HERE IS WHERE THE MONEY YOU PAY FOR FISHING LICENSE GOES!
Beverly Eaves Perdue,
Governor Dee Freeman, Secretary
N.C. Department of
Environment and Natural Resources
Release: Immediate
Contact: Patricia Smith
Date: Jan. 17, 2012 Phone:
252-726-7021
Fisheries, Wildlife Approve 14 Coastal
Recreational Fishing License Grants
MOREHEAD CITY – Revenues from the N.C.
Coastal Recreational Fishing License will pay nearly $2 million in the coming
year toward projects to help provide coastal fishing access and fisheries and
habitat research.
The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission
today announced the approval of 14 grants, totaling $1.99 million, for the 2012
cycle. The grants are funded from the N.C. Marine Resources Fund, which receives
revenues from the sale of Coastal Recreational Fishing Licenses.
The grants are sorted into three focus areas. Grants that fall under the People
focus area include public education and public water access projects. Grants
that fall under the Fish focus area are fisheries research projects. Grants that
fall under the Habitat focus area include projects that enhance, protect or
research fisheries habitat.
The approved grants are:
People – Total of $857,369
Take a Kid Fishing –
$25,000
One-year funding for a multi-year grant to provide disabled and disadvantaged
youth an opportunity to go saltwater fishing while teaching them about ethical
fishing practices, conservation and the ocean environment.
Long Bay Artificial Reef Association
– $220,622
One-year grant to place reef material on Artificial Reef-430 off
Brunswick County to enhance the effective and responsible development of
artificial reefs for long-term fishery enhancement.
N. C. Division of Marine Fisheries’ Saltwater fishing Tournament – $25,727
Year-one funding for a multi-year grant to enhance and support the program,
which produces citations that recognize recreational anglers for exceptional
catches of marine finfish common to North Carolina.
Friends of the N.C. Maritime Museum – $28,620
Year-one funding for a multi-year grant to develop and implement a public
exhibit with related educational materials centered on North Carolina’s
recreational fisheries.
Wildlife Resources Commission’s Brick Landing
Road Boating Access –
$350,000
One-year grant to design and construct one new concrete ramp, floating docks, 24
paved parking spaces and Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, features.
Wildlife Resources Commission’s ADA Coastal
Boating Access, Year-One Funding –
$140,000
Multi-year grant to make all of the commission’s coastal boating access sites
ADA compliant.
Town of Oriental – $67,400
One-year grant to enhance the Oriental Artificial Reef-396 by purchasing and
deploying reef balls and other materials.
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Fish- Total of $400,710
University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Acoustic Tagging of Southern
Flounder – $161,874
Year-one funding of a multi-year grant to evaluate the migration dynamics and
within-estuary habitat use of southern flounder.
East Carolina University Cooperative Winter Tagging Cruise – $238,836
Year-one funding of a multi-year grant to tag striped bass and Atlantic sturgeon
in the Atlantic Ocean, and sample all species encountered, to assist in
assessing fishing mortality on coastal migratory stocks of striped bass,
including the Albemarle-Roanoke stock.
Habitat- Total of $732,266
N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries’ Oyster
Shell Recycling Program –
$28,000
One-year grant to increase public exposure to the program to increase
participation and provide additional shell material
that will be used to enhance fish habitat, reduce solid waste in
landfills and increase awareness of the importance of a healthy oyster
population.
N.C.
Division of Marine Fisheries’ Inshore
Fishing/Oyster Reefs – $469,427
Year-one funding of a multi-year grant to increase easily accessible and
high-quality angling opportunities by creating three coastal recreational
fishing reefs in close proximity to coastal towns and public boat ramps.
University of North Carolina at Wilmington,
Ecosystem Function of Oyster Shoreline Stabilization
– $87,501
One-year grant to study the impacts of oyster reefs on shoreline stabilization,
specific parameters of oyster health and condition in created reefs, and the
ecosystem benefit from oysters.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Institute of Marine Sciences, Defining the Critical Depth for Intertidal Oyster
Reef Restoration –
$39,491
Year-one funding of a multi-year grant to evaluate restored oyster reef
evolution and sustainability across various water depths and determine the
critical elevation threshold at which future restoration will likely be most
successful.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Institute of Marine Sciences, Acoustic Tracking of Adult Red Drum and Sheepshead
–
$107,847
Year-one funding of a multi-year grant to track adult red drum and sheepshead to
evaluate restored habitat function.
For more information on these grants or the Coastal Recreational Fishing License
grant program, contact Tiffany Frazier, Coastal Recreational Fishing License
grants coordinator, at 252-808-8004 or
Tiffany.Frazier@ncdenr.gov.
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