Marine Fisheries Commission to meet May 13-14 in New Bern

The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will meet May 13-14 at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, 100 Middle St., New Bern, N.C. 28560. The meeting is open to the public and will be livestreamed on YouTube. The meeting will begin at 1 p.m., Wednesday, May 13, and at 9 a.m. Thursday, May 14. The Commission will accept public comments beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday and at 9 a.m. Thursday.

For those who choose to speak at in-person public comment sessions:

• Sign up at the hotel prior to the public comment sessions.
• To facilitate the meeting, and to accommodate as many speakers as possible, the chair will limit each speaker to 3 minutes.
• Those making comments will be asked to speak only once, either Wednesday evening or Thursday morning, but not during both public comment periods.
• Those who wish to submit handouts to the Commission during the public comment period should bring at least 12 copies to the meeting.

The public may also submit written comments via:

• An online form on the Marine Fisheries Commission Meetings webpage.
• Mail to Marine Fisheries Commission Meeting Comments, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, N.C. 28557.
• A hard copy dropped off at the Division of Marine Fisheries’ Morehead City Headquarters Office at 3441 Arendell St., Morehead City.

The deadline to submit written comments for this meeting is 4 p.m. on Monday, May 11.

The Commission is scheduled to vote on:

Notice of Text for Rulemaking for adoption of 15A NCAC 03M .0524 for Atlantic Bonito Management. At its February meeting, the Commission selected its preferred management option and associated proposed rulemaking language for the management of Atlantic Bonito. Approval of Notice of Text would begin the formal rulemaking process, which requires a 60-day public comment period that would occur later this year.

Other agenda items include:

• A presentation by Dr. Joel Fodrie on the Legislative Study of Coastal and Marine Fisheries.
• A presentation on the background, life history and fishery characterization of Kingfishes in North Carolina.
• An update on the Blue Crab benchmark stock assessment process and information about the associated public webinar.
• A presentation on the Deepwater Oyster Recovery Areas adopted in the Eastern Oyster Fishery Management Plan Amendment 5.
• Updates on currently open and ongoing implementation of adopted fishery management plans.

A full agenda and meeting materials, as well as a link to the YouTube livestream, are available on the Marine Fisheries Commission Meetings webpage.

AT-A-GLANCE