Press Releases

Eleven new and amended Marine Fisheries Commission rules are now in effect, including rules pertaining to False Albacore management, pot marking requirements, shellfish leases and franchises and various permits.

The Division of Air Quality is accepting public comments on a draft air quality permit for ATI Specialty Materials – Bakers Plant in Union County.

The N.C. Coastal Resources Commission (CRC) will meet June 18 at the Double Tree New Bern Riverfront, 100 Middle St., New Bern. Members of the public may attend in-person or join the meeting online. The CRC Science Panel will present its findings regarding oceanfront hardened structures.

To kick off the sampling season for the Western N.C. Recreational Water Quality Monitoring Program, NC Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson visited Jean Webb Park on the French Broad River in Asheville to demonstrate how DEQ’s Division of Water Resources staff sample for E. coli in local waterways. 

The 2026 recreational flounder season will open Sept. 1-14 in Coastal and Joint Fishing Waters of the state.

Today North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Secretary Reid Wilson visited McDowell County to announce grants for 16 projects in western North Carolina designed to improve waste reduction infrastructure and debris management through the Helene Recovery Recycling Infrastructure (HRRI) grant program. 

The N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve is accepting applications for several local advisory committees (LACs). Community members are needed for each of the Coastal Reserve’s 10 sites: Bird Island Reserve, Bald Head Woods Reserve, Zeke’s Island Reserve, Masonboro Island Reserve, Permuda Island Reserve, Rachel Carson Reserve, Buxton Woods Reserve, Kitty Hawk Woods Reserve, Currituck Banks Reserve and Emily and Preyer Buckridge Reserve. 

Today, the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced a $1.6 million nature-based flood resilience project that will create floodplain storage and restore natural streamflow to reduce flood risk and recurring flooding in downtown Bladenboro. The Bladenboro South Main Street Flood Resiliency Project is funded by the NC Flood Resiliency Blueprint within DEQ.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries recently certified a new state record for the Graysby Grouper (Cephalopholis cruentata).

MOREHEAD CITY – State recreational water quality officials today lifted a water quality swimming advisory at a sound-side site in Beaufort County.