MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. — July 19, 2013 — Fishing, dredging, beach nourishment, beach use and other coastal activities may become more difficult if two federal agencies designate critical habitat areas for sea turtles in North Carolina: one on the coast and one in ocean waters.
Local governments, county governments, state agencies and congressmen are opposing the habitat designation on the coast – the earlier of the two proposals. The ocean critical habitat proposal was filed in the Federal Register just this Wednesday.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed on March 25 designating 739 miles of the U.S. Atlantic coast critical habitat for loggerhead sea turtles, a species listed under the Endangered Species Act as threatened (i.e. likely to become endangered) in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. This proposed area includes 96 miles of North Carolina’s coast.
Then Wednesday the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service also filed a proposal to give this same designation to areas in the waters of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, including areas off North Carolina.
Read the full story at the Cateret County News-Times