



U.S. fisheries are classified under the Marine Mammal Protection Act according to the level of interactions that result in incidental mortality or serious injury of marine mammals.
Category |
II |
Estimated Number of Participants |
2,676 |
Target Species |
Southern flounder, weakfish, bluefish, Atlantic croaker, striped mullet, spotted seatrout, Spanish mackerel, striped bass, spot, red drum, black drum, and shad |
Applicable Take Reduction Plans |
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Observer Coverage |
Observer coverage, up to 10% in some cases, is provided by the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, primarily during the fall flounder fishery in Pamlico Sound. The Northeast Fishery Observer Program has observed the fishery at low levels, as well as the North Carolina Alternative Platform Observer Program. |
Marine Mammal Species/Stocks Killed or Injured |
Bottlenose dolphin, Northern North Carolina (NC) estuarine1 Bottlenose dolphin, Southern NC estuarine1 |
^ Number of participants estimates are based on state and federal fisheries permit data. The estimated number of participants is expressed in terms of the number of active participants in the fishery, when possible. If this information is not available, the estimated number of vessels or persons licensed for a particular fishery is provided. If no recent information is available on the number of participants, then the number from the most recent LOF is used. NOAA Fisheries acknowledges that, in some cases, these estimations may be inflating actual effort.
*Observer coverage levels include the latest information reported in the most current final Stock Assessment Report (SAR).
1 Indicates the stock or species is driving the classification of the fishery.
The 2010 LOF included a superscript “1” following bottlenose dolphin (WNA coastal stock) because the annual mortality and serious injury of that stock in this fishery was greater than 1% and less than 50% of the stock’s Potential Biological Removal (PBR) level. When the stocks of bottlenose dolphins killed/injured in this fishery were updated on the 2011 LOF, the superscript “1” was retained after each of these stocks because NOAA Fisheries cannot yet differentiate to which stock a killed/injured animal belongs. Until NOAA Fisheries is able to do so, each stock of bottlenose dolphin is considered to be driving the classification of the fishery.
This fishery includes any gillnet effort for any target species inshore of the COLREGS demarcation lines in North Carolina (COLREGS demarcation lines delineate those waters upon which mariners shall comply with the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea and those waters upon which mariners shall comply with the Inland Navigation Rules).
This fishery includes any fishing effort using any type of gillnet gear, including set (float and sink), drift, and runaround gillnet.
This fishery is managed under state and Interstate Fishery Management Plans, applying net and mesh size regulations, and seasonal area closures in the Pamlico Sound Gillnet Restricted Area. It is an affected fishery under the Bottlenose Dolphin Take Reduction Plan.
Original Category (Year added to the LOF) |
III (1996) |
Original Number of Participants |
94 |
Basis for Original Classification |
All marine mammal strandings exhibiting evidence of gillnet fishery interactions recovered by the North Carolina marine mammal stranding network since at least 1992 were from offshore locations. However, as marine mammals stranded in the marshes are difficult to detect, stranding data will reflect this bias. NOAA Fisheries stated that there was a potential for interaction with bottlenose dolphins, and therefore, would continue to collect information on this fishery. |
Past Names |
N/A |
Species/stocks historically documented as killed or injured (but not currently on the list) |
N/A |
2020 |
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2017 |
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2013 |
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2011 |
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2006 |
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2001 |
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1999 |
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