How can we count harvested fish in coastal North Carolina?

The NC Division of Marine Fisheries is seeking partners to design a reporting experience that anglers will enjoy and benefit from, while also capturing mandatory harvest data for five key species. A design competition will be held in April. RSVP to attend the information session, to learn more and join the competition.

North Carolina's coast is home to one of the richest recreational fishing communities in the country. Roughly 1.5 million people fish these waters every year.

We want to build something that serves our fishing community: an app, a tool, an experience. The goal is to develop something anglers want to use because it makes fishing more fun, more social, or more rewarding. Think leaderboards, fish identification, personal catch logs, community features, or ideas nobody's thought of yet.

Here's the practical backdrop: the NC legislature recently mandated that recreational anglers report their harvest of five key coastal species: Red Drum, flounder, Weakfish (gray trout), Spotted Seatrout (speckled trout), and Striped Bass [Session Law 2023-137, Section 6]. Data collection initiatives help the Division monitor fish stock health and set fishing regulations like bag limits, seasons, and gear restrictions so North Carolina remains a resilient and premier destination for fishing. A well-designed tool that anglers enjoy using would also satisfy this reporting requirement as a natural byproduct.

The Division has deployed a basic web form ("Report My Fish") that is functional, but it isn't designed for mass adoption. The opportunity is to do something better: design for the angler first, and let the data follow.

Mandatory Harvest Reporting requirements went into effect December 1, 2025 (see Mandatory Harvest Reporting - Recreational). The five species included in this reporting requirement are among the most popular for recreational fishers in North Carolina.

Results from this competition will inform the Division's upcoming app development process for the permanent harvest reporting system. Winning or standout designs may shape the scope, features, and direction of the final reporting tool and the future of recreational data reporting and collection in North Carolina.