District petition
Bring Back a Limited Jamesville Herring Harvest
A request for a permanent annual three-day harvest that restores the Jamesville Herring Festival tradition for generations to come.
The request
Tradition and conservation can work together.
We, the undersigned, ask the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission, the Division of Marine Fisheries, the Wildlife Resources Commission and the appropriate interstate fisheries authorities to work together to establish a lawful, permanent annual cultural harvest of river herring at Jamesville.
The program would run every year for three days—from the Saturday before Easter through Easter Monday—and allow no more than four approved boats to use traditional drift nets on the Roanoke River. Fisheries biologists would establish a conservative annual catch limit before the season, monitor the harvest and publish the results.
Fish taken through the program should first support community meals and the renewal of the Jamesville Herring Festival. Any remaining fish should be distributed or sold only in the limited manner established for the program.
It asks the state to establish a small, closely monitored annual cultural harvest that protects the resource while allowing the Jamesville tradition to live for generations.
Why this matters
For generations in eastern Martin County, spring meant warmer weather, farmers returning to the fields, Easter and the Jamesville Herring Festival. Families watched boats drift down the river with their nets, shared meals and passed a local tradition from one generation to the next. Herring was more than a fish in Jamesville. It was part of the community’s way of life.
North Carolina closed commercial and recreational harvest of river herring in 2007, and the state later ended the former limited discretionary harvest program. This petition asks lawmakers and fisheries authorities to create a narrow annual exception with a fixed three-day window, biological monitoring and rules that remain consistent with North Carolina’s interstate conservation responsibilities.
What the annual program should require
- A guaranteed three-day window every year from the Saturday before Easter through Easter Monday.
- No more than four approved boats using traditional drift nets.
- A catch limit established by fisheries biologists before the annual window begins.
- On-site monitoring, complete harvest records and a public report after the event.
- Priority use for community meals and cultural education.
- Violations enforced against the responsible person, permit holder or boat—not by canceling the three-day program for everyone.
- No discretionary cancellation of the annual window because of one participant’s misconduct.
Supporters
— people have signed.
The count reflects signatures recorded through this website. Names are included only in the petition list presented to decision-makers. Email addresses become one-way private matches used to prevent duplicates and are not retained in readable form.
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Sign the Jamesville herring petition
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Source record
Current rules and fishery history
Current North Carolina management documents describe commercial and recreational river herring harvest as closed. This petition asks state lawmakers and fisheries authorities to create a permanent, carefully limited annual cultural harvest.