Technical professionals attend a living shoreline workshop field trip to a demonstration site in Wilmington. Photo: N.C. Coastal Reserve
A new research network funded by the National Science Foundation wants to hear from coastal residents and stakeholders to better understand their long-term priorities and to explore the ways that short-term decision making can support or undermine these priorities.
The Collaboratory for Coastal Adaptation over Space and Time, or C-CoAST, has scheduled virtual listening sessions to hear about the priorities and concerns that are part of decision-making in coastal communities. The input is to be used to inform collaborative efforts to assist North Carolina’s coastal communities in meeting future challenges.
The crab pots in good condition collected from the northeast region can be reclaimed by their owner from the N.C. Coastal Federation’s Wanchese office, shown here. Photo: Sara Hallas
Whole crab pots in good condition recovered from northeastern North Carolina waters during the seventh Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project can be reclaimed by their rightful owners.
The North Carolina Coastal Federation collected lost fishing gear this month with the help of 30 commercial watermen and women along the coast.
Only crab pots with an identifiable buoy determined to be in good enough condition to be used again have been set aside and can be reclaimed from the northeast office in Wanchese.
Millions of Oysters Restored to North Carolina Coast
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WILMINGTON, N.C. For the past three years, The North Carolina Coastal Federation has been working to restore 50 million oysters to the coast in the hopes of growing the dwindling population. The initial goal was to create 50 acres of oyster reefs and have one million oysters on each acre.
“We want to be the Napa Valley of oysters here,” says Bonnie Mitchell, a coastal education coordinator with the Coastal Federation. “We have such a valuable, wonderful resource, but unfortunately over the past 100 years we ve seen those oyster populations decline about 90%.”
They used recycled oyster shells to start the reefs and then allowed wild oysters to naturally repopulate. When they took inventory at the end of 2020, they were shocked to find 140 million oysters growing on the new reefs, nearly tripling their goal.
A view of downtown Plymouth. Photo: Indy beetle/Creative Commons
Former Duck town manager Chris Layton worked his first day Tuesday as Plymouth’s interim town manager, a job that has seen its share of turnover.
Layton, who was Duck town manager for nearly 20 years, is filling the role vacated Jan. 15 by interim manager Arlene Willis. The town council, during its Jan. 11 regular meeting, voted unanimously in favor of Layton taking the position, which he accepted at that time and agreed to the terms. He officially began the position at 5 p.m. Jan. 15.
“I appreciate the opportunity,” Layton said during the meeting.
A dredge shown operating. Photo: Donna Barrett
Reprinted from the Island Free Press
Details about a comprehensive proposal laying out numerous options for disposal of dredge material occupied much of Wednesday’s meeting of the Dare County Waterways Commission, indicating that finding somewhere to put excess sand may be as challenging as finding ways to keep it from washing away.
In a lengthy slide presentation on the proposed Dare County Dredge Material Management, Ken Willson with Wilmington-based consultant Coastal Protection Engineering, or CPE, told commissioners during its Jan. 20 remote meeting that the preliminary plan was the result of several months of work, with feedback from Dare County Projects Manager Brent Johnson and others.