3.10 Marine Species
Te NOAA Fisheries OPR establishes cooperative agreements with states regarding listed species management and protection and identifes endangered species research needs to collect appropriate information for management decisions. For example, NOAA Fisheries has a cooperative agreement with NCWRC regarding sea turtle nesting and strandings on North Carolina beaches. 3.10.6 Management Needs Te FMPs developed by regional Fishery Management Councils (FMCs) for species com- mercially and recreationally harvested are implemented by NOAA Fisheries Regional Ofces. North Carolina is a member of two fshery management councils: the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC).
• Te MAFMC is responsible for management of fsheries in federal waters that occur predominantly of the mid-Atlantic coast from North Carolina to New York.
• Te SAFMC is responsible for the conservation and management of fsh stocks within the federal 200-mile limit of the Atlantic of the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida (east coast only to Key West).
Table 3.31 lists the species for which the regional FMCs have developed management plans.
Te FMPs for NC marine resources can be found online at the MAFMC website (www. mafmc.org/) and the SAFMC website (safmc.net/). Te SAFMC resource library provides FMPs for species managed by the Councils, including coastal migratory pelagics (macker- els), bluefsh, founder, and shrimp, as well as marine habitats. Te NCDMF is also responsible for preparing interstate FMPs for adoption by the NCMFC for all commercially and recreationally signifcant species or fsheries that comprise state marine or estuarine resources. Te goal of these plans is to ensure long-term viability of these fsheries. State FMPs have been developed for Blue Crab, Hard Clam, Oyster , Red Drum, Southern Flounder, Striped Bass, and Striped Mullet. Te NCDMF Habitat Protection Section is responsible for the development of the Coastal Habitat Protection Plan (CHPP) (Street et al. 2004) to conserve and protect important marine fsheries habitat (see Chapter 4 for more information on estuarine habitats).
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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