Source: NCDEQ, 819/22
Governor Roy Cooper recently announced three
new appointments to
the commission: Donald Huggins, Doug Rader, and Ana Shellem. Huggins fills an
at-large seat, Rader fills the scientist seat, and Shellem fills a commercial
fisherman seat.
In business, the Commission tabled further action on the Estuarine Striped Bass
Fishery Management Plan Amendment 2 until its November business meeting. The action followed lengthy discussion that primarily focused on
gill net prohibitions in the upper Neuse and Pamlico river systems. After two
failed votes to adopt the amendment: one with the gill net prohibition, and one
without the gill net prohibition, the Commission determined more consideration was
needed before final adoption of the plan was considered. Amendment 2 was jointly developed by the Division of Marine
Fisheries and Wildlife Resources Commission and contains management measures to address
sustainable harvest in the Albemarle Sound and Roanoke River management areas
and the Tar-Pamlico, Neuse, and Cape Fear rivers. Adaptive management was implemented earlier this year based on the
current stock assessment which indicated the Albemarle-Roanoke Striped Bass
stock is overfished and overfishing was occurring. The Division is currently
updating that assessment to determine if further management measures are
necessary for the conservation of the stock. Estuarine striped bass management will continue as prescribed by
Amendment 1, including the temporary management measures related to possession
limits and the use of large mesh gill nets in the upper Neuse and Pamlico river
systems, until Amendment 2 is adopted. In other business, the Commission: =
Endorsed
sending a letter to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council in support of
maintaining the management measures under the Dolphin Wahoo Fishery Management
Plan Amendment 10, as it believes that the proposed management measures under
the Dolphin Wahoo Regulatory Amendment 3 are inequitable to North Carolina.
Additionally, the letter will state that the Commission supports further
assessment of the impacts of climate and other factors on dolphin stocks. =
Asked
the Division of Marine Fisheries to update its 2017 white paper on false
albacore with current fishery data and to frame potential management options
for future consideration. =
Adopted
the River Herring Fishery Management Plan information update. This update did
not make any management changes. =
Set
the annual cap on the number of commercial fishing licenses available through
the Eligibility Pool at 500. =
Re-elected
Commissioner Doug Cross as vice-chairman. =
Approved Notice of Text to begin the rulemaking process to amend the “Mutilated Finfish” rule (15A NCAC 03M .0101) and to readopt the “Marinas, Docking Facilities, and Other Mooring Areas” rule (15A NCAC 18A .0911). Public hearings on these rule changes will be announced at a later date.
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