|
19
<br /> . .,„,
<br /> , .
<br /> _ .. .
<br /> „,.Saving
<br /> Sounds
<br /> . . .. .
<br /> ._
<br /> _ .. •
<br /> . .
<br /> . _ .,.
<br /> . . . ,., ,
<br /> . .,,
<br /> . . . .., . ,...,.
<br /> • ,.
<br /> In a five-year search for consensus, the Albemarle-Pamlico
<br /> Estuarine Study hatched a management plan that almost no ,h i..
<br /> one likes. Pssst! That maybe just the key to its success. �' x4
<br /> by Lawrence S.Earley
<br /> fter five years and$10 million,after inshore waters,80 percent of the state's total, • r :}
<br /> scores of public meetings and 65 In effect,these rivers drain almost one third t"'
<br /> cientific studies,after several drafts of the entire state,their watersheds extend- , ,� F4•
<br /> and 11th-hour revisions,and after a lengthy ing as far west as Hillsborough in Orange x ` '4:;,.7.0-a
<br /> search for an elusive consensus,a plan to County,north to Petersburg,Va.,and south `. 's '`- i
<br /> restore the sickly Pamlico and Albemarle to Cape Lookout in Carteret County.As the • ;IFS '
<br /> sounds will likely be approved this month. plan states without exaggeration,the Albe- • y € ?,
<br /> If it's like the first draft—over 300 pages of marle-Pamlico estuarine system"dominates"
<br /> highly technical presentations—the Corn- the North Carolina coast. � , - .g
<br /> prehensive Conservation Management Plan It dominates the state's$1 billion-a-year
<br /> (CCMP)of the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine commercial fishing industry as well The ~, .
<br /> Study(APES)will be a formidable document. Albemarle-Pamlico area(including Core ,..--7 n
<br /> Those who expected the plan to propose Sound)ranks as the largest and most pro- - a , --
<br /> restrictive new laws and regulations on dis- ductive of all the state's estuaries,providing
<br /> chargers,wetlands developers and the like will 55.2 percent of the state's commercial marine
<br /> be disappointed—carrots rather than sticks fisheries from 1972 to 1990.Recreational fish- r -- =
<br /> are the order of the day.Others who wanted a ing also represents a significant portion of the
<br /> few well-focused actions to emerge may also annual harvest.Fisheries support 14,000 to - _ :i
<br /> be disappointed—the management plan con- 20,000 full-time jobs in the region.
<br /> tains dozens of action plans,in no apparent In recent years,however,two trends have
<br /> priority order.And those who feared that the been at work throughout this vast area.One - _ may"•
<br /> plan would slight the importance of eco- is the unprecedented growth in the region. - -
<br /> nomic development along the coast feel that From 1970 to 1990,the human population of
<br /> this is exactly what has happened. the study area rose by over a half million, – ;
<br /> Indeed,in its preliminary stages,the from 1,420,000 to almost 2 million.At the _ -;__- -`
<br /> CCMP seems to have succeeded in offending same time,the estuaries'waters began to
<br /> both ends of the coastal political spectrum, suffer from plagues of environmental prob- .
<br /> environmentalists and developers.Yet,though lems—periodic outbreaks of algae that
<br /> CCMP drafters are still hoping to achieve robbed oxygen from water;terrifying diseases .►�'' '
<br /> consensus with their final draft,they believe that seemed to eat right through fish and ,
<br /> that the plan's staunch middle-of-the-road shellfish;declines in fish and shellfish har- �F�=,,,,r*`
<br /> approach is its best bet for success. vests;and the disappearance of aquatic grass --" -
<br /> As the second-largest estuarine complex , - _ :.: ..,:
<br /> in the United States(after Chesapeake Bay) Across the vast reach of Pamlico
<br /> and the third largest in North America,the Sound,a fleet of sailboats seeks the `
<br /> Albemarle and Pamlico sounds lie like vast,
<br /> wind during a weekend regatta.
<br /> green lagoons behind their barrier island Recreational boaters are not the only -
<br /> bulwarks.They receive the daily flows of ones who depend on clean coastal
<br /> some of the largest rivers in the state,among waters.Sportsmen,commercial
<br /> them the Neuse,Pamlico,Pungo,Roanoke, , and other citizens are
<br /> Chowan and Alligator.So vast is this system all affected by the water quality
<br /> that it represents 2,900 miles of protected in our sounds. 5
<br /> 4
<br />
|