The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is reminding watermen they need to renew their commercial fishing licenses and permits by June 30 to continue fishing, or in some cases, keep their licenses.
All commercial fishing licenses expire on June 30 each year.
With Standard Commercial Fishing Licenses and Retired Standard Commercial Fishing Licenses, the license holder has a year from the expiration date to renew the license, but is not allowed to fish commercially until the license is renewed. However, anyone whose license expired June 30, 2016 must renew the license this year or lose it.
If not renewed after a year, these licenses will go back into an eligibility pool, and fishermen must go through a lengthy application process to receive them. There were 772 license holders who did not renew their licenses last year.
All division offices that sell licenses are now fully staffed and open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., including lunch. Commercial fishing licenses are sold at the following division offices:
Headquarters Office
3441 Arendell St., Morehead City Pamlico District Office
Department of Environmental Quality’s Washington Regional Office
Washington Square Mall, Washington
Northern District Office
105-A Impact Blvd., Elizabeth City Southern District Office
Department of Environmental Quality’s Wilmington Regional Office
127 Cardinal Dr., Wilmington
Manteo Field Office
1021 Driftwood Dr. Manteo
The division will accept payment by cash or check only. Commercial license and permit fees for fiscal 2017-18 can be found here.
Fishermen should bring photo identifications with them. The fisherman or person with power of attorney must be present to sign the certification form.
For more information, contact License Program Manager Brenda Clark at 252-808-8030 or Brenda.Clark@ncdenr.gov.