Much is made of differences between North Carolina’s saltwater gamefish regulations compared to other states, especially when it comes to recreational vs. commercial rules.
The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, directed by the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission, has few qualms in setting restrictive regulations for recreational anglers, while North Carolina remains the only southeastern state to allow inshore trawling and its attendant massive by-catch losses of juvenile finfish. The state also permits a veritable smorgasbord of other netting, including gill nets, pound nets, strike nets, shrimp, crab and flounder trawling and even ocean-based netting of striped bass and flounder.
North Carolina has more restrictive recreational limits for gamefish than almost any of the other seven states along the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is the only state with a one-fish daily creel limit on redfish and the only one with a 15-inch flounder size minimum.
Louisiana, which bans all inshore gill nets and keeps trawlers offshore, has a daily limit of 25 speckled trout, while North Carolina fishermen work with a four-fish daily creel limit, plus, Louisiana fishermen are allowed to keep five red drum and 10 flounder in their daily catch.
Be the first to comment