2017 COMMERCIAL LANDINGS REVIEW
According to the North Carolina Division of Marine
Fisheries Trip Ticket Program, North Carolina
fishermen landed 22.6 million pounds of seafood
from January through June, 2017. These landings
represent a 1 percent decline in total landings over
the same period in 2016, and a 2 percent decline
over the previous five-year average.
The top five species landed were Hard Blue Crab
(8.1 million pounds), shrimp (2.2 million pounds),
Summer Flounder (1.2 million pounds), Bluefish
(1.1 million pounds) and Atlantic Croaker (878,466
pounds). The number of trips reported in the first
half of 2017 was down 6 percent from the first half
of 2016.
Shrimp landings in the first half of 2017 were up
192 percent from the first half of 2016. This
increase in landings is due in part to the increase
in shrimping effort in northern ocean waters that
began in the fall of 2016, and continued through
the winter.
DUSKY AND SANDBAR SHARK REPORT
In August 2017, the Trip Ticket Program
completed a report that characterizes the
commercial sandbar and dusky shark fisheries of
North Carolina. Using data collected through trip
tickets and the division license program, the report
analyzes trends in landings and effort. To date, it
is the most comprehensive characterization report
that is based on these two data sources. The
report can be found here:
http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/marine-fisheries-catch-
statistics under Additional Statistics
Resources at the bottom of the webpage.
COOPERATIVE STATISTICS PROGRAM
The Cooperative Statistics Program is a federal
data sharing and grant program that provides
funding for commercial fisheries data collection in
North Carolina and other South Atlantic states.
The grant provided by the program helps pay for
the Trip Ticket Program’s data clerks and port
agents. The five-year grant cycle ended in the
spring of 2017, and the completion report was
finished in September. The completion report
outlines the accomplishments of the trip ticket
program, and provides statistics describing the
work completed during the previous five years. A
copy of this report is available to interested parties
upon request by contacting:
Scott.Smith@ncdenr.gov or 252-808-8095.
ESTUARINE GILL NET PERMIT
The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries
requires fishermen to obtain an Estuarine Gill Net
Permit for any anchored small or large mesh
fishing operation in internal coastal waters. The
permit is a requirement of federal incidental take
permits for sea turtles and Atlantic sturgeon. A
condition of the incidental take permits is to
0
2,000,000
4,000,000
6,000,000
8,000,000
10,000,000
January ‐ June 2017
Top 5 Species Landed by Weight
Fish Dealer Report
NORTH CAROLINA DIVISION OF MARINE FISHERIES
License & Statistics Section, PO Box 769, Morehead City, NC 28557
NCDMF 2015 Annual Fish Dealer Report
2
The Division of Marine Fisheries is dedicated to ensuring sustainable marine
and estuarine fisheries and habitats for the benefit and health of the people of North Carolina.
maintain certain levels of observer coverage
statewide. The permit requires fishermen to
provide an active phone number where they can
be reached to schedule observer trips so that the
division can maintain the observer coverage
needed to stay in compliance with the incidental
take permits. If the required coverage is not
maintained, large and small mesh anchored gill
nets could be prohibited in all internal coastal
waters. To date for fiscal year 2018, there have
been 2,310 permits issued. Fishermen can obtain
or renew their annual permit when they renew
their license at division offices or via mail.
WEB-BASED TRIP TICKET REPORTING
The North Carolina Trip Ticket Program is working
with Bluefin Data, the developer of the current trip
ticket software, on a web-based application that
will allow trip ticket reporting via your browser. We
are currently evaluating this software and will be
soliciting seafood dealer input in the next few
weeks. The review of this software is, in part, due
to requests from dealers on the 2017 dealer
survey sent out in January.
NEW DATA CLERK
The North Carolina Trip Ticket Program has hired
a new data clerk, Brooklynne Book. Brooklynne
will be handling dealer submittals, entering and
validating trip tickets, and any dealer questions.
Brooklynne can be reached at 252-808-8105
TECH TIPS
Did you know that you can attach your dock ticket
or invoice number to your trip ticket in the
electronic trip ticket software? This is useful for
keeping better tabs on your data, and allows you
to search by trip ticket number or by dock ticket
number. On the new ticket window, simply add the
dock ticket number to the “Tracking #” field as
seen below.
For more information, consult the electronic
software reporting manual or contact
Grace.Kemp@ncdenr.gov.
TRIP TICKET CODE UPDATES
New species and gear codes have been
implemented within the past few months to better
suit the reporting requirements of North Carolina
seafood dealers. These codes are currently
available in the electronic reporting software, or
can be written in on a paper trip ticket. The codes
include: Fiddler Crab, Gutted Blue Runner,
Rainbow Runner, Gutted Almaco Jack, Ribbed
Mussels, and American Eel market grade ‘Glass’.
Based on a Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management
Council request, the following codes were also
changed: Unclassified Shellfish were split into
Unclassified Crustaceans, Unclassified Mollusks,
and Unclassified Echinoderms (). These changes
were made to better facilitate data sharing
between state and federal managers. In addition
to species code changes, the trip ticket program
created new gear codes in response to changing
fishing practices. These gears included: bandit
gear, buoy gear, and Elec-tra-mate electronic rod
and reel. In January, the program also updated the
paper tickets, and included a box for disposition
based on a request from the North Carolina
Marine Fisheries Commission. For a full list of
codes, please see your electronic software or
email Scott.Smith@ncdenr.gov.
QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS
If you have any questions or concerns, or would
like to request access to your landings data,
please contact the trip ticket coordinator, Alan
Bianchi at: Alan.Bianchi@ncdenr.gov.