NEW BERN — Thousands gathered at a public hearing Tuesday to discuss the effects of a shrimp-trawling petition.

The petition, filed by the North Carolina Wildlife Federation and Southern Environmental Law Center in November, requests a reduction in the number of days shrimpers can trawl, as well as further regulations on when and where shrimpers can trawl during the designated days and the gear to be used.

If accepted, the petition would ban shrimp trawling between May 15 and Aug. 16. It would also designate the Pamlico Sound as a special secondary nursery area, affecting trawlers in the lower Pamlico and Pungo rivers and in Hyde County.

Five fisheries committees listened to feedback on Tuesday, and the response was so overwhelming that the hearing ended with 60 more people still signed up to speak, according to a report from The Associated Press.

According to reports, the committees voted to recommend that the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission deny the petition.

Jess Hawkins, who previously worked with the Marine Fisheries Commission and is an avid recreational fisherman, said he thinks the petition is not a good way to go about making changes, and he thinks concerns should be addressed as part of the Commission’s Fishery Management Plan.

Hawkins said the economic impact on commercial shrimpers, local restaurants, consumers and related infrastructure businesses would be substantial if the petition passes.

“I personally do not think it would be in the best interest of our state to do this,” he said.

Although many commercial fishermen have questioned its motives, the Wildlife Federation maintains it is trying to protect juvenile fish habitats and reduce bycatch. Bycatch is when fish are unintentionally caught in shrimp-trawling nets.

“The millions of juvenile fish wasted and lost each year are a heavy toll on other fisheries and the future survival of those fisheries. The Federation notes that the petition is research-based, data-driven and the culmination of a two-year plus effort to balance the needs of the commercial shrimping industry with the need to protect important habitat areas that sustain and benefit all fishermen,” NCWF stated in a press release. “On average, for every pound of shrimp caught in North Carolina waters, about four pounds of bycatch — mostly juvenile fish — are caught in shrimp trawls and discarded as wasted bycatch.”

Hawkins, however, is not so sure.

“The petitioners claim that there is a strong scientific coalition,” he said. “The science does not support that the shrimp-trawl bycatch is having a significant impact on the croaker and gray trout populations.”

Hawkins said it is unknown if shrimp trawling has an impact on spot species.

According to Hawkins, there are already many regulations in place to protect juvenile fish from bycatch, and North Carolina leads other states in many of these rules.

The Marine Fisheries Commission is set to discuss and vote on the petition at its February meeting.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.