Monday, August 16, 2010

North Carolina Fishing Issues Meeting

The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will hold a public hearing Sept. 30 to receive comments on several proposed new rules.

The hearing will begin at 6 p.m. at the Craven County Cooperative Extension office, 300 Industrial Dr., New Bern.


The proposed rules will:

Reorganize the fisheries rulebook by removing repetitive or non-regulatory language in Subchapter 03H and relocating maps and marking regulations to Subchapter 03I;

Define the terms “corkline,” “headrope” and “lead” referred to in other rules;

Correct a cross-reference to a definition for coral and live rock (this will not change the definition);

Clarify that only those holding a Recreational Commercial Gear License that use pots authorized by the license are required to mark their pots with hot pink buoys;

Broaden the existing proclamation authority of the director of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries to maintain compliance with interstate regulations for horseshoe crabs;

Add a definition for pectoral fin curved fork length and allow bluefin tuna to be measured this way for consistency with federal regulations for commercially-caught tunas;

Allow for the head of a commercially-caught tuna to be removed at sea, making state rules consistent with federal regulations;

Require ocean fishing piers to submit a monthly report of the daily head counts of anglers so that the state may maintain exemption to the National Angler Registry;

Require shellfish culture training certification for new lease applicants and transferees, as required by state law;

Remove the requirement to notarize signatures on fishing permit renewal applications;

Classify Long Creek Gut and reclassify Eastham Creek as Primary Nursery Areas;

Classify a portion of Chadwick Bay as a Special Secondary Nursery Area;

Update the list of cross-references to no-trawling areas in Rule 03R .0106; and

Codify an existing proclamation that protects a new coastal fishing reef/oyster sanctuary at Gibbs Shoal in Hyde County.


Full texts of the proposed rules were published in the N.C. Register and can be found online at http://www.oah.state.nc.us/rules/register/

No comments:

Post a Comment