NMFS is closing an area along eastern North Carolina and Virginia to fishing with large-mesh gillnets with a stretched mesh size of 6 inches (15.24 cm) or greater for a 30-day period. The closed area includes all Atlantic Ocean waters between Cape Hatteras and 38 deg. N. latitude (near the Virginia-Maryland border), west of 75 deg. W. longitude, and a specified part of Chesapeake Bay. NMFS is taking this action because of its determination that gillnet fishing with large- mesh gillnets is the most likely cause of significant increases in the stranding of sea turtles listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) along the eastern coast of North Carolina. This action is necessary to protect threatened and endangered turtles from being taken by large-mesh gillnets along the North Carolina and Virginia coasts during their northern migration.