Source: NCDENR, 11/2/20 The N.C. Division of Marine
Fisheries and N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission are developing Amendment 2 to
the N.C. Estuarine Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan. The Division of Marine
Fisheries will hold a public scoping period Nov. 2-15, 2020 to solicit public
comments on potential management strategies for the upcoming amendment. There are two geographic management
units included in Amendment 2. The northern geographic management unit
comprises two harvest management areas: the Albemarle Sound Management Area and
the Roanoke River Management Area. The southern geographic management unit is
the Central Southern Management Area (CSMA) and includes all internal coastal,
joint, and contiguous inland waters of North Carolina south of the Albemarle
Sound Management Area to the South Carolina state line. The primary management strategy
for Amendment 2 is long-term sustainable harvest in the estuarine striped bass
fisheries. The benchmark assessment for the Albemarle Sound-Roanoke River stock
indicates the striped bass resource is overfished and overfishing is occurring.
There is no stock status determination for the CSMA stocks. Continuous stocking
efforts and lack of natural recruitment in these waters prevent the use of
traditional stock assessment techniques. A scoping document outlining the potential management strategies can be found on the division’s Information on Estuarine Striped Bass Amendment webpage. Beginning Nov. 2, members of
the public may submit written comments through an online form or through the
mail to N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, Striped Bass Scoping, P.O. Box 769,
Morehead City, N.C. 28557. Comments must be posted online or be received by the
N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries by 5 p.m. Nov. 15, 2020. Also, fisheries stakeholders
can provide live comments at two scoping meetings that will be held via web
conference Nov. 5 and Nov. 9. Both web meetings will begin at 6 p.m. and end on
schedule at 8 p.m. The public may join the meetings online; however, those who wish
to comment during the meeting must register to speak by noon on the day of the
meeting. Individuals will be allotted three minutes each for comment on a first-come-first-served
basis. Comments will continue in order of registration and be balanced across
management areas. Links to the scoping document, public comment questionnaire, and meeting information can be found on the division’s Information on Estuarine Striped Bass Amendment webpage.
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