Events & Announcements
Flounder harvest will close for N.C. anglers in August
North Carolina’s flounder harvesting season will close in late August, and won’t open again until the summer or fall of 2020. […]
NCDMF
Cobia
SCDNR, NCDMF team up on cobia tagging program
The SCDNR and NCDMF are hoping anglers will release any cobia they catch that have tracking devices implanted. These fish will be easily identifiable with special tags. […]
Striper
Marine Fisheries Commission overrules director, adopts gill net restriction
Gill nets used by commercial fishermen will be outlawed as of March 18, 2019 above the ferry lines on the Neuse and Pamlico river systems thanks to a proclamation voted on by the NC Marine Fisheries Commission. […]
Featured
N.C. sea trout closure is justified, says NCDMF trout biologist
A fisheries biologist with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries expects to receive reports of cold-stun kills of speckled trout and other species through the end of January, and he thinks it will be several months before the “full effect” of the early January weather event is understood.
Featured
NC Division of Marine Fisheries closing seatrout fishing
Due to the impact of the cold weather on spotted seatrout, the NCDMF has issued proclamation FF-1-2018, which will halt commercial and recreational anglers from fishing for spotted seatrout for the next several months.
The full proclamation from NCDMF is posted below.
Backcasts
Into the fray steps the latest N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries boss
A guy I know who has owned a tackle shop on North Carolina’s coast for decades posed a question the other day I had to admit I couldn’t answer.
Featured
N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries names new director
Dr. Braxton Davis, director of the N.C. Division of Coastal Management, was named on Tuesday to lead the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries.
Backlashes
NCDMF is on top of striped bass
If you’re a fishermen who targets striped bass and you monitor the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries proclamations and stock-status reports, your heart may have skipped three or four beats since Jan. 1.
Featured
NCDMF still operating on low budget level due to missing JEA
The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries continues to operate on a budget raided by the state legislature of $600,000 six months after Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law a Joint Enforcement Agreement that would earn the state’s saltwater management agency that amount in federal assistance.
Featured
NCDMF tags more than 1,000 ocean stripers to study migration, spawning
I recently had the opportunity to go on a couple of the 10 fishing trips that are part of a program funded by sales of North Carolina’s Coastal Recreational Fishing License to catch and tag coastal striped bass. On the two trips I took part in, more than 400 fish were caught and tagged, and slightly more than 1,000 fish were caught and tagged during the 10 trips. Most, unfortunately, had not migrated into North Carolina waters, so trips had to be run out of Virginia’s Rudee Inlet.
Featured
NCDMF’s stock-assessment report for southern flounder is sidetracked
Southern flounder, according to the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, have been in trouble for more than 10 years, and a potential big step toward ending overfishing and overharvest of the species has turned into a big stumble.
Featured
NCDMF treading water on JEA, waiting for approval from top government officials
The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries has yet to act on an item in the 2014 state budget, apparently because it hasn’t gotten the green light from higher-ups in the government, all of whom have received a letter from 10 Republican legislators asking them to delay action.