North Carolina HB 441: Shrimp Trawling Transition Program/Fees.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 3
HOUSE BILL 441
Senate Finance Committee Substitute Adopted 6/19/25
Third Edition Engrossed 6/24/25

Short Title: Shrimp Trawling Transition Program/Fees. (Public)
Sponsors:
Referred to:
March 20, 2025
*H441-v-3*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE SHRIMP TRAWL TRANSITION PROGRAM TO PROVIDE 2
TEMPORARY TRANSITION PAYMENTS TO HOLDERS OF COMMERCIAL FISHING 3
LICENSES WHO HAD REPORTED SALES OF SHRIMP CAUGHT WITH A TRAWL 4
NET BETWEEN JANUARY 1, 2023, AND JUNE 30, 2025, AND TO INCREASE 5
COASTAL FISHING LICENSE FEES. 6
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 7
8
SHRIMP TRAWL TRANSITION PAYMENT PROGRAM 9
SECTION 1.(a) Shrimp Trawl Transition Program. – The Shrimp Trawl Transition 10
Program (Program) is established within the Department of Environmental Quality's Division of 11
Marine Fisheries (Division). Funding for the Program shall come from the North Carolina 12
Commercial Fishing Resource Fund and the North Carolina Marine Resources Fund. The 13
Division may use up to two million dollars ($2,000,000) annually from the cash balance of the 14
North Carolina Marine Resource Endowment Fund to address shortfalls in making Program 15
payments. The Program shall be used to provide annual transition payments to eligible holders 16
of commercial fishing licenses with verifiable inshore landings of shrimp between January 1, 17
2023, and June 30, 2025. The Program shall expire October 1, 2028. To be eligible for a transition 18
payment, a person must satisfy all of the following criteria: 19
(1) The person held a Standard Commercial Fishing License or a Retired Standard 20
Commercial Fishing License at any time between January 1, 2023, and June 21
30, 2025. 22
(2) The person reported on trip tickets submitted to the Division of Marine 23
Fisheries the sale of brown shrimp, pink shrimp, or white shrimp caught in 24
inshore waters with a trawl net between January 1, 2023, and June 30, 2025. 25
SECTION 1.(b) Retained Eligibility. – A person who holds a Standard Commercial 26
Fishing License or a Retired Standard Commercial Fishing License who harvests shrimp using 27
legal commercial gear within the area described in G.S. 113-187(d)(3a) or using any gear, 28
including trawl nets, outside of the area described in G.S. 113-187(d)(3a), may still be eligible 29
for a transition payment from the Program, provided the person otherwise meets the criteria in 30
subsection (a) of this section. 31
SECTION 1.(c) Documentation. – A person seeking a transition payment pursuant 32
to the Program shall submit documentation verifying that the person meets the criteria in 33
subsection (a) of this section, including copies of all trip tickets submitted for brown shrimp, pink 34

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 441-Third Edition
shrimp, or white shrimp caught in inshore waters with a trawl net between January 1, 2023, and 1
June 30, 2025, to the Division no later than December 1, 2025. 2
SECTION 1.(d) Program Payment Criteria. – The Division shall administer the 3
Program in accordance with the following criteria: 4
(1) The annual transition payment amount awarded to a Program applicant shall 5
be set at the sum of (i) the average monthly value of the eligible shrimp trip 6
tickets submitted by the applicant under subsection (a) of this section 7
multiplied by 12 and (ii) one hundred eighty dollars ($180.00). For applicants 8
that hold more than one Standard Commercial Fishing License or Retired 9
Standard Commercial Fishing License, the annual transition payment amount 10
awarded shall be set at the sum of (i) the average monthly value of the eligible 11
shrimp trip tickets submitted by the applicant under subsection (a) of this 12
section associated with the license with the highest reported shrimp landings 13
multiplied by 12 and (ii) one hundred eighty dollars ($180.00). For the 14
purposes of this subdivision, the "value of the eligible shrimp tickets" means 15
the value of shrimp caught by trawl net in any inshore waterbody between 16
January 1, 2023 and June 30, 2025, but shall not include any values reported 17
on shrimp trip tickets where most of the catch occurred in the ocean as 18
reported on trip tickets submitted to the Division. 19
(2) The Division shall gather all trip ticket information from Program applicants 20
no later than December 1, 2025. If the total of Program payments calculated 21
and verified by the Division for each Program applicant is greater than the 22
funds available for the Program in the North Carolina Commercial Fishing 23
Resource Fund and the North Carolina Marine Resources Fund, then the 24
Division shall provide to each eligible applicant a portion of the Program 25
payments by allocating the funds available in proportion to the Program 26
payments documented by each applicant. 27
SECTION 1.(e) Reporting. – The Department shall submit a report to the Joint 28
Legislative Oversight Committee on A