Unanimous Vote Supports Albie Management

Feature Photo: James Manning, @AnglersLens

The albie community spoke up, and thanks to their efforts, we are one step closer to management in North Carolina. This morning the NC Marine Fisheries Commission made a decision on rule making for 15A NCAC 03M .0523 “False Albacore Management”. As a reminder, albie supporters made noise about this rule making proposal. Out of nearly 230 comments submitted, almost 75% of those were directed at albie management. Of the nearly 170 albie comments, 99.5% were positive comments in support of management. There was only 1 single comment in opposition. The turnout of support by advocates in the digital comment window was undeniable. And that comment tsunami translated into a unanimous vote (9-0-0) to pass step 2 of this process. The next step in this process will take place later this fall.

False albacore are a tremendously important recreational fish species for anglers and fishing-related businesses from Massachusetts to Florida. Our guides and members rely on this species, especially in recent years when striped bass and other inshore species have been less abundant. ASGA believes that false albacore deserve guardrail management at a minimum. You can learn more about our campaign for false albacore management, the science and economics drive the campaign and how we got to this point by clicking here.

A special thank you to the brands and businesses who amplified this campaign and those who submitted comments. For now, we cheers to another positive day for albies while we gear up to chase them on the water this weekend.