Ben Jackson, one of 47 Marine Fisheries officers who patrol 2.4 million acres of waters, closes nursery waters in Chadwick Bay to shrimpers. A multitude of government agencies are charged with regulating commercial and recreational fishing on and around the North Carolina coast. What's happening elsewhere. A look at the total catch, policy-making boards and significant regulations in five other Atlantic Coast states. Since the start of this month, North Carolina fishermen have been forced to toss back much of their gray trout haul and told not to drop their nets in waters where the fish are most plentiful.
Trouble is, most of the gray trout are already gone.
Scientists started warning state regulators more than a decade ago that the species was in trouble. But it was only this summer, under threat of action from the federal government, that North Carolina set limits. By then, the catch had dropped 65 perc ent since 1980. Marine biologists say such limits are the only way to rescue the gray trout and all of North Carolina's declining stocks of finfish and to make sure there will be fish to catch in coming decades. But North Carolina's marine fisheries leaders repeatedly have backed away from restrictions, even as catches of gray trout and four other major species have dropped to their lowest levels in 20 years.