Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 6, September 16, 2024
(a) It is unlawful
to use purse seines except for the taking of menhaden, Atlantic thread herring,
gizzard shad or pinfish, as further restricted by Paragraphs (b) and (c) of
this Rule.
(b) It is unlawful to
take menhaden, Atlantic thread herring, gizzard shad or pinfish with a purse
seine in violation of any of the following limitations:
(1) In the Atlantic Ocean during the periods
and within an area described:
(A) In
15A NCAC
03R .0111, and
(B) By Session Law 2007-320.
(2) Except as provided in
Subparagraph (5) of this Paragraph, between January 16 and May 14 in:
(A) Internal waters, and
(B) Atlantic Ocean within one mile of
shore.
(3) Between
January 16 and March 31 in Core Sound.
(4) In internal waters except in:
(A) Pamlico Sound,
(B) Pamlico River east of a line from Wades
Point to Intracoastal Waterway Marker No. 1 at the mouth of Goose
Creek,
(C) Neuse River east of a
line from Wilkinson Point to Cherry Point,
(D) Adams Creek,
(E) Core Sound and its tributaries,
(F) Back Sound, the Straits, and North
river,
(G) Newport River,
(H) North River, and
(I) Bogue Sound.
(5) The Fisheries Director may, by
proclamation, open the Atlantic Ocean within one mile of shore and the internal
waters specified in Subparagraph (4) of this Paragraph between April 1 and May
14, and may impose any or all of the following restrictions:
(A) Specify means and methods by area which
may be employed in the taking;
(B)
Limit the quantity; and
(C) Require
submission of statistical and biological data.
(c) Menhaden, Atlantic thread herring,
gizzard shad or pinfish may be taken at any time with a purse seine from beyond
one mile of shore in the Atlantic Ocean and transported to port except as
specified by Session Law 2007-320 and except as prohibited below:
(1) It is unlawful to take menhaden, Atlantic
thread herring, gizzard shad or pinfish by use of a purse seine between sunset
on any Friday and sunrise of the following Monday from the Friday of the
Memorial Day weekend through sunset on Labor Day each year.
(2) It is unlawful to take menhaden, Atlantic
thread herring, gizzard shad or pinfish by use of a purse seine between the
hours of sunrise and sunset on the following holidays:
(A) Memorial Day;
(B) Fourth of July, when the Fourth of July
falls on any calendar day Friday through Monday; and
(C) Labor Day.
(d) It is unlawful for the
responsible party to fail to carry out the following requirements when a fish
spill from a purse seine occurs:
(1)
Immediately notify the office of the Fisheries Director of the North Carolina
Division of Marine Fisheries of such spill; and
(2) Report to the Fisheries Director of the
North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries in writing within 30 days of the
completion of spill clean-up on the circumstances associated with each spill
and costs of its clean-up.
Authority
G.S.
113-134;
113-182;
113-221.1;
143B-289.52;
Eff.
January 1, 1991;
Amended Eff. October 1,
2008.
