Prospects Look 

 Good For New 

 Wanchese Port 



Visions of a major fishing center in the Roanoke 

 Island town of Wanchese have danced in the heads 

 of some of that community's residents for nearly 

 two decades. 



Their visions aren't a reality yet. But the day 

 when their dreams may finally come true seems 

 closer. 



A recent $325,000 grant by the Coastal Plains 

 Regional Commission, a $500,000 appropriation 

 earmarked for harbor construction after July 1 

 by the N.C. General Assembly, endorsement by an 

 influential organization of water resources experts 

 and increased support from seafood industries 

 have significantly boosted the project this year, 

 according to Alvah Ward, seafood industries con- 

 sultant from the N.C. Department of Natural and 

 Economic Resources. 



The proposed Wanchese Harbor project is a joint 

 federal-state effort intended to spur the Tarheel 

 seafood industry and coastal economy by providing 

 improved channels to rich offshore fishing grounds 

 and a harbor complex where seafood processors 

 and distributors and a wide range of support in- 

 dustries could lease space for their operations from 

 the State Ports Authority. 



According to Ward, the need for additional de- 

 tailed studies of the social, economic and environ- 

 mental impact of the harbor by the Corps of Engi- 

 neers might have slowed progress somewhat. But 

 data gathered in the studies has helped keep the 

 project alive during budget-tightening times by 

 proving that economic benefits derived from the 

 project will outweigh building costs. 



Col. Dan McDonald of the N.C. Division of En- 

 vironmental Management noted that estimated 

 costs of deepening the harbor and channels and 

 stabilizing Oregon Inlet — the federal phase of the 

 project — have leaped from $9.2 million in the 1960s 

 to more than $23 million today. 



A Congressional appropriation of $70,000 to 

 the Corps of Engineers for completing design and 

 engineering of the harbor, channels and jetties 

 helps pave the way for actual dredging, according 

 to McDonald. The first construction funds are 

 expected to be appropriated for fiscal year '77 

 which begins Oct. 1, he said, adding that dredging 

 could begin by spring, 1977. 



Grant money totaling $325,000 from the Coastal 

 Plains Regional Commission (CPRC) should 

 hasten the beginning of construction, Ward said, 

 CPRC funds will support drawing a blueprint from 

 the master harbor complex plan. Stan Beebe, 

 CPRC program director, said his agency viewed 

 the harbor as "the most pressing need in the sea- 

 food industry for all of the coastal plains states." 



Proposed channel improvements to be done by the Corps o 

 Engineers include (a) stabilization of Oregon Inlet witl 

 jetties, (b) a channel through the ocean bar at Oregoi 

 Inlet, (c) a channel from Oregon Onlet through Roanoke 

 Sound to Wanchese and (d) a channel through Roanoke 

 Sound to and through Albemarle Sound in deep water nea: 

 the northern end of Croatan Sound. The Corps would alsi 

 deepen and enlarge Wanchese harbor if the project i: 

 approved. 



CPRC is also supporting feasibility studies for 

 similar harbors in South Carolina and Georgia and 

 funds have been set aside for engineering and de- 

 sign in those states. 



Another significant push for the project, especi- 

 ally for the improvement of routes to the Atlantic, 

 came this year when the U.S. Water Resources 

 Congress, an influential organization of water 

 resources experts, designated the project as one of 

 "national urgency." The congress based its desig- 

 nation on the fact that the U.S. Coast Guard was 

 called 168 times to assist vessels in the Oregon 

 Inlet area from mid-1970 through last March. 



Continued interest among seafood industries 

 and among mid-West seafood distributors who 

 would like to locate in the harbor complex and 

 establish reliable supplies from Wanchese has also 

 provided support for the project, Ward noted. "We 

 now have 30 industrial prospects ready to talk 

 turkey about locating in the harbor complex," 

 Ward said, adding that they represent $12.5 mil- 

 lion in investments and would offer 445 new jobs. 



Recounting other developments, Ward pointed 

 to several changes made in the master plan of the 

 harbor. A central gear storage area which will 

 be available to fishermen for a nominal fee has 

 been added and re-organization aimed at smooth- 

 ing traffic flow in the harbor were the major 

 changes he cited. 



Despite optimism that the harbor is nearing 

 realization, Ward warns that the entire project — 

 both the harbor facilities and improved access to 

 offshore fishing areas — must be completed if full 

 potential is to be reached. "We can use the harbor 

 alone to accomplish a good part of our mission. 

 But we can never achieve our real purposes or 

 reach full potential until we get the jetties," Ward 



Will Limiting Foreign Catches Help North Carolina? 



You're a North Carolina fisherman and all this 

 talk about a 200-mile limit has you baffled. You 

 read that the House of Representatives has passed 

 a bill to extend United States jurisdiction over fish- 

 ing out 200 miles from the nation's coastline. The 

 Senate has acted on a similar bill. With differences 

 in the bills worked out and without a presidential 

 veto, extended jurisdiction will become law. 



How would extended jurisdiction affect you? 



If you're one of the vast majority of Tarheel fish- 

 ermen who fishes the state's sounds and near- 

 shore waters, extended control of fishing in distant 

 offshore waters would probably have little effect— 

 at least in the immediate future, according to Mike 

 Street, director of research and development of the 

 N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries. 



But if you're one who fishes farther offshore, and 

 particularly if you travel to New England waters 

 to trawl, you may note some changes resulting 

 from extended jurisdiction. 



One change may be that you'll see fewer foreign 



fishing boats. One benefit may be more fish for U.S. 

 fishermen. 



In the past, there has been no attempt to conserve 

 fisheries resources in the ocean. The rule has been 

 that anyone who wanted to fish in waters beyond 

 12 miles from our shores had the right to do so. 



In recent years, foreign fishing vessels have 

 taken a heavy toll on some fish species. Overall, 

 North Carolina landings have increased in spite of 

 foreign fishing. But statistics show that fisheries 

 biomass, all seafood flesh from fish to lobster, from 

 Maine to Hatteras declined 55 per cent in the past 

 decade, Street says. On the North Carolina coast, 

 foreign fishing's most obvious effect has been the 

 decline in the river herring catch from 20 million 

 pounds in 1950 to 5.8 million pounds in 1970, Street 

 said. River herring is caught offshore by foreign 

 boats, but is fished by North Carolina fishermen 

 when it migrates to inshore waters. 



By extending jurisdiction to 200 miles, the U.S. 

 could begin conserving fishery resources by limit- 

 ing the foreign catch. If the legislation is passed, 

 foreign vessels would not be excluded from our 

 waters. But to fish in the 200 mile zone, other na- 

 tions would have to strike agreements with the 

 U.S. regulating where they could fish and the 

 kinds of species and quantities they could catch. 

 The proposed law would also give the U.S. the right 

 to inspect and seize violating nations' vessels with- 

 in the 200-mile zone. 



The impact of extended jurisdiction would prob- 

 ably be most immediate for fishermen in North 

 Atlantic and New England waters where some 

 species have been seriously depleted by foreign 

 boats. 



In North Carolina's offshore waters, fishery 

 stocks are abundant, Street says. But without ex- 

 tended jurisdiction, our resource could become 

 seriously overfished in the future. For now, though, 

 control of foreign fishing would help rebuild the 

 river herring fishery here, Street says. 



University of North Carolina 

 Sea Grant Program 

 1235 Burlington Laboratories 

 North Carolina State University 

 Raleigh, N.C. 27607 



