Oyster and Clam Advisory Committee Meet Next Week
The Oyster and Clam Advisory Committee (AC) will meet July 15-17 at Craven Community College in New Bern to assist the NC Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) staff in developing management issues and options in the draft fishery management plans (FMP) for wild oyster and clam harvest.
After this meeting the DMF will put together a draft FMP to present to the Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) at an upcoming meeting. After MFC approval the document will then be presented to the public for comment.
This is the idea stage. If you have alternate ideas or do not like some of the ideas presented in the documents, now is the time to get involved and contact NCFA, DMF, and/or members of the AC!
This is the stage of the process where your input is most valuable!
Meeting days: Monday, July 15th – Wednesday, July 17th
Location:
Craven Community College
Student Center
800 College Court, New Bern
Naumann Community Room, Room 115
Important to note: these amendments will not look into aquaculture, only mechanical and hand harvest of wild caught oysters and clams.
Although public comment will not be taken at this meeting, the public is encouraged to attend and talk with DMF staff and AC members during meeting breaks.
Below are maps from the Pamlico Sound Oyster Mechanical Harvest Management document. These white areas on these maps are areas the DMF is looking at closing mechanical oyster dredging to protect deep water reefs.
Additional Documents:
Pamlico Sound Oyster Mechanical Harvest Management
Intertidal Oyster Commercial Harvest Management
Clam Regulations in Other States
Oyster Regulations in Other States
If you have any questions or concerns, especially on wild oyster and clam harvest, please reach out. I spoke with a few people who oyster this past week but I would like to hear from more fishermen before the meeting begins.
Thomas Newman
Fisheries Liaison
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: 7.8.2024
SHRIMP TRADE ACTION
For several months, shrimpers, packers and dealers have been working on trade action which is a new anti-dumping investigation of frozen warmwater shrimp from Ecuador, India, Indonesia and Vietnam. Those working on this are from the states of North Carolina thru Texas. This next stage requires those involved in the fishery to fill out questionnaires which needs to be submitted to the International Trade Commission before July 26, 2024.
We will be sending out the questionnaire along with instructions via Constant Contact later on Monday, July 8th. The information will also be shared on social media.
We all know what’s happening, especially as it deals with IMPORTS. Let’s do something about it from a legal perspective!
God bless,
Jerry
