North Carolina Marine Fisheries Proclamation M-7-2023 maintains the closure on the use of set gill nets with a stretched mesh length of 4 inches through 6.5 inches and removes large mesh gear exemptions for all areas south of Management Unit A (coincides with the commercial shad fishery closure) in accordance with Amendment 3 to the N.C. Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan.

The proclamation was effective at 12:01 a.m. on April 15, 2023.

Under area descriptions, gill nets with a stretched mesh length of 4 inches through 6.5 inches are unlawful the following areas:

– Management Unit B which runs from the north end of Pea Island west to Point Peter Canal to south from Club House on Core Banks and west to Davis near Marke 1.

– Management Unit C includes Pamlico, Pungo, Bay and Neuse river drainages and internal coastal waters of Pamlico Sound to the west.

– Management Unit D1 includes Southern Core Sound, Back Sound and North River.

– Management Unit D2 includes Newport River (including the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and Harlowe Creek up to NC Hwy 101 Bridge) and Bogue Sound.

– Management Unit E includes all internal coastal waters south and west of the Highway 58 Bridge to the North Carolina/South Carolina state line. This includes the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and adjacent sounds and the New, Cape Fear, Lockwood Folly, White Oak and Shallotte rivers.

A gear exemption for using run-around, strike, drop and drift gill nets exists if nets are set and immediately retrieved. However, it is unlawful to use run-around, strike, drop and drift gill nets with a stretched mesh length 5 inches and greater.

All other existing gill net rules and proclamations remain in effect.

“The intent of this proclamation is to implement gill net restrictions … in accordance with Amendment 3 to the N.C. Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan and allow directed and bycatch fisheries for various species while minimizing interactions with threatened and/or endangered species,” states the proclamation.

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