Shrimp trawling ban in NC sounds dies in the state House, Republicans say

Sophia Bailly and Kyle Ingram, The News & Observer on Jun 25, 2025

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RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina House Republicans won’t take up a bill that would ban shrimp trawling in North Carolina sounds, they said Wednesday — a decision met with jubilation from shrimpers in the Legislative Building.

Republican Rep. Mitchell Setzer, the House speaker pro tempore, confirmed the decision with The News & Observer.

House Bill 442 was revised early last week to include an amendment banning trawling within a half-mile of the coast. The amendment originally sought to expand fishing seasons for flounder and red snapper. Shrimpers and lawmakers representing coastal regions saw the last-minute amendment as dangerous for the industry and the coastal economy.

The revision was also made less than two weeks before a three-year report on the environmental impacts of trawling was to be released, according to one opponent.

Shrimpers, who referred to the dispute as "Shrimpgate," celebrated in the Legislative Building’s atrium, ending a week of protests.

Bills are rarely truly dead in the legislature, and similar legislation could resurface later. But lawmakers are not expected to take it up this week ahead of an extended break.

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