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OUR MISSION STATEMENT
The stated
purpose of CCA is to advise and educate the public on
conservation of marine resources. The objective of CCA is
to conserve, promote and enhance the present and future
availability of these coastal resources for the benefit and
enjoyment of the general public.
| A Win for Fisheries Management |
CCA NC bill signed into law
Raleigh - June 23, 2010 marked a hopeful day for our state's coastal fisheries. By signing into law House Bill 1713, Governor Perdue greatly improved the process for which our marine resources are managed. The bill establishes a requirement for all Fisheries Management Plans (FMP) to have a success rate of at least 50% in order to be implemented. In 1997, The Fisheries Reform Act put into law that all significant species of saltwater fish must have a FMP in order to be properly managed. Unfortunately however, there were no guidelines established to ensure proper success of those plans and past years have seen management plans that had been approved with less than a 25% chance of success."HB 1713 represents a milestone towards Marine Fisheries Reform in NC. It is the most important piece of Marine Fisheries legislation since the Fisheries Reform Act of 1997. As a result, Fisheries Management Plans are required to have at least a coin toss of success. Incredibly, past FMP's have been passed that everyone knew were going to fail, and they did" said Chris Elkins, CCA NC Fisheries Committee Chairman.
The NC Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) in January 2009 adopted a policy for a minimum standard that FMP's must have at least a 50% chance of success. While this is good policy, codification of minimum requirements for success will assure future FMP's will have a reasonable chance of being effective and hold our marine management agencies accountable. "The Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) supported this bill, and the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) worked closely with the Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina to see this legislation through the lawmaking process. While the policy to only select management measures that have a 50% probability of success has been an MFC policy for several years, the bill helps to ensure that ending overfishing and rebuilding will occur as quickly as possible to provide a sustainable harvest to our fishing constituents and communities" stated Louis Daniel, Director of NC Division of Marine Fisheries.
The law will minimize debate on the level of stock recovery needed, and focus efforts instead on how to achieve the management target. Jay Dail, Chairman of CCANC, lauded the bill becoming law as a significant step towards securing the sustained well being of our state fisheries, "Although this may not be viewed as a flashy piece of legislation, the passage of this bill will become one of the most important laws to affect and protect the many fisheries on North Carolina's coast."
CCA North Carolina wishes to thank Dr. Louis Daniel and the DMF, the MFC, and all the members that were involved in this process. CCA NC will continue to lead the fight for our state's marine resource.
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| 22 Jul 2010 - 09:23 by CCA North Carolina |
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