Press Releases

Governor Roy Cooper today offered the following comment in response to WesternGeco’s decision to withdraw its permit application for seismic testing Thursday. The withdrawal follows North Carolina’s fight to stop damaging seismic testing at the coast. Press Release

The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission is looking for commercial and recreational fishermen, scientists, and other interested parties to sit on various fisheries advisory committees.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office for Coastal Management will host a virtual public meeting as part of the federal performance evaluation of the North Carolina Coastal Management Program and North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve. The purpose of the meeting is to receive public comment regarding the operation and implementation of the North Carolina Coastal Management Program and North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve. The meeting will be held Wednesday, Oct. 7, 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. The public may participate online or by phone.

N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries license sales through the Department of Environmental Quality’s Wilmington Regional Office will be closed Friday, Sept. 11.

The commercial flounder season opens soon, and the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is reminding gill net fishermen that one of the conditions for the Estuarine Gill Net Permit (EGNP) is to allow division staff to observe gill net operations.

The Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Division of Water Resources (DWR) will conduct an online public hearing on October 20, 2020 to discuss the proposed removal of the supplemental Swamp (Sw) classification and a portion of a water quality management plan, for an area of the Cape Fear River located in Brunswick and New Hanover Counties (Cape Fear River Basin).The proposed actions would affect the Cape Fear River from the upstream mouth of Toomers Creek to a line across the river , between Lilliput Creek and Snows Cut, where the Intracoastal Waterway meets the river.

The N.C. Coastal Resources Commission (CRC) will meet September 9 by video conference. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. The public may join the meeting by computer or phone.

The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission (EMC) will meet remotely Wednesday and Thursday, September 9 - 10 by teleconference.

Yesterday, DEQ Secretary Michael S. Regan held a meeting with representatives of the Attorney General’s office and board members and staff of the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) to discuss the progress made on the issue of PFAS/GenX and CFPUA's remaining concerns about PFAS contamination from the Chemours Fayetteville Works facility.

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries will hold a public hearing by webinar on proposed shellfish leases in Onslow County at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 15.