08 Aug North Carolina Fisheries Agencies Accepting Public Comments on Reorganization

The 2012 NC Session Laws (SB 821) requires the Director of the Wildlife Resources Commission, the Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries, and the Commissioner of Agriculture to study the organization and function of the fisheries management programs in NC and to report their findings and recommendations for improvement to the NC General Assembly in October of 2012.  As a first step in this process, the agencies have set up several public meetings to receive public comment on the subject of reorganization of the fisheries agencies in NC.  The times and places with maps are given below:

Public Meetings to receive public comments on reorganization of the fisheries agencies in NC

6 p.m., Aug. 22 and 9 a.m., Aug. 23
N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission Meeting
Brownstone Hilton DoubleTree Hotel
1707 Hillsborough St., Raleigh (Map)

5 p.m., Aug. 29
N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission Committee Meetings
1751 Varsity Drive
N.C. State University Centennial Campus, Raleigh (Map)

6 p.m., Sept. 5
Craven County Cooperative Extension Office
300 Industrial Drive, New Bern (Map)

6 p.m., Sept 6
Dare County Administration Building
Commissioners Meeting Room
954 Marshall C. Collins Drive, Manteo (Map)

All comments offered on this issue will be presented for joint consideration by all three agencies.

We encourage you to attend one of these meetings and send the notice to all your fishing friends so they can attend too.

A website has been set up to receive public comments: http://www.ncsenatebill821.org/default.htm  Visit this site and send your comments directly to the three agencies for consideration.

The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS) has no role in the management or administration of fisheries resources.  Their charge is to manage farm commodities and assist farmers, of which they do a very good job.  No efficiency or economy could be gained by involving NCDA&CS in any of the fishery programs, except aquaculture, which they already handle.  In fact, delegating reporting harvest statistics and monitoring fishery catches through NCDA&CS would add an element of uncertainty and additional bureaucracy to the current process, which is working quite well.