The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries has certified a new state record for skipjack tuna.
Timothy Ray Street of Valdese hooked the 32-pound, 8-ounce-fish May 24 at the Rock Pile, a series of rock ledges in the Gulf Stream, about 23 miles out of Hatteras Inlet.
Severe drought has returned to North Carolina for the first time since September 2015 as rainfall deficits continue to impact the southwestern mountains.
The Marine Fisheries Commission’s Coastal Recreational Fishing License Committee will meet at 10 a.m. June 28 at the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries’ Central District Office, 5285 Highway 70 West, Morehead City.
The purpose of the meeting is to:
Coastal recreational fishermen hooked more fish in North Carolina in 2015 than they did in 2014.
Mild weather allowed North Carolina’s commercial fishermen to work into late autumn and early winter in 2015, resulting in more seafood caught and sold for the second year in a row.
The state environmental department will hold a public hearing June 22 in Hickory to hear comments on a draft modified wastewater discharge permit for Duke Energy’s Marshall Steam Station.
As part of Governor Pat McCrory’s initiative to protect low-income and minority communities from the effects of coal ash, the state environmental agency has evaluated the potential impact of storing ash in a new lined landfill in Wilmington.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun implementing a revised water control plan at Kerr Lake dam, as negotiated by the Corps, the state’s lead environmental agency, other state and federal agencies, non-government organizations and Dominion.
A new environmental rule will reduce paperwork for more than 1,400 business owners while freeing up resources North Carolina will use to protect air quality. The businesses that would qualify for air permit exemptions include food manufacturing and colleges and universities.
The Sea Turtle Advisory Committee to the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission will meet at 4 p.m. June 23 at the Department of Environmental Quality Regional Office, 943 Washington Square Mall, Washington.