Public Hearing Scheduled for Proposed Shellfish Leases in Craven County

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries will hold a public hearing on proposed shellfish leases in Craven County at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 2. The hearing will be held in-person at the Craven Community College - Havelock Campus, 305 Cunningham Blvd, STEM Building, Room 134, Havelock, NC 28532, and by Webex.

Jacob Milchuck has applied for a 9.05-acre shellfish bottom and water column lease in Adams Creek (24-003BL/24-004WC). The area will be marked at each corner as a Proposed Shellfish Bottom Lease and/or Water Column Lease with the above numbers.

The public may comment on the above lease application in person at the hearing or by Webex. To facilitate online comments, the Division is asking those who wish to speak via Webex to pre-register at deq.nc.gov/news/events/craven-county-shellfish-lease-hearing by 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 1. Those who wish to comment in-person should sign up on-site between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. the night of the hearing.

Public hearing information, including the web conference link, call-in telephone number, presentation slides and biological investigation reports can be found at deq.nc.gov/news/events/craven-county-shellfish-lease-hearing.

The public may also comment on the proposed shellfish leases in writing. Written comments will be accepted until 6 p.m., Thursday, April 3 and may be submitted two ways:

1. Online Comments – Written comments will be accepted through an online form available at deq.nc.gov/craven-county-shellfish-lease-hearing-comment-form.
2. Mailed Comments – Written comments may be mailed to the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, Shellfish Leases, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, NC 28557.

For more information, contact Marla Chuffo, with the division’s Habitat and Enhancement Section, at (252) 515-5480 or marla.chuffo@deq.nc.gov.