for proposals is for a grant program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that reimburses up to 75% of costs for projects to build, renovate or maintain tie-up facilities and related amenities for recreational transient vessels that are at least 26 feet long.
Shellfish lease application period ends Aug. 1
Applications for 2023 must be either postmarked or dropped off at the Division of Marine Fisheries Headquarters Office in Morehead City by the deadline.
NC sets recreational flounder season for Sept. 15-29
Provisions for both the recreational hook-and-line and gig fisheries include a limit of one fish per person, per day, and a 15-inch total length minimum size.
Commission committees to review Fisheries Reform Act
The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission has scheduled an in-person workshop for its five advisory committees July 10 in the N.C. Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.
