North Carolina public-bottom oyster hand harvest opens Oct. 15

Hand harvest of oysters from public bottom in North Carolina’s Internal Coastal Fishing Waters opens at sunrise on Oct. 15, 2026, and closes March 31, 2027, unless the state shuts it sooner. Interim Division of Marine Fisheries Director Michael S. Loeffler issued Proclamation SF-1-2026 on Oct. 2 under Oyster Fishery Management Plan Amendment 5.

Unlicensed and recreational harvesters may take one bushel per person per day and no more than two bushels per vessel, seven days a week. Commercial harvest is Monday through Friday only. Oysters taken from public bottom may not be sold on Saturday or Sunday. A vessel may not carry both a commercial limit and a recreational limit.

A Standard Commercial Fishing License with a shellfish endorsement allows 15 bushels per combined commercial fishing operation north and east of the Hog Island Reef–Core Banks line. South and west of that line the cap is five bushels a day and 10 bushels in a combined operation. Named bays, including Wysocking, Bluff, Swanquarter, Rose, Jones, Bay River, and West Bay, are held to 10 bushels per operation per day. A Shellfish License is limited to two bushels a day and four per vessel. If a combined operation also includes Shellfish License holders, the Standard Commercial cap is five bushels a day and seven per vessel. Oysters must measure at least 3 inches in shell length. Only hands and hand tools are allowed, and rakes may not be wider than 12 inches or heavier than 6 pounds. There is no harvest from sunset to sunrise. Cull on the bed where you harvest; dead shell, cultch, and undersize oysters may not exceed 5 percent by volume. Questions: 252-515-5500.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries — Proclamation SF-1-2026 (issued Oct. 2, 2026; season opens Oct. 15, 2026).