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/
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