North Carolina Marine Fisheries Proclamation M-11-2019 implements small mesh gill net attendance requirements in Management Unit A and implements additional gill net restrictions in accordance with the Sea Turtle and Atlantic Sturgeon Incidental Take Permits.

The proclamation is effective May 1 at 12:01 a.m.

Management Unit A includes all of Albemarle, Currituck, Croatan and Roanoke sounds and their tributaries, the area between the Virginia Dare Bridge to Oregon Inlet; a portion of the Chowan River with exceptions.

Gear requirements for Albemarle, Currituck, Croatan and Roanoke sounds and their tributaries:

Gill nets with a stretched mesh length of 3 inches through 3¾ inches may be used, but must be attended. Gill nets that are stretched mesh length greater than 3¾ inches and less than 5½ inches cannot be used. Gill nets with mesh length greater than 6½ cannot be used.

Gill nets with a mesh length of 5½ inches through 6½ inches can be used if nets are set so as to fish the bottom of the water column and not to exceed a vertical height of 48 inches. Vertical height is defined as the distance between the top and bottom lines of the net.

Gill net sets must be actively fished at least once each day, between sunrise and 12:01 p.m.

Gill net requirements for Management Unit A, Subunit A1 and Subunit A2: gill nets with a stretched mesh length of 3 inches through 3¾ inches may be used but must be attended.

Some gear exemptions apply.

Any sea turtle or sturgeon captured in anchored gill nets must be reported within 24 hours of the capture to the Division of Marine Fisheries at 252-726-7021 or 800-682-2632. Self-reported takes of sea turtles and sturgeon by fishermen fishing without an observer do not count toward the allowable takes in the Incidental Take Permits, states the proclamation.

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