NORTH CAROLINA DIVISION OF MARINE FISHERIES
Annual Fisheries Bulletin
2023 Commercial and Recreational Statistics
License and Statistics Section, PO Box 769, Morehead City, NC 28557
May 2024
Included in this bulletin are the 2023 landings and harvest information from the commercial and recreational fisheries
programs, along with the 2018 to 2022 finalized landings for comparison. The bulletin also contains a summary of
commercial fishing trips by major gear.
The North Carolina Trip Ticket Program (TTP) collects commercial fishery landings and effort statistics. This program
collects mandatory trip-level fish dealer reports for all finfish and shellfish landed in the state. Recreational fishery harvest
and effort statistics are derived from the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) that conducts recreational angler
interviews at public access points and telephone/mail surveys.
Total Pounds Harvested in 2023
Commercial
Recreational1
42,682,748 pounds
19,948,674 pounds
1 Bluefin Tuna data are collected from a catch card program, not MRIP, and are therefore not included in the sum of the
Recreational Total Pounds Harvested.
Top Five Species Caught in Each Fishery in 2023
Commercial
Species
Pounds
Hard Blue Crabs
15,345,283
Shrimp (Heads On)
6,576,982
Catfishes
2,190,386
Summer Flounder
2,096,508
Striped Mullet
1,863,326
Recreational
Species
Pounds
Dolphin
2,129,648
Spotted Seatrout
1,923,165
Bluefish
1,492,689
Kinqfishes
1,316,752
Spanish Mackerel
1,216,236
Issued by the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, Department of Environmental Quality
For additional information regarding commercial and recreational statistics, please contact:
Commercial Statistics
Alan Bianchi
Trip Ticket Coordinator
(252)515-5546
Alan.Bianchi@dea.nc.gov
Recreational Statistics
Jeff Moore
Coastal Angling Program Manager
(252)515-5541
Jeff.n.Moore@dea.nc.gov
Electronic copies of the dealer report and landings bulletin can be found at
https://deg.nc. gov/fisheries-statistics.
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