Saving Seafood

Offshore drilling backers, opponents ready for North Carolina battle

August 8, 2017 — RALEIGH, N.C. — Federal regulators again want to hear what North Carolinians think about allowing oil and gas drilling off the state’s coast.

Last year, former President Barack Obama’s administration adopted a five-year energy plan that excluded drilling off the East Coast. But President Donald Trump has said he wants to see more offshore energy development, so his administration has tossed aside the 2016 plan and is starting over.

As part of that process, a public hearing was held Monday night in Wilmington, and others are set for Morehead City on Wednesday and Manteo on Thursday.

Gov. Roy Cooper said last month that he’s opposed to opening the coast to offshore exploration and drilling, saying he doesn’t think the risk to the state’s coastal tourism and commercial fishing industries of a major oil spill are worth the limited revenue North Carolina would receive from the move.

Read the full story at WRAL

Frustrated fishermen meet with new North Carolina fisheries director

August 11, 2016 — MANTEO, N.C. — About 50 exasperated, even angry, commercial fishermen gathered Monday to meet the new director of the North Carolina agency that governs how these watermen make a living.

They came to the Dare County offices from towns east and west of the Albemarle and Pamlico sounds, ranging from Hatteras Village to Elizabeth City. They came to voice frustrations and ask questions about what they believe are unfair and arbitrary regulations that shrink their livelihood.

Southern flounder harvest restrictions and sea turtle conservation efforts were sore points.

Sea turtles are best with “taters and onions,” said Sharon Peele Kennedy, a member of the Board of Directors for NC Catch, a group that advocates for local fishing and seafood.

This fight is old for fishermen on the Outer Banks, but their opponent has a new face: Braxton Davis, who in April became director of the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries and the Division of Coastal Management after the last director resigned.

In his new job, the watermen demanded he at least listen, tell the truth and be willing to make what they call common-sense changes in the rules that prevent them from setting their nets.

For the most part, the men spoke in thick coastal accents, each carried a three-day growth of beard, and had arms and faces weathered and brown. A few women in the audience were equally adamant about the cause. The language was occasionally salty.

But they came with data, documents and experience to buttress their arguments.

“We are the science,” a veteran waterman said. “We’re your biggest environmentalists.”

Read the full story at the Virginian-Pilot

N.C. Marine Fisheries Director to meet with area fishermen

July 20, 2016 — Dr. Braxton Davis, the newly appointed director of the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Division, will be on the Outer Banks on Monday, Aug. 8 for an open meeting with interested recreational and commercial fishermen from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Dare County Administration Building in Manteo.

North Carolina Watermen United invited Davis with the intention of introducing the new director to some of the fishermen from this part of the state.

Davis was appointed Marine Fisheries Division director in mid-April by N.C. Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources Donald van der Vaart. Currently Davis also is director of the state’s Division of Coastal Management. He began his tenure in September 2011 after serving as policy director for the South Carolina coastal program. He holds a Doctorate in Marine Affairs from the University of Rhode Island, a Master’s degree in Biological Sciences from Florida International University and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia.

Read the full story at the Outer Banks Sentinel