Smith,
Tricia
to
NCDENR.DENR.DM., NCDENR.Denr.dmf
Pat
McCrory, Governor
Donald
R. van der Vaart
Release: Immediate Contact: Patricia Smith
Date: Nov. 21, 2016 Phone: 252-726-7021
MOREHEAD
CITY – The chairman of the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission said he intends
to allow public comment on a petition for rulemaking calling for habitat
protections that, if adopted, would impact shrimp trawl fishing in most North
Carolina waters.
The
petition was submitted Nov. 2 by the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, and
the commission has 120 days from that date to grant or deny the request.
Chairman
Sammy Corbett outlined the petition review procedure at the commission’s
business meeting last week.
First,
the petition must be deemed complete. Under state law, a person may petition
any agency or commission to adopt or change a rule by submitting a written
rulemaking petition that contains the proposed text of the requested rule
change and a statement of the effect of the requested rule change. Commission
rules require additional information.
If
the petition is deemed complete, Corbett said he intends to take public comment
through the commission’s advisory committees, possibly at a joint advisory
committee meeting similar to one held in 2013 on a similar petition.
The
commission will then discuss and vote on the petition at its February meeting.
The
petition asks the commission to designate all coastal fishing waters (including
the ocean out to three miles) not otherwise designated as nursery areas as
special secondary nursery areas; establish clear criteria for the opening of
shrimp season; and define the type of gear and how and when gear may be used in
special secondary nursery areas during shrimp season.
Specific
requests of the petition include limiting shrimp trawling to three days a week
in the daytime only, limiting the total trawl head rope to 90 feet, limiting
tow times to 45 minutes, and opening the Pamlico Sound shrimp season based on a
count of 60 shrimp per pound, heads on.
In
other business, the commission voted to:
· Send a letter from the full commission
endorsing changes in the criteria for receiving a Standard Commercial Fishing
License in North Carolina, which is the main license required for a fisherman
to commercial fish and sell his catch. Recommended changes include limiting
this license to full-time commercial fishermen and creating part-time and
heritage commercial fishing licenses for other purposes.
· Forward the names of Dewey Hemilright,
Chris Hickman, Jeff Oden and Brent Fulcher to the Governor’s Office for
consideration for nominees to the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council
obligatory seat.
· Authorize the issuance of a
proclamation to prohibit gill nets within 200 feet of a specific dock in the
Martin’s Point area of Currituck Sound to address a user conflict. The
commission also authorized further proclamations prohibiting gill nets within
200 feet of docks in a 2 ½-mile area of southern Currituck Sound from Martins
Point to Wright Memorial Bridge should other user conflicts occur.
________________________________________
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1601
Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699
Patricia
Smith
Public
Information Officer
Division
of Marine Fisheries
North
Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
252
808 8025 office
252
342 0642 mobile
Tricia.Smith@ncdenr.gov
PO.
Box 769
3441
Arendell St.
Morehead
City, N.C. 28557
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