Online Spotted Seatrout Public Comment

Submitted by jbissette1 on

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries is accepting public comment on the draft Spotted Seatrout Fishery Management Plan Amendment 1. 

To submit your comments online, please fill out the questionnaire below. The public comment period closes on October 16, 2024 at 5 p.m.

Spotted Seatrout Questionnaire

  • Sustainable Harvest
  • Supplemental Management
  • Cold Stun Management
  • Comments
  • Complete
Indicates required field

Sustainable Harvest

Management strategies discussed in the Sustainable Harvest Issue Paper result in quantifiable harvest reductions and include strategies such as size limits, season closures, and bag and trip limits. These strategies may be used alone (e.g. an extended seasonal closure) or in combination with one another (e.g., a shorter season closure with a reduced bag limit). Please provide your feedback on the use of combination management and the type of management you prefer in the Spotted Seatrout fishery. 

Size Limits

The current recreational and commercial minimum size is 14”. As a single management strategy, a narrower slot limit will be required to reach the same harvest reduction as using a wider slot limit in combination with other management strategies. See page 47 of the Spotted Seatrout Amendment 1 Draft for discussion regarding slot limits.

Which type of slot limit do you prefer?

Season Closures

There is currently no season closure in the recreational or commercial spotted seatrout fisheries. As a single option management strategy, a longer season closure will be required to reach the same harvest reduction as using season closures in combination with other management strategies. See page 51 of the Spotted Seatrout Amendment 1 Draft for discussion regarding slot limits.

Which type of seasonal closure do you prefer?

Bag Limits

Currently, there is a 4-fish recreational bag limit and a 75-fish commercial trip limit. As a single option management strategy, a larger bag limit reduction will be required to reach the same harvest reduction as using a smaller bag limit reduction in combination with other management strategies. See page 55 of the Spotted Seatrout Amendment 1 Draft for discussion regarding bag and trip limits.

Which type of bag limits do you prefer?
Which type of trip limits do you prefer?
** As a single management option, there is no reasonable trip limit that reduces harvest a comparable amount to combination management strategies. See table 2.9 (page 60) in the Spotted Seatrout Amendment 1 for combination management options and reductions.

Stop Net Fishery

The stop net fishery usually represents less than 1% of the Spotted Seatrout commercial landings annually. Currently, the stop net fishery is managed by a Memorandum of Agreement. Formalizing management of the stop net fishery in Amendment 1 to the Spotted Seatrout Fishery Management Plan will simplify management of this fishery and provide greater transparency. See page 58 of the Spotted Seatrout Amendment 1 Draft for discussion regarding the stop net fishery.

How should the stop net fishery be managed?

Adaptive Management

An Adaptive Management framework allows NCDMF to adjust management measures outside of an updated stock assessment. This would ensure the management strategies adopted in Amendment 1 remain effective and in compliance. See Spotted Seatrout Draft Amendment 1, Sustainable Harvest Option 7 for full Adaptive Management framework use and restrictions. 

If the management strategies implemented do not achieve their intended purpose, do you support the use of Adaptive Management to adjust season closures, day-of-week closures, trip limits, size limits, bag limits, and/or gear restrictions?