A study of the marine fisheries and coastal habitats regulated by North Carolina: Year 3

The General Assembly of North Carolina?s 2021 Appropriations Act includes a request for a synthetic study regarding the status and management structures for the state?s marine fisheries and coastal habitats (the focus on habitats is restricted to their roles in supporting healthy fisheries). This mandate is in response to ?the twenty-fifth anniversary of North Carolina's Fisheries Reform Act of 1997 and the fiftieth anniversary of North Carolina's Coastal Area Management Act?, as these time markers represent valuable horizons to critically appraise the efficacy (e.g., functional implementation) of these acts in serving critical mission(s) within the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. The appropriation lists 13 focal species that are managed by the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries and Marine Fisheries Commission, although the scope of the study allows for considerations of all harvested species in North Carolina ? including those with interjurisdictional management involving the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and South/Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Councils.

Scholars @ ECU