State fisheries commissioner Jim Leutze would like to see more marine patrol officers in North Carolina.

“We need enough agents to do the job we assign them,” Leutze said during the Nov. 16 meeting of the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission in Ocracoke.

“The recreational fishing license is an additional burden on our officers,” he said.

The coastal recreational fishing license went into effect Jan.1.

Between then and Sept. 30, officers ran 52,394 checks on recreational and commercial fishing licenses.

Col. Rex Lanier told commissioners that officers issued 2,511 warnings and 20 citations for recreational license violations from March through the end of October. 

All 20 citations were issued to people who had previously received warnings.

The state sold 436,932 coastal recreational fishing licenses between Jan. 1 and Oct. 25. 

Twenty-one public fishing piers and 700 charter boats and head boats purchased blanket licenses to cover all of their customers.

More recreational licenses have been sold in Dare County than in any other county.

Wake County residents have purchased the most licenses.

Anglers from Virginia and Pennsylvania topped the list for non-resident license purchases, but licenses have been sold to residents of countries as far away as Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

With the exception of lifetime license fees, revenue goes into the Marine Resources Fund to finance research, habitat protection, and public access projects. 

Sales had generated almost $4.5 million for the fund through October 25.

Coastal recreational fishing license sales have fallen far short of covering the estimated 2.2 million anglers who fish in North Carolina. 

“I’m a little bit surprised that we haven’t sold more, but next year should be a better indicator of what we should expect in future years,” said Louis Daniel, director of the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries.