Why It Matters: Marine fisheries management varies widely among Atlantic Coast states. Any opportunity to develop and implement harvest reporting requirements should be approached carefully with the goal of providing credible data that can, in turn, be used to manage a resource enjoyed by millions of anglers. Reliable catch information, if properly developed, could advance opportunities for North Carolina’s sportsmen and women.
Highlights:
- In 2023, the North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 600, which required the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) to develop commercial and non-commercial reporting requirements for certain fish harvests.
- Following the mandate from the legislature, the DMF worked with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to adopt temporary rules to implement mandatory harvest reporting.
- Effective December 1, 2025, state law requires recreational anglers to report their harvest of the following species: red drum, flounder, spotted seatrout (speckled trout), striped bass, and weakfish (gray trout).
- Also, effective December 1, 2025, commercial fishermen must report the harvest of all finfish, shellfish, and crustaceans regardless of whether their harvests are sold commercially or kept for personal consumption.
- The harvest reporting requirement applies to all coastal fishing waters, joint fishing waters, and inland fishing waters adjacent to coastal and joint fishing waters.
It is no secret that reliable angler catch information is needed for Atlantic Coast states to expand recreational fishing access to some currently federally managed species. The highly variable Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) is currently used in stock assessments and to monitor landings and discards for management purposes. The less-than-reliable MRIP data has led to a loss of recreational fishing access across the South Atlantic for some federally managed species.
While North Carolina is trying its hand at generating more reliable angler catch information, Gulf states are enjoying better access to recreational fisheries and better angler opportunity thanks to the implementation of their own state-based data collection programs several years ago. Seasons that used to be measured in days (like many South Atlantic states are still experiencing) are now measured in months.
While the recently implemented mandatory harvest reporting program in North Carolina is a step in the right direction, there is still plenty of room for improvement in the program. The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), alongside the American Sportfishing Association, submitted comments in 2024 with recommendations on how to improve the program, including:
- The development of a simple-to-use smartphone app for anglers to report their harvests;
- The inclusion of the number of each species harvested and released in order to allow for estimates of discards; and
- Allowing the use of reporting the county where the fish were landed to provide more precise general location data.
CSF is encouraged to see progress on a longstanding issue impacting all of North Carolina’s saltwater recreational anglers and encourages the DMF to continue leaning on agencies, anglers, industry partners, academia, and regional fishery management bodies to constantly improve the mandatory harvest reporting requirement.
