Topics Related to Public Notices

During its business meeting on February 6, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission voted to notice a temporary rule that would close the recreational harvest of spotted seatrout in inland and joint (by hook-and-line) fishing waters from May 1 through June 15, 2025.  

Enacting a temporary rule will help avoid public confusion given the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) recent proclamation to close both commercial and recreational spotted seatrout harvest in coastal and joint waters due to widespread cold stun events.  

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) at its July business meeting adopted an emergency rule and initiated temporary rulemaking at White Lake in Bladen County that will require motorboats to travel perpendicular to the shore and at no wake speed within the restricted area at White Lake.

Because of the changes to the 2024 deer season, this amendment is needed to remove the one day of introductory antlerless deer harvest during the gun season on the Needmore Game Land in Macon and Swain Counties, and will align Needmore Game Land to the same antlerless deer season structure as the adjacent Nantahala Game Land in Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties.

View the plan and submit comments online.

You can also submit comments by email or postal mail:

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries (NCDMF) has stated they will not open the recreational flounder harvest season in 2024 due to the recreational sector exceeding the 2023 harvest allotment. To be consistent with the annual quota management measure of the North Carolina Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 3 and with the NCDMF closure of the recreational season in coastal waters, the proposed amendments close the flounder harvest season in 2024.

The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission and N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission are accepting public comments on temporary rules to implement mandatory harvest reporting requirements passed by the N.C.

The plan will guide the agency’s efforts to maintain and increase populations of five species of sea turtles that nest on North Carolina beaches, primarily from May to August, and are declining in the state. All five species are federally and state listed as either endangered or threatened and need additional assistance to persist and thrive. They are: