Pat McCrory, Governor
Donald R. van der Vaart, Secretary N.C. Department of Environment and
Natural Resources
Date: July 21, 2015
Release: Immediate Contact:
Patricia Smith Phone: 252-726-7021
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Pamlico, Pungo Neuse and Bay rivers to
close to all anchored gill nets
MOREHEAD CITY – Some rivers and creeks in the central
coastal area will close to all anchored gill nets at 5 p.m. Thursday due to
interactions with sea turtles.
The action closes Management Unit C under the state’s Sea
Turtle Incidental Take Permit, which includes the Pamlico, Pungo Neuse and Bay
Rivers and their tributaries. The closure impacts both large-mesh and small-
mesh anchored gill nets, including those set under a Recreational Commercial
Gear License.
The closure is to comply with a modification to the
incidental take permit that consolidates the number of allowed sea turtle takes
in Management Units A and C for a total of eight turtles.
Management Unit A, which includes all of Albemarle,
Currituck, Croatan and Roanoke sounds and their tributaries, closed to
large-mesh and small- mesh anchored gill nets June 12 after staff with the N.C.
Division of Marine Fisheries observed interactions with five live and one dead
sea turtles in anchored gill nets. There
were two observed interactions with sea turtles in Management Unit C during the
current Incidental Take Permit Year.
The total observed interactions with sea turtles in anchored
gill nets for Management Units A and C is now at eight, and must close under
the Sea Turtle Incidental Take Permit provisions.
“It is our hope that in future years this will provide more
flexibility for managing these two areas,” said division Director Louis Daniel.
Waters in Management Unit C will not reopen to anchored gill
nets until at least Sept. 1. The reopening could occur later, depending on the
abundance of sea turtles in the area at that time.
For more specifics on gill net restrictions in Management
Unit C, see Proclamation M-12-2015 at
http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/proclamations.
North Carolina’s estuarine gill net fishery is managed under
incidental take permits for sea turtles and Atlantic sturgeon. The permits are
issued to the state by the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The permits authorize limited takes of these species, listed
under the federal Endangered Species Act, as part of conservation plans that
divide the state’s internal coastal waters into management units. The permits
require observer coverage, so that the management units are closely monitored
for interactions with sea turtles and Atlantic sturgeon. An annual number of
allowed interactions with each species is assigned to each gear type in each
management unit. If the number of interactions is approached, the management
unit must close for the remainder of the season or year.
For more information, contact Jacob Boyd, with the
division’s Observer Program, at 252-808-8088 or via email at
Jacob.Boyd@ncdenr.gov.
Patricia Smith
Public Information Officer
N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries
3441 Arendell St.
Morehead City, N.C. 28557
(252) 808-8025 (Office)
(252) 342-0642 (Mobile)
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