Electronic Mandatory Harvest Reporting

Beginning December 1, 2025, all recreational fishermen in North Carolina must report the harvest of Red Drum, Spotted Seatrout, Striped Bass, Weakfish, and flounder to the Division of Marine Fisheries, as required by state law. See below for instructions on how to report electronically at the end of your fishing trip. If you are unable to report electronically, please see the Reporting with a Paper Report Card webpage.

How to Use the Online Mandatory Harvest Reporting Form

  • 1

    Navigate to the Webform

    Using your smartphone, scan the QR code located on the Mandatory Harvest Reporting poster found at many boat ramps, piers, and beach accesses, or enter deq.nc.gov/report-my-fish into your address bar. 

  • 2

    Fill Out the Form

    1. Identifying Information: If you have an N.C. fishing license, you are required to enter your WRC ID number. If you do not have a fishing license, you are required to enter your full name and the zip code of your primary residence. Please note: many people are not required to have a fishing license in order to legally fish North Carolina waters; this question is not intended for license enforcement purposes.
    2. Just Yourself or Yourself/Minor Children: The next question asks if you are reporting just for yourself or if your report includes fish harvested by minor children. If reporting for yourself and/or minor children, you must enter the number of total number of people you are reporting for. Please note: the responsibility to report is on the individual angler; the only exception for this is in the case of minor children.
    3. Confirmation Opt-In: The next series of questions ask if you would like a confirmation message sent to your cellphone or your email address. This is not required, but having the confirmation number handy is helpful if stopped by Marine Patrol in order to show the officers you have reported.
    4. Date of Harvest: Next, you must enter the date the harvest occurred. Typically, this will be the day you are filling out the form.
    5. Harvest Information: You must then answer whether or not you harvested any of the five required species. If you select yes, you must enter the total number of each species harvested.
    6. Area of Harvest: Select the major waterbody the majority of your fish were harvested from. Please note: the waterbodies in this list are large areas; you are not required to give specific fishing locations.
    7. Gear Used: Lastly, you must select if you used hook and line to harvest your fish. For the vast majority of anglers, this answer will likely be yes. However, there are other legally allowed gears; if you used something other than hook and line, please select the gear used. 
  • 3

    Submit Your Report

    Once all of the information has been entered, you will be able to click the "Submit" button to actually submit your harvest to the Division. If you are not able to click "Submit", it likely means there is something wrong with the information entered. Please double check the form, and try submitting again.

  • 4

    Save Your Confirmation Number

    Once the form has been submitted, you will receive a confirmation number. This is the number you will show Marine Patrol to verify that you have reported your harvest. Please note: if you did not provide your phone number or email address to have the confirmation number sent to, it is a good idea to screenshot the confirmation message that loads after you click the "Submit" button.