Marine Fisheries Commission selects preferred options for spotted sea trout amendment after lengthy debate

The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission on Tuesday selected preferred management options for Amendment 1 to the spotted (speckled) sea trout fishery management plan, saying the package balances conservation goals with stakeholders’ concerns while keeping tools for rapid adjustment if conditions change.

Chairman Sammy Corbett opened the meeting’s public-comment period and acknowledged strong, mixed viewpoints from recreational and commercial fishermen. “We changed things last night… Jesse is gonna hold up a yellow piece of paper. That’ll tell you you got 30 seconds,” Corbett said as he managed the speakers’ time.

Division staff presented the scientific and public-input record. Biologist Melinda Lambert summarized the public questionnaire and advisory-committee recommendations, and noted that though the stock is not overfished, the division’s assessment shows overfishing is occurring and that recent years’ harvests — especially since 2019 — have been unusually high. “To maintain the high biomass anglers enjoy, we must reduce fishing effort and harvest,” Lambert said.

Lucas Pinsinger, co-lead on the amendment, recommended a combined approach aimed at reducing fishing mortality, protecting larger spawning females and shortening any necessary season closures. The division’s preferred suite included a recreational 14–20-inch slot with one trophy fish allowance over 26 inches, a three-fish bag limit, and a statewide January–February harvest closure paired with commercial weekend closures during the fall peak; staff also urged adoption of an adaptive-management framework.

Public commenters varied. Several recreational anglers and conservation advocates urged more conservative measures and better accounting for discard mortality; some commercial-sector speakers argued the assessment did not justify the division’s proposed reductions and criticized unequal measures across sectors. Thomas Newman, speaking for the North Carolina Fisheries Association, told commissioners he could not support “the division’s recommendations for harvest reductions” because, he said, the stock assessment does not show sustained trends of overfishing.

Commissioners debated trade-offs at length: whether a narrow slot would simply shift harvest between sectors or increase discard mortality, how to account for uncertain MRIP-based effort estimates, and the economic impact on guides and commercial license-holders. Several commissioners pressed for guarantee that director-led adaptive actions would be subject to commission review. Director Rawls said the department supports adaptive tools but staff agreed to add explicit language committing to MFC review of proposed adaptive-management measures before they are implemented.

After a motion to adopt the commission’s preferred options (motion seconded), the body recorded a roll-call vote approving the package: the motion passed with a majority of commissioners voting aye and one abstention. The finalized preferred options direct staff to submit the draft amendment for the next steps of regulatory review and public outreach ahead of a final adoption vote at a subsequent meeting.

What comes next: staff will forward the draft amendment for departmental and legislative review, then return to the commission in February with a formal draft for final adoption following public comment. The adaptive-management framework adopted with the package requires staff to present any future proclamation-based changes to the commission for review, and statute provides procedures for an emergency commission meeting to consider any proclamation if a rapid response is needed.

The commission’s formal vote and the record of how each commissioner voted are recorded in today’s minutes; the division will post the draft amendment and schedule public comment and advisory-committee sessions in the coming weeks.