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Contact: Patricia Smith PUBLIC MEETINGS SET FOR OYSTER, CLAM, INTERJURISDICTIONAL PLANSMOREHEAD CITY – The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries will hold a series of public meetings in October to discuss proposed amendments to the state’s oyster, clam and interjurisdictional fishery management plans. The oyster and clam plans, adopted in 2001, discuss issues and provide blueprints for regulations concerning the oyster and clam fisheries. The Interjurisdictional Plan, adopted in 2002, does the same for federally- and regionally-managed species. Proposed changes to the oyster and clam plans include recommendations to:
Proposed changes to the Interjurisdictional Fishery Management Plan include recommendations to:
The meetings will be held in conjunction with regional advisory committee meetings. Comments received from the public and advisory committees will be incorporated into the draft amendments to the plan and presented to the Marine Fisheries Commission for consideration at its November meeting. Public meetings are scheduled for: Oct. 2, 6 p.m. Oct. 17, 6 p.m. Oct. 18, 6:30 p.m. Oct. 23 Copies of the draft amendments to the oyster and clam and plans are available on the Division of Marine Fisheries Web site at www.ncdmf.net For more information, contact Tina Moore (clams) or Mike Marshall (oysters) at (252) 726-7021 or (800) 682-2632. For more information about amendments to the Interjurisdictional Plan, contact Katy West at (252) 946-6481 or (800) 338-7804. Contact: Patricia Smith FISHERIES DIRECTOR SEEKS WATERFRONT ACCESS PROJECT IDEASMOREHEAD CITY – N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries Director Louis Daniel is seeking public input on possible Waterfront Access and Marine Industry Fund projects. The General Assembly created the $20 million fund this summer to provide, improve and/or develop public and commercial waterfront access. Since then, Daniel has adopted a strategic plan on which to base funding decisions. The strategic plan sets out four general program areas for funding: public docking facilities, public boat ramps, fishing access and other marine industry facilities. Funding priority will be given to multi-use facilities that incorporate multiple program areas while maintaining environmental responsibility. Special consideration also will be given to projects that partner with local governments or other state agencies, and to projects that encourage development of working waterfronts in areas where access has been lost. For the purposes of this fund, working waterfronts are commercial facilities that require direct access to or a location on, over or adjacent to coastal public trust waters and submerged lands. The term includes water-dependent facilities that may be open to the public, offer access by vessels to state waters and lands or that support facilities for recreational, commercial, research or government vessels. Daniel has created a citizen advisory committee to help consider projects. Members include:
Priority projects recommended by the citizen advisory committee will undergo a final review by an Advisory Committee for the Coordination of Waterfront Access, established by Senate Bill 646 and housed within the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The Waterfront Access and Marine Industry Fund will be financed through Certificate of Participation bonds to be repaid by the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund. The state must take ownership of any land or facility purchased or upgraded with this money, so the state will be looking for funding proposals with long-term maintenance agreements. Ideas for projects may be specific or general. Interested parties should send ideas in writing to WAMI Projects, c/o Patricia Smith, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, N.C. 28557 or to tricia.smith@ncmail.net, or call Patricia Smith or Jennifer Floyd at 1-800-682-2632 or 252-726-7021. The deadline for receipt of comments and proposals is Nov. 1. Contact: Patricia Smith EJW OUTDOORS SETS EXAMPLE FOR OYSTER SHELL RECYCLINGMOREHEAD CITY – EJW Outdoors in Morehead City will become the first private business to comply with a new N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries policy by allowing the removal of oyster shell used as landscaping in front of its establishment. On Wednesday, Sept. 19, crews will replace the oyster shell with decorative rock around the sporting goods store’s parking lot. The removed shells will go to the state’s Oyster Shell Recycling Program and be used in oyster reef building projects. “EJW Outdoors is an important partner for the division and we are excited to work with them to promote this new initiative,” said DMF Director Louis Daniel. “I greatly appreciate their support.” DMF purchased the decorative rock to replace the oyster shell at EJW Outdoors in anticipation of implementing a new policy that prohibits businesses participating in DMF programs, such as the N.C. Saltwater Fishing Tournament, from using oyster shell in landscaping. This falls in line with a new law, passed by the N.C. General Assembly this summer, prohibiting state government agencies from using oyster shell as ground cover. EJW Outdoors is a N.C. Saltwater Fishing Tournament (citation) weigh station. The store moved to a new location a few years ago and used oyster shell for decorative landscaping. Like so many others, the owners did not realize the oyster shell could serve a better purpose. “Anything EJW Outdoors can do to improve the fisheries, we’re all for it,” said David Willis, EJW Outdoors owner. Oyster reefs serve a number of purposes in the coastal ecosystem. Most notably, oyster reefs help produce more oysters. When oysters spawn the larvae need a hard surface on which to attach and grow. The most productive surface on which they can attach is shell. Oyster reefs also attract numerous other marine organisms, such as algae, worms, barnacles, crabs, small minnows and fish, which in turn attract bigger fish. Oyster reefs are considered essential fish habitat. 