COASTAL 



TIDINGS 



Gulf Fisheries Declared Disaster 



Ate r Hurricane Rita, the U.S. 

 Department of Commerce issued a disaster 

 declaration for the Gulf of Mexico fisheries in 

 both Texas and Louisiana. 



The storm caused major flooding and 

 damage to fishing infrastructure. 



A similar declaration was issued in the 

 wake of Hurricane Katrina for waters from 

 Pensacola, Ha., west to the Louisiana/Texas 

 border. 



There were significant economic effects of 

 Hurricane Katrina on the fishing communities 

 in the Gulf of Mexico, according to U.S. 



Commerce Secretary 

 Carlos Gutierrez. 

 "Major 

 commercial 

 fisheries 

 in the Gulf 

 of Mexico 

 include finfish, 

 shrimp, and oysters, 



with an estimated value of almost 

 $700 million per year," adds Gutierrez. 



The National Oceanic & 

 Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 

 will help states assess damage to 

 the 15 major fishing ports and the 

 177 seafood processing facilities in 

 Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. 

 NOAA estimates there are 432 

 federally permitted fishing vessels 

 in Alabama, 3,738 in Florida, 1 ,033 

 in Louisiana and 35 1 in Mississippi. 

 Additional fishers hold state permits. 



Federal relief funds are available to assess 

 the impacts and restore the fisheries, prevent 

 future damage and assist fishing communities' 

 recovery efforts. 



Working the Gulf states, NOAA also will 

 continue to assess long-term impacts to the 

 marine environment, says Bill Hogarth, director 

 of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service. 



For updates, go online to: www.noaa.gov. 



-A.G. 



State Budget Affects Habitat Efforts 



The new state budget includes funding 

 — and challenges — for coastal habitat programs. 



North Carolina's FerryMon — which places 

 specialized equipment on state-operated ferries 

 to collect water quality data on the Albemarle/ 

 Pamlico Estuarine (APE) system — received 

 funding from the N.C. General Assembly. 



Hans Paerl, of the University of North 

 Carolina at Chapel Hill Institute of Marine 

 Sciences in Morehead City, and Joseph Ramus, 

 of the Duke Manne Lab in Beaufort, coordinate 

 the FerryMon project. 



FerryMon researchers gather data on 

 estuarine responses to water quality changes in 

 the APE system. Researchers hope to incorporate 

 this data into North Carolina's Coastal Habitat 

 Protection Plan (CHPP). 



However, no new state money was 

 designated for environmental agencies to 

 inventory docks and piers in coastal North 

 Carolina. Nor will there be targeted funding to 

 develop a beach and inlet management plan. 



Gov. Mike Easley had requested money 

 to establish a CHPP reserve fund, a portion of 

 which would hire two new people to work on the 

 docks and inlets projects. But, the final budget 

 approved by the General Assembly did not 

 include such monies. 



Despite funding limitations, CHPP efforts 

 continue. A committee is working through the 

 Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program to 

 begin mapping seagrass beds and to determine 

 ways to identify the health of estuary systems. 



Another committee is meeting to discuss 

 and identify Strategic Habitat Areas in coastal 

 regions, a CHPP goal that was not included in 

 the governor's budget request. 



The CHPP implementation plan includes 

 convening a stakeholder group to identify data 

 gaps and funding needs for the beach and inlet 

 plan and to begin a docks and piers inventory. 



Visit the FerryMon Project on the Web 

 at www.ferrymon.org. Learn more about North 

 Carolina's CHPP at www.ncfisheries.net/habitat. 



-E.S. 



David Moreau 



WRRI Names 

 New Director 



"[he N.C. Water 

 Resources Research 

 Institute (WRRI) has 

 named a new director with 

 a familiar face — David 

 Moreau, professor in 

 the Department of City 

 and Regional Planning 

 at University of North 

 Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

 Moreau served as director of 

 WRRI from 1983 to 1995. With his 

 reappointment, Moreau replaces Kenneth 

 Reckhow of Duke University's Nicholas 

 School of the Environment. 



WRRI was established in 1965 as a 

 unit of the University of North Carolina 

 system. The program is authorized by the 

 federal Water Resources Research Act of 

 1 964 to administer and promote federal/ 

 state partnerships on water-related issues. 

 WRRI identifies and supports research to 

 help solve water quality and water resources 

 problems in North Carolina and the region. 



At UNC-Chapel Hill, Moreau has 

 taught courses in environmental quality 

 assessment and water resources. His 

 research interests are in the analysis, 

 planning, financing and evaluation of water 

 and related environmental programs. 



Moreau also serves as chairman of 

 the N.C. Environmental Management 

 Commission. He is in his third six-year term 

 on the panel. 



Moreau received a doctorate in water 

 resources from Harvard. He served as chair 

 of the Department of City and Regional 

 Planning from 1 997 to 2002 and as senior 

 associate dean of the College of Arts and 

 Sciences at UNC-Chapel Hill from 1 977 

 to 1983. -E.S. 



COASTWATCH 3 



