Fisheries

Our friends at The Billfish Foundation shares that the Gulf of Mexico Angling Category Quota for Bluefin Tuna has been landed and closes tomorrow at midnight! Be sure to share this with any anglers you know, as fishing past quota puts you at risk of getting hit with a federal fine.

Seatrout Opens March 1st in Florida Panhandle Spotted seatrout will reopen to recreational harvest in the new Western Panhandle management zone starting March 1. The zone includes all state and federal waters from Escambia through the portion of Gulf County west of 85 degrees, 13.76 minutes west longitude but NOT including Indian Pass/Indian Lagoon. (see map) This February closure in the...

MOREHEAD CITY – The recreational black sea bass fishing season will open Feb. 1 in federal and North Carolina waters north of Cape Hatteras. The minimum size limit will be 12.5 inches total length (tip of the snout to the tip of the tail), and the bag limit will be 15 fish per person, per day. The season will close...

N.C. Fisheries Reminds Public to Report Cold-Stunned Seatrout   MOREHEAD CITY – The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries wants to remind the public to report any cold stunned spotted seatrout they may see in North Carolina coastal waters. During the winter, spotted seatrout move to relatively shallow creeks and rivers, where they can be vulnerable to cold stun events. Cold stun events...

Washington D.C. - The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies is pleased to announce the release of the Fish and Wildlife Relevancy Roadmap. The roadmap is meant to be a practical guide that state, provincial and territorial fish and wildlife conservation agencies can use to overcome barriers to broader relevance, public engagement and support. The roadmap was adopted by...

The United States achieved several victories for our commercial and recreational fisheries at the 2019 meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in Mallorca, Spain, which ended November 26, 2019. The U.S. delegation was central to the negotiations to address juvenile mortality of overfished big eye tuna through increases in fish aggregating devices (FADs)...

Bluefin Tuna Arrive In Morehead City North Carolina The General category fishery opened up today December 1, 2019 and two Bluefin Tuna we’re landed in Morehead City. Bradley Brown and Adam Grant hooked up early, bringing the first fish of the season back to the docks. Up next was Riley Adkins and John Charles of the Pelagic Hunter Sportfishing. The brought in...

A Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enforcement agent cited a Louisiana man for alleged fishing violations in Plaquemines Parish on Nov. 20. The agent cited Tyrone Gauthier Jr., 22, of Ama, for possessing over 10 red drum, taking undersized red drum and taking undersized black drum. An LDWF agent observed Gauthier Jr. leaving a fishing spot and conducted a creel...

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Coast Guard law enforcement crews detected and interdicted five Mexican lancha boat crews engaged in illegal fishing in federal waters off the coast of southern Texas, Saturday. Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi aircrews, Coast Guard Station South Padre Island boatcrews, Coast Guard Cutter Jacob Poroo, along with Customs and Border Protection Agency Air and Marine...

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has recently been cracking down on the enforcement of the Ship Strike Reduction Rule, which is a set of regulations protecting endangered right whales. Several of my clients have recently received certified letters from NOAA with associated fines up to $20,000 for violating this rule. As a result, it is important for captains...