m a r i n e advice 



>rth Carolina Examines its Coastal Management Tools 



North Carolina and other coastal 

 states are giving their management 

 toolboxes a checkup. They want to 

 know if the tools they use to protect and 

 manage coastal resources are still sharp 

 and effective. 



In North Carolina, Sea Grant 

 specialists Walter Clark and Barbara 

 Doll are taking part in these landmark 

 evaluations. 



The process was set 

 into motion in 1990 when 

 Congress reauthorized the 

 Coastal Zone Manage- 

 ment Act (CZMA) and 

 told states to re-examine 

 their coastal management 

 tools. In North Carolina, 

 those tools are found in 

 the Coastal Area Manage- 

 ment Act, which was 

 passed by the Legislature 

 20 years ago at the urging 

 of the federal CZMA. 



Specifically, North 

 Carolina will study four 

 areas: wetlands, special 

 area management, cumulative impacts 

 of development and ocean resources 

 planning. Through grants from the N.C. 

 Division of Coastal Management 

 (DCM), Clark is heading up an ocean 

 management study for the ocean re- 

 sources section, and Doll is coordinating 

 an analysis of areas of environmental 

 concern (AECs) for the development 

 portion. 



For years, state planning for ocean 

 resources had fallen by the wayside in 

 favor of land-based planning for 

 nearshore waters, says Clark, Sea 

 Grant's coastal law specialist. But 

 lately, the ocean has enjoyed a surge in 

 priority. Concern for protecting ocean 

 resources is mounting with issues such 

 as offshore drilling, yet there are few 

 coordinated policies to work with. 



"For so long, coastal management 

 has ignored the wet side of its mandate," 

 Clark says. "Coastal management was 

 always intended to be something that 



would encompass the ocean as well as 

 the land-coastal areas. But it's never 

 done that." 



The ocean resources plan that 

 emerges from Clark's effort will mesh 

 a resource inventory with his manage- 

 ment study of ocean jurisdiction, 

 public trust waters, hard minerals 

 mining, leases on the Outer Continental 

 Shelf for oil and gas exploration, 



Walter Clark 



Barbara Doll 



marine pollution, fisheries, recreation 

 and more. 



Clark is working with a task force 

 of people who use or manage ocean 

 resources to suggest better strategies. 



He will also have a hand in the 

 conclusion of Doll's AEC study, 

 heading a policy and management team 

 to translate the findings into language 

 that DCM can use for recommending 

 new rules. 



When land or water is deemed a 

 unique natural area of statewide signifi- 

 cance, it is granted certain protections 

 from development and activities as an 

 AEC. Doll has assembled scientists 

 who will judge how well these AECs 

 are working to protect shellfish, fish 

 and water quality. Public hearings for 

 the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine Study 

 showed that people believe these three 

 valuable resources are in decline in 

 North Carolina, she says. 



"Sea Grant was chosen to help 



with the AEC evaluation because the 

 organization has within it all the 

 components of this study," Doll says. "I 

 deal with water quality. We have people 

 who deal with the fisheries. Walter 

 Clark deals with policy. And we're very 

 much in touch with the leading experts 

 doing research in these fields." 



Doll started the project earlier this 

 year by assembling teams of scientists 

 who will define the 

 functions of shellfish, 

 fish and water. Oysters, 

 for instance, are an 

 important food source 

 for humans, she says, but 

 less obvious are their 

 other functions as 

 substrate for estuarine 

 life-forms, food for blue 

 crabs and filters of the 

 water. 



Each team will then 

 draft criteria for main- 

 taining these resources in 

 a way that preserves 

 their functions. For 

 instance, oysters require good water 

 quality. Many seagoing fish need 

 estuarine seagrass beds in which to lay 

 their eggs. And the quality of coastal 

 waters can be compromised by algal 

 growths, low levels of dissolved 

 oxygen, nutrient loadings and sediment 

 contamination. 



The teams' criteria for keeping 

 resources healthy will be examined by 

 another set of experts in the study of 

 land and water interactions. They will 

 decide what land-based actions will 

 meet the criteria. 



When the four major studies come 

 together, the state will have a better idea 

 of how its management policies are 

 keeping up with development pressures, 

 ocean resources, wetlands and special 

 areas such as AECs. From there, North 

 Carolina regulators will have a better 

 idea of how to manage the coastal 

 resources in the future. 



Jeannie Faris 



COASTWATCH 23 



