Contact: Patricia Smith
Date: June 30, 2009
Phone: (252) 726-7021

SEATROUT INTERIM RULES MEETINGS SET

MOREHEAD CITY – Several advisory committees to the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will discuss possible interim rules for spotted seatrout at meetings scheduled for July.

At its May meeting, the MFC asked its regional advisory committees and its Finfish Advisory Committee to review and comment on a proposal to ask the director of the Division of Marine Fisheries to raise the minimum size limit for spotted seatrout from 12 to 14 inches. The MFC also asked the advisory committees to provide comments on how to address user conflicts in the spotted seatrout fishery.

State law allows the MFC to implement temporary management measures while a fishery management plan is being developed if it determines the regulations are necessary to ensure the viability of a species or fishery. State law also requires such interim measures to be reviewed by the MFC’s regional advisory committees.

The following committee meetings have been slated for the discussion:

Central Advisory Committee                                       Southeast Advisory Committee
6 p.m., July 2                                                               6 p.m., July 7  
            Craven County Agricultural Extension Building          DENR Wilmington Regional Office
300 Industrial Dr.                                                        127 Cardinal Drive
New Bern                                                                    Wilmington

Inland  Advisory Committee                                        Finfish Advisory Committee
6 p.m., July 8                                                               10:30 a.m., July 15
Archdale Building                                                        DENR Washington Regional Office
Ground Floor Hearing Room                                       943 Washington Square Mall
512 North Salisbury Street                                           Washington     
Raleigh
                                               
Northeast Advisory Committee
6:30 p.m., July 16                   
Dare County Administrative Building, Room 238
954 Marshall Collins Drive
Manteo

For more information, contact Lauren Morris in the Fisheries Marine Fisheries Commission Office at (252) 808-8023 or [email protected].