North Carolina Marine Fisheries Proclamation F-6-2018 opens the 2018 Central Southern Management Area for the commercial striped bass fishery at 8 a.m., Thursday, March 1, 2018.

The proclamation applies to internal coastal waters of Craven, Beaufort and Pamlico counties, Pungo River, West Bay and Pamlico Sound, south of the southern boundary of the Albemarle Sound Management Area.

Size and harvest restrictions set in this proclamation state that the limit per day is ten striped bass, “except that a fishing operation consisting of more than one Standard Commercial Fishing License (SCFL) or Retired Standard Commercial Fishing License (RSCFL) holder onboard may be in possession of up to two daily harvest limits. A SCFL holder must accompany each single harvest limit until the time of sale to a dealer that holds a valid 2017/2018 Striped Bass Dealer Permit validated for the Central Southern Management Area (CSMA).”

In West Bay and Pamlico Sound, “striped bass shall only be taken in conjunction with other finfish species and striped bass are limited to 50% by weight of the combined daily harvest.”

The striped bass season for commercial fishing operations in the above described areas will close by this proclamation at midnight, April 30, 2018 unless closed by proclamation at an earlier date when the annual harvest allocation is met.