2 Additionally, oysters are nature’s water filters, feeding on plankton and organic debris. One oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day. DMF hopes to use EJW Outdoors as an example to educate other business owners about the need to consider the environment when landscaping. Already, Dr. David Freshwater, who owns the Exchange at Mansfield, a shopping center next to EJW Outdoors, has agreed to use matching decorative rock instead of oyster shell for landscaping. “It seems like the right thing to do,” Freshwater said. “Eastern North Carolina’s economy is built around small businesses, so it will take small business owners working for the environment to enhance the coastal resources.” The Oyster Shell Recycling Program will receive about 1,200 bushels of oyster shell from EJW Outdoors and add them to its recycled shell stockpile at a South River DMF facility. The shells will be used to set oyster larvae for oyster reef-building projects in the Neuse River, Bluff Point or Middle Bay no-take oyster sanctuaries. DMF policy is to use recycled oyster shell at restoration sites close to the recycling source. DMF staff will begin work at EJW Outdoors around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday and will be available for on-site interviews and photographs throughout the day. For more information, contact Sabrina Varnam, DMF oyster shell recycling coordinator, at (252) 726-7021, (800) 682-2632 or sabrina.varnum@ncmail.net. Contact: Patricia Smith FISHERIES COMMISSION ADOPTS RIVER HERRING PLAN MOREHEAD CITY – The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission recently finalized a River Herring Fishery Management Plan that will continue a harvest moratorium until river herring stocks show improvement. The moratorium went into effect by proclamation for the 2006-2007 fishing season after the commission tentatively approved the plan last fall. “It was not an easy management decision to make, but one that had to be done to give river herring any chance of recovery,” said Louis Daniel, director of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries. The division developed the plan at the direction of the commission and with input from an advisory panel. Public meetings on the plan were held up and down the North Carolina coast. River herring fishing in northeastern North Carolina is a long-standing tradition dating back to colonial times. However, despite increasing regulations designed to help the fishery recover, commercial landings have continued to decline since the mid-1980s. River herring stocks are classified as depleted, and scientists do not know all the reasons why. Even with a fishing moratorium, river herring stocks may not recover within 10 years, as required by law. In addition to regulatory measures, the plan calls for intensive monitoring and research of river herring populations. The plan also calls for water quality improvements and the removal of dams and other man-made structures that block river herring migrations. The N.C. General Assembly took steps towards answering these calls by funding two new positions and operating expenses to implement the plan. The legislature also appropriated $100,000 to the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuarine Program for river herring research. This money, along with state and non-governmental partnerships, will begin the process of river herring recovery. Contact: Patricia Smith RED DRUM ADVISORY COMMITTEE SETS DATE FOR GILL NET DISCUSSION MOREHEAD CITY – A Red Drum Advisory Committee to the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will discuss bycatch in gill nets when it meets Oct. 2 in Washington. The meeting is open to the public and will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Washington Regional Office of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 943 Washington Square Mall, Washington. A public comment period will be held at the beginning of the meeting. The committee is assisting the commission with updating a Red Drum Fishery Management Plan, originally adopted in March 2001. The committee plans to vote on preferred recommendations regarding bycatch in gill nets at this meeting. Recommended changes to the plan will go through an additional public comment period before the commission votes on them next year. The committee had tentatively scheduled the meeting for Sept. 11, but the date was pushed back to allow N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries staff more time to analyze pertinent data. The committee also plans to discuss socio-economic data pertaining to the red drum fishery. For more information, contact Lee Paramore in the division’s Wanchese field office, at (252) 473-5734 or by e-mail at lee.paramore@ncmail.net. |