New mullet fishing regulations affecting Hatteras Island

The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) met Wednesday through Friday in May. New striped mullet fishing regulations and proposed sea trout fishing regulations were voted on. These decisions will impact commercial fishermen on Hatteras Island.

Hatteras Village was an active commercial fishing town long before it became a popular beach destination. Over the past few years, both fishermen and seafood retailers have been concerned about the loss of the last few commercial fishermen. A 2021 article written by Alana Harrison stated that “the average vacationer or full-time resident will not encounter commercial fishermen unless they pass through the fork.” Instead of relying on Hatteras Bay, fishermen relied on Wanchese Bay, landing millions of pounds of fish in the process. So what impact do these new rulings have on Hatteras Island?

The North Carolina MFC voted unanimously to close commercial mullet fishing on the weekends of January 1 through September 30 and on Saturday, Sunday and Monday from October 1 through December 31. Fishermen must land mullet at the fish house before 11:59 p.m. on Fridays. Commercial harvests will reopen at 12:01 on Mondays before September 30 and at 12:01 on Tuesdays after September 30.

For further context, a 2022 stock assessment found that the North Carolina striped mullet stock was overfished and overfishing was occurring. Under the state’s 1997 Fisheries Reform Act, management must be implemented to end overfishing and achieve sustainable harvests within 10 years.

According to the state’s MFC, recreational fishermen can possess up to 100 mullet, and recreational and for-hire vessels can possess up to 400 mullet. They also voted to adopt adaptive management for mullet, which will allow the Department of Marine Fisheries (DMF) to change mullet regulations if weekday closures do not achieve target reductions.

Kathy Rawls, director of DMF, said: “The most important thing the Commission has adopted in this plan is adaptive management, which gives us flexibility in working with this plan.”

New mullet regulations come into effect this month. The weekday closures will reduce the commercial mullet harvest by approximately 35% compared to 2019 commercial landings and are expected to achieve a sustainable mullet harvest. DMF data showed that 1.3 million pounds of mullet were landed commercially in 2019.

According to data from Island Free Press and DMF, fishermen are catching speckled trout at an unsustainable rate; however, the spawning stock biomass of this species has increased since 2006. Committee members preferred increased size or site limits rather than season closures, no changes to catch limits, and no other management measures for commercial and recreational fishers. They mentioned a possible closure of the season for commercial fishermen. The advisory committee has not made a final decision on the speckled trout fishery.