September 27th, 2016 — Several coastal counties have joined with commercial fishermen in litigation against the State of North Carolina regarding last year’s decision by the Marine Fisheries Commission to adopt new regulations on the southern flounder fishery by using the “Supplement” process.
According to a press release issued Monday by the N.C. Fisheries Association, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the state’s seafood industry, and distributed by the N.C. Press Association, Steve Weeks, an attorney with Wheatly, Wheatly, Weeks, Lupton & Massie of Beaufort and Todd Roessler, attorney with Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton of Raleigh, are representing the plaintiffs. The complaint was filed on Sept. 23 in Carteret County Superior Civil Court in Beaufort.
The plaintiffs include NCFA Inc., the Carteret County Fisherman’s Association Inc., Carteret County, Dare County and Hyde County.