By Sam Walker SamWalkerOBXNews.com
Updated Monday Feb. 17, 8 p.m.: Due to the winter storm forecast to hit the area on Wednesday, the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission meeting scheduled for this week in Kitty Hawk has been postponed. A new date for the meeting has not been announced. A Winter Storm Watch has been issued for all of the region, except Hatteras and Ocracoke islands, as coastal storm is expected to bring significant snowfall starting Wednesday morning.
For the first since November 2018, the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission will hold a regularly scheduled meeting in Dare County later this month.
The nine-member panel that oversees regulation of fishing in the marine and estuarine waters of North Carolina will gather at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kitty Hawk for three days of meetings on Feb. 19 to 21.
Commercial and recreational fishing advocates and local leaders have been calling for the commission to hold at least one quarterly meeting per year in the northeast corner of the state.
The panel had been content to hold their meetings along the central coast, including in New Bern, Beaufort and Emerald Isle in 2024.
That met the commission’s statutory requirement that at least three meetings each year in coastal regions, and one meeting in Raleigh.
The Dare County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution in February 2024 calling for at least one meeting be held annually in the county that produces the state’s highest volume of seafood and value.
Former Marine Fisheries Commission chair Rob Bizzell, a pharmacist from Kinston and recreational fishing appointee by former Gov. Roy Cooper, told The Virginian Pilot following the Dare resolution that he preferred a centralized location to give “equitable access,” and would not make changes.
Bizzell’s term on the commission expired at the end of last June. The panel is now led by Sammy Corbett, a commercial sector representative from Hampstead who had previously served as chair in the late 2010s.
The locations for the other three meetings, scheduled for May, August and November this year, have not been finalized, according to the MFC website.
Topping the agenda of this month’s meeting in Kitty Hawk is final adoption of the state’s Spotted Seatrout (speckled trout) Fishery Management Plan Amendment 1; approval of the draft Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 4 for public and advisory committee review; review public comment and selection of preferred management options for the Oyster Fishery Management Plan Amendment 5 and Hard Clam Fishery Management Plan Amendment 3; and receive and update on Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan Amendment 3 Adaptive Management.
Dare County commissioners passed a resolution last week calling on the Marine Fisheries Commission to reconsider cuts to the quota for speckled trout, and more equitably divide it between the commercial and recreational sectors.
The Marine Fisheries Commission also plans to adopt final rules on simplifying pot marking regulations, False Albacore management, and an interstate wildlife violator compact.
Prior to the meeting, at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19, NOAA Fisheries will give a presentation on the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) and hold a question-and-answer session with the commissioners and Division of Marine Fisheries staff.
Members of the public who have questions related to MRIP they would like answered, may submit them to this webform.
The commission’s meetings will begin at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 19, and start with a public comment session.
Public comment will also be accepted starting at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 20.
The final day of the meeting, with no public comment session, begins at 9 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 21.
- Those who wish to speak may sign up at the hotel prior to the public comment period in which they wish to speak.
- To accommodate as many speakers as possible, the chair will limit each speaker to 3 minutes.
- Those making comments will be asked to speak only once, either Wednesday night or Thursday morning, but not during both public comment periods.
- Those who wish to submit handouts to the commission during a public comment period should bring at least 12 copies to the meeting.
The public may also submit written comments via the following methods:
- An online form accessible through the Marine Fisheries Commission Meetings webpage.
- Mail to February 2025 Marine Fisheries Commission Meeting Comments, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, N.C. 28557.
- Dropped off at the Division of Marine Fisheries’ Morehead City Headquarters Office at 3441 Arendell St., Morehead City.
The deadline to submit written comments for this meeting is 4 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 17.
The YouTube link will be posted on the Marine Fisheries Commission Meetings webpage. After the meeting, a recording will be posted online.
The full agenda and briefing book are posted on the Marine Fisheries Commission Meetings webpage.
