Press Releases

The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission this week adopted a new schedule for changes to sector allocations for allowable harvest under Amendment 3 to the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan. Otherwise, the commission adopted the Division of Marine Fisheries’ recommendations as its preferred management options for the draft amendment.

The Division of Water Infrastructure will hold the first of two listening sessions on Friday, March 4 to hear initial stakeholder input on the potential uses for the $82 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Stormwater Funding.

The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission Commercial Resource Fund Committee and the Funding Committee for the N.C. Commercial Fishing Resource Fund will meet jointly by web conference on March 3 at 3 p.m.

The main phone number for the Morehead City office of the N.C. Division of Coastal Management will change effective this afternoon.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality today recognized Ajinomoto Health and Nutrition North America, Inc. as an Environmental Steward for its commitment to superior environmental performance. The Steward designation is the highest designation available in the state’s Environmental Stewardship Initiative (ESI).

The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will meet in-person Feb. 23-25 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel New Bern Riverfront, 100 Middle St, New Bern. The meeting also will be livestreamed on YouTube.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary’s Environmental Justice and Equity Advisory Board subcommittee on community outreach will hold its meeting Tuesday, February 22, remotely via teleconference. Members of the public are welcome to participate online or by phone. Internet access is not required to attend the meeting.

More than $4.3 million in financial relief is on its way to eligible members of the fishing industries who sustained income losses from March to December of 2020 due to COVID-19. The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries issued funds this week to 265 commercial fishermen and marine aquaculture operations, for-hire fishing operations, and seafood dealers and processors deemed eligible for relief from the federal North Carolina Consolidated Appropriations Act Fisheries Relief Program (CARES Act II). Payments were made in the following categories:

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources (DEMLR) has denied a requested modification of Wake Stone Corporation's Permit 92-10

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries has certified a new state record speckled trout (Cynoscion nebulosus) that bests a fish that held the title for more than 60 years. Todd Spangler, of Merritt, caught the 12-pound, 8-ounce fish in the lower Neuse River in Pamlico County on Feb 9. The previous state record speckled trout weighed 12 pounds, 4 ounces and was caught off Wrightsville Beach in 1961. The International Game Fish Association All Tackle World Record spotted seatrout stands at 17 pounds, 7 ounces, and was caught in 1995 off Ft. Pierce Fla.