Townships must request alligator population reductions from NCWRC
The NCWRC has given initial approval of an alligator hunting season for part of the state, but all the details haven’t been ironed out and explained to hunters just yet. Much of the first season will depend a lot on input from municipalities within the Alligator Management Unit 1, which includes several Coastal Plain counties.
The counties of Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Hyde, Jones, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, and Pender are all included in the Alligator Management Unit. It is up to the cities, towns, and villages within these counties to request population reduction seasons from NCWRC.
Once the NCWRC works with those municipalities to get a good grasp on alligator populations, their threat to public safety, and where and how hunters could hunt alligators, permits will be issued for gator hunting.
Other than issuing permits this way, the NCWRC does not plan to give out any other tags to alligator hunters, at least not until they conduct further research to verify what type of harvest numbers the gator population can sustain.
More information will be coming as the agency begins getting requests from the above counties. To get the latest updates from the NCWRC, sign up for their email updates by clicking here.
