A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to delay action of the Marine Fisheries Commission in response to certain granted petitions for rule making until completion of the activities and final report of the collaborative shrimp trawl gear study and stakeholder process.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a)  The Marine Fisheries Commission shall not propose or adopt any rules in response to petitions for rule making granted by the Commission at its February 16, 2017, meeting with respect to (i) classification of coastal fishing waters as special secondary nursery areas, (ii) criteria for the opening of shrimping season, or (iii) shrimp trawling gear types or usage until all of the following occur:
(1)	The collaborative shrimp gear study has been completed.
(2)	The stakeholder group conducting the study has reported its findings and recommendations to the Commission.
SECTION 1.(b)  For purposes of this act, the "collaborative shrimp gear study" refers to the stakeholder group convened under the Commission's February 2015 amendment to the State's Shrimp Fishery Management Plan to study shrimp trawl gear in partnership with the Division of Marine Fisheries and North Carolina Sea Grant.
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.