Thursday, April 19, 2007

Elizabeth City Coast Guard Rescues 3 Off the NC Coast

Despite gale force winds and an injured rescue swimmer, a Coast Guard helicopter from Elizabeth City was able to rescue 3 Canadians from their sinking catamaran Tuesday off the Carolina coast. Their 35 foot catamaran sustained a 5 foot long gash in one of her hulls due to giant swells and began to sink. After receiving the distress from their EPIRB the Coast Guard dropped survival suits from a C130 airplane to keep the crew from hypothermia until the rescue helicopter could arrive two hours later. The rescue helicopter had to contend with 40 foot waves crashing the cat's mast and rigging about and high winds, but to make matter worse their rescue swimmer Petty Officer 1st Class A.J. Thompson's hand was wrapped briefly by the rescue cable and injured while rescuing the first victim. Thompson fought through the injury and returned to the water twice more for the last two crew members. Due to the high westerly winds and decreasing fuel levels, the helicopter was forced to Bermuda instead of returning to Elisabeth City. More on the dramatic rescue is available from the Viginia Pilot.

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Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Saltwater Fishing License Spending Plan Emerges

The state would name the first recipients of grants funded by Coastal Recreational Fishing License revenues early next year under a plan that goes before the NC Marine Fisheries Commission at its April 25-27 meeting in Kill Devil Hills. The MFC is scheduled to vote on funding priorities and a funding process timeline. The timeline calls for requesting grant proposals this summer. Accepted proposals would then go through peer reviews in the fall and the MFC and Wildlife Resources Commission would decide on them by Feb. 15, 2008. Revenues from license sales go into two different funds, depending on the type of license. Expenditures from both funds must be used to manage, protect, restore, develop, cultivate, conserve and enhance the marine resources. Revenues from the sale of all lifetime coastal fishing licenses and a portion of the lifetime unified hunting and statewide fishing licenses go into a N.C. Marine Resources Endowment Fund. Only the interest of this account may be spent. Revenues from the sale of annual and 10-day coastal fishing licenses and a portion of the annual unified hunting and statewide fishing licenses go into a N.C. Marine Resources Fund. The MFC and WRC may authorize spending the principal of this account. The MFC business meeting begins at 9 a.m. April 26 and 8:30 a.m. April 27 at the Ramada Inn in Kill Devil Hills. The commission will hear public comments at 7 p.m. April 25 at the same location. For more information about this meeting contact Patricia Smith by e-mail at tricia.smith@ncmail.net or by calling (800) 682-2632 or (252) 726-7021.

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Saturday, April 14, 2007

UNCW Scientists Raise First Black Sea Bass in Captivity

UNC Wilmington has been at the forefront of aquaculture research for several years and as of last Wednesday they've proven they still have what it takes to stay in the front of the world's aquaculture development. A team of UNCW became the first to successfully raise a commercial crop of Black Sea Bass from eggs to market weight all in captivity. To celebrate the occasion Paul Vroman, the chef at Wilmington's Tango du Chat, served the specimens to the scientific team cut into sushi and fried whole with avocado mint. Black Sea Bass are an important commercial species and account for about $1.5 million a year industry but over the last few years more and more regulations have been put in place to safeguard the species. A successful Black Sea Bass aquaculture could be exceptionally profitable. More on the Black Sea Bass program is available from the Wilmington Star.

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Friday, April 13, 2007

Online Gambling Site Accepting Bets on Hatteras' Future

On an offbeat note, we found an odd story that caught our eye we thought we'd share. An online gambling website has started accepting bets on whether or not global warming will submerge Cape Hatteras by 2015. Although we all know Cape Hatteras is seriously threatened by global warming, the 2015 date far exceeds the expectations of even the wildest scientific predictions. Perhaps that's why the line is at 300 to 1. Virginia's Cape Henry is also open for betting - but only at 200 to 1 for the same conditions and date. The company reports that thousands of folks have already put down bets - here's to hoping that they are truly wasting their money. More on the global warming bets is available from the Virginia Pilot.

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Saturday, April 07, 2007

WASC Waterfront Draft Report Complete

NC General Assembly Building; Link to Article

The North Carolina Waterfront Access Study Committee (WASC) has finished a draft version of a report that will be published later this month. The WASC report calls the loss of working waterfronts and public access to coastal waters "significant" and warns that this trend is likely to continue without intervention by the state. As coastal growth has boomed over the last few decades, property values have skyrocketed and driven many owners of piers, fish houses, marinas, boat ramps and boat building/repair facilities to sell their properties to developers. The WASC's 40 page draft report lays out a comprehensive plan to slow the conversion of public waterfront land to private use developments and recommends the creation of a working waterfront trust fund that would make grants available to local governments, non-profits, and other organizations to help with the purchase of working waterfront properties or development rights. The report also asks that a pilot program for three public fishing piers be created by the North Carolina Aquariums. More on the WASC's report is available from the Outer Banks Sentinel; details on the WASC are available from NC Sea Grant.

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Thursday, April 05, 2007

NOAA Joins with Universities to Launch Marine Weather Website

This week marked the launch of a new collaborative effort between NOAA and several universities that should have NC fishermen smiling. Their new marine weather web portal will be a gateway to access a variety of real-time marine observations, hazards and forecasts along the Carolina coastline and integrates real-time data from eight major providers including the National Weather Service (NWS); National Ocean Service; National Data Buoy Center; Coastal Ocean Research Monitoring Program; Carolina's Coastal Ocean Observing and Prediction System; United State Geological Survey, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Defense, and The Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. The new portal provides access to current observations, land and sea surface temperatures, official NWS five day forecasts and warnings, radar data, wind speeds and directions, wind gusts, air pressure and coastal bathymetry for a distance of 250 nautical miles from the Carolina coastline. We've had our eyes on this project for about two years and are really excited about the sea surface temperature data. The new weather portal is available at www.weather.gov/carolinascoast.

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Friday, March 30, 2007

NC Boat Ramps in Short Supply

The results of an official survey by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission were released this week but the results are far from surprising to fishermen - the state concluded that there aren't enough public boat ramps. The WRC's "Boating Access Survey" was conducted from October through December of 2006 and was based on the responses of 3,783 North Carolina residents, with particular attention paid to coastal counties. One out of three respondents in coastal counties said they have lost access to a boat ramp in the last five years and 7 out of 10 respondents also said they would like to see more public boat ramps. Participants in the boating access survey also cited crowding, limited parking and lack of public restrooms as top concerns about existing ramps. In a similarly timed announcement, the WRC also announced their renewed interest in building a boat ramp at Cedar Point near the NC 58 bridge over Bogue Sound. We're hopeful that the state will make a serious commitment to public water access in 2007 and hope to see significant improvements with the new funds from the saltwater fishing licenses. More on the boating access study is available from the International Boat Industry's website.

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