Saving Seafood

Bill to make North Carolina ‘Napa Valley’ of US oyster