February 21, 2023 — The following was released by the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission:
The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) is meeting this week to vote on a supplement to the current Striped Mullet Fisheries Management Plan (FMP) which would close mullet harvest during the middle of the roe season.
At the November MFC meeting staff at the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) presented Supplement A to the Striped Mullet FMP. In Supplement A the DMF recommends a 20-33% reduction in mullet landings by closing the harvest season in late October or early November through December 31st for at least one year. The preferred option of a November 7th to December 31st closure was selected by the MFC at this meeting.
In December and January DMF held several public meetings giving people the opportunity to ask questions and give public comment on the end of season closure. Overwhelming public comment during these meetings suggests that mullet are not overfished and overfishing is not occurring. Definitely not to the extent that a 20-33% reduction in harvest is needed!
In fact, mullet abundance this past season seemed to be at a level not seen in decades! Many mullets left the sounds before the roe season and large numbers of mullets are still up the rivers right now. Furthermore, there is still plenty of time for the DMF to collect more data before this decision has to be made, if a closure is even necessary at all.
It is not too late to comment and tell the MFC why reducing the Striped Mullet season is not necessary.
Come out and be seen and heard!
Written comments are accepted until today (February 20th) at 4pm at this link:
https://deq.nc.gov/nc-marine-fisheries-commission-comment-form
You can also comment in person at the Doubletree Hotel in New Bern, NC Wednesday night at 6:00pm or Thursday morning at 9:00am at the meeting this week.
(Important to note, no online comments will be accepted during the live meeting comment session.)
The discussion and vote on the Striped Mullet Supplement will begin at approximately 2:30pm on Thursday (Feb. 23rd). Listen live on YouTube at this link once the meeting starts:
https://youtube.com/live/QNrjWEW11z8?feature=share
From my personal experience, the meeting streams much better on the YouTube app versus watching it from your web browser. You can download the YouTube app in the App Store or Google Play.
As always, contact me with any questions or if you need help accessing any of the meeting materials.
Thomas Newman
Fisheries Liaison