Southport Magazine

Local fisherfolk looking to help clean up our local waters may want to check out an opportunity coming up to work with the North Carolina Coastal Federation and North Carolina Marine Patrol in the new year. During the “no potting” period, boats and crews will remove debris from local waters, and be compensated for the effort.

Every year, crab pots and other fishing gear are lost in our sounds, creating hazards for boats and marine life. The North Carolina Coastal Federation is seeking applications to help clean up this debris through the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project. The Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project is part of a statewide marine debris removal effort led by the federation. This project is open to commercial watermen and women in North Carolina.

Selected participants will help the federation and N.C. Marine Patrol remove lost fishing gear from coastal waters during the “no-potting” period. In January 2019, commercial watermen and women, in partnership with Marine Patrol officers, removed 3,112 pots from select areas in Districts 1, 2, and 3. The 2021 project will take place in select areas within all three Marine Patrol Districts statewide, on select days within the closed seasons as follows:

• Jan. 1-31 north of the Highway 58 bridge to Emerald Isle
• March 1-15 south of the Highway 58 bridge

To qualify, participants must have a valid Standard Commercial Fishing License (SCFL) and guarantee availability for work on select days during the closed seasons (outlined above). They must also attend a mandatory training session to learn general project protocol and how to use project equipment.

Participants are required to provide their own vessel. Compensation is $450 per boat, per day. Each boat is required to have two people onboard for safety reasons. The number of assigned working days will vary per area, but is expected to be a minimum of three days.

The Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project is funded by the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission Commercial Resource Fund Committee and the Funding Committee for the N.C. Commercial Resource Fund under the Commercial Fishing Resource Fund Grant Program. It is intended to improve habitat and water quality, as well as support coastal economies.

Applications are due Dec. 15, 2020, and are downloadable at www.nccoast.org/crabpot. A limited number of positions will be filled per region. Completed applications can be mailed to P.O. Box 276, Wanchese, NC 27981, or faxed to 252-473-2402. For more information, contact Sara J. Hallas at 252-473-1607 or sarajh@nccoast.org.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation is a nonprofit membership organization that works to keep the coast of North Carolina a great place to live, work and play. Through a variety of programs and partnerships, the federation provides for clean coastal waters and habitats, advocates to protect the coast and teaches and informs people about the coast and what they can do to protect it.

The federation has offices in Ocean, Wanchese and Wrightsville Beach, N.C.

To learn more, please visit nccoast.org or call 252-393-8185.