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<br /> Executive Summary
<br /> of the
<br /> Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine Study
<br /> Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan
<br /> Introduction
<br /> The Albemarle-Pamlico estuary forms a complex and dynamic ecosystem which provides us with
<br /> an invaluable bounty of natural resources. The sounds, rivers, creeks, wetlands, and terrestrial
<br /> areas in the watershed of the system support a variety of uses. We depend on the system to
<br /> supply food, recreation,jobs, a mode of transportation, and vital habitat for fish and shellfish.
<br /> Economically, the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds system represents the region's key resource base
<br /> through commercial fishing, tourism, recreation, and resort development. Economic benefits are
<br /> also derived from uses of the natural resources for mining, forestry, and agriculture.
<br /> In coastal areas around the nation, human populations and uses of the coastal resources are
<br /> increasing. The Albemarle-Pamlico estuarine region is no exception. With these increases come
<br /> increases in conflicts among the various users of the resources.
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<br /> Fortunately, the Albemarle-Pamlico is a relatively healthy ecosystem when compared to heavily
<br /> populated and industrialized estuarine systems in other parts of the country such as Boston
<br /> Harbor or Long Island Sound. However, several signals of environmental stress have been
<br /> recognized in the Albemarle-Pamlico system, including: declining fisheries, recent outbreaks of
<br /> fish and crab disease, frequent blooms of nuisance algae, closures of shellfish waters to harvest,
<br /> losses of historic shellfish and submerged aquatic vegetation beds, and degradation of wetland,
<br /> fish, and upland habitats. This plan responds to these signals with recommendations for
<br /> protecting the health of our invaluable estuarine system, for both its important ecological role and
<br /> its sustained support of our uses of its resources.
<br /> The System
<br /> The Albemarle-Pamlico estuarine system is the second largest estuarine complex in the United
<br /> States. The system supports an abundant and rich variety of organisms. It encompasses
<br /> important habitat areas for fish and shellfish including key nursery areas for east coast fisheries.
<br /> The extent of the Albemarle-Pamlico estuarine system is illustrated in Figure 1. The system is
<br /> composed of seven sounds: Albemarle, Currituck, Croatan, Pamlico, Bogue, Core, and Roanoke, and
<br /> is drained by several major river basins: Chowan, Tar-Pamlico, Neuse, Roanoke, Pasquotank,
<br /> Perquimans, Little, North, Pungo, and Alligator. The rivers drain a basin of over 30,000 square
<br /> miles including 36 counties in northeastern North Carolina and 19 counties and independent cities
<br /> in southeastern Virginia and discharge fresh water into the western side of the sounds. On the
<br /> eastern side of the sounds, a chain of islands with only a few inlets form a barrier with the
<br /> Atlantic Ocean. (See Figure 1 on next page.)
<br /> The Albemarle-Pamlico estuarine system supports an array of ecological, economic, recreational,
<br /> and aesthetic functions which are of regional and national importance. The critical importance of
<br /> sustaining the system's ability to fulfill these functions is reflected in its nomination by the
<br /> Governor of North Carolina and its designation as an estuary of national significance in the
<br /> National Estuary Program by the Administrator of'the Environmental Protection Agency.
<br /> Executive Summary— I
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