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North Carolina Marine Fisheries Proclamation FF-10-2023 opened the harvest of striped bass taken for recreational purposes in the Albemarle Sound Management Area at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2023.

The recreational harvest season will close by proclamation when the spring harvest allocation is reached or by the proclamation at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2023, whichever occurs first.

The size limit less than 18 inches or greater than 25 inches in total length.

Possession limit: one striped pass per person per day taken by hook-and-line or with recreational commercial gear.

The intent of this proclamation is to allow the recreational harvest of striped bass in the Albemarle Sound Management Area within the size limits and 12,804-pound annual total allowable landings, states the proclamation.

A Division of Marine Fisheries media release explains that “striped bass can live to be at least 31 years old. Larger and older female striped bass can produce millions of eggs annually. By protecting striped bass over 25 inches, the number of older females in the stock will increase spawning stock biomass and provide resiliency to the stock. Current stock conditions show that the number of older, larger fish in the population has declined.

“The new size limits … were approved by the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission in November as part of Amendment 2 to the North Carolina Estuarine Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan. Amendment 2.

“The Albemarle Sound Management Area includes the Albemarle, Currituck, Roanoke, and Croatan sounds and all their tributaries, except the Roanoke, Middle, Eastmost, and Cashie rivers, where striped bass recreational regulations are set by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.”

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