Press Releases

The state’s marine fisheries division today rescinded a regulation requiring seafood dealers to hold a special permit to buy flounder from pound net fishermen and to report those landings daily. Instead, the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries will require fishermen who hold pound net permits and are participating in the flounder pound net fishery to report their daily landings of flounder to the division. The daily reporting requirement will begin Sept. 1.

The state environmental department, after consultation with the state health and human services department, the Mecklenburg County Health Department, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Lake Wylie Marine Commission, town officials from Belmont, North Carolina and Rock Hill, South Carolina, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, the Catawba Riverkeeper and the Sierra Club, has authorized a plan for discharging water from the U.S. National Whitewater Center. 

If the air seems clearer in North Carolina these days, it’s not your imagination. Scenic views are better than ever in North Carolina, thanks to statewide improvements in air quality over the past two decades. Cleaner air is benefiting public health as well as the economy, with better visibility increasing views and enhancing experiences for visitors.

The Bald Head Island marina on Bald Head Island, and the Deep Point and Indigo Plantation marinas in Southport are the newest facilities to be certified as North Carolina Clean Marinas, a designation given to marinas that exceed minimum regulatory requirements.

WHERE: Eden Town Hall (Eden Room), 308 East Stadium Drive, Eden, N.C. WHEN: 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 27  WHO: Hosted by N.C. Department of Environmental Quality  State environmental officials will be in Eden Wednesday, July 27 to inform residents of Duke Energy’s plan to build a lined landfill to safely store coal ash at the Dan River Steam Station.

State officials urge people to avoid contact with potentially harmful algal blooms that have developed in the Edenton Bay in Chowan County due to recent hot weather. The Division of Water Resources’ Washington Regional Office staff has been monitoring small blooms in the area since late June. The bloom has now concentrated in Edenton Bay.  Algal blooms are often driven by wave and wind action which concentrates them into coves and along shorelines.

The state’s marine fisheries division has postponed two meetings scheduled for next week to explain new flounder permit and reporting requirements for pound net fishermen and fish dealers. The Division of Marine Fisheries has put the meetings on hold to allow for more internal review of the permit. The meetings had been scheduled for Tuesday in Morehead City and Wednesday in Manteo. New dates for the meetings have not yet been set.

The state’s marine fisheries division is reminding fishermen that license offices in Elizabeth City and Washington may experience unplanned, short-term closures due to a temporary shortage of personnel. These offices will additionally close daily for lunch until further notice.

The state marine fisheries division will hold a public hearing on a proposed water column lease for shellfish aquaculture in Carteret County. Adam Tyler has filed an application to lease approximately 2.6 acres of water column on his existing bottom lease in Jarrett Bay. The hearing will be held at 6 p.m. on Aug. 3 at the Division of Marine Fisheries’ Central District Office, 5285 Highway 70 West, Morehead City. Also, written comments may be submitted to the Division of Marine Fisheries, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, N.C. 28557 until 5 p.m. on Aug. 2.

Federal officials are praising a program in the McCrory administration’s environmental agency for its success at helping small businesses save money and protect the environment. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded the Waste Reduction Partners a $99,825 grant that enabled the program to complete 53 energy audits of rural North Carolina businesses over the past few years. During its audits, Waste Reduction Partners identified $776,000 in annual utility costs savings for the small businesses. The average annual savings equaled $14,600 per business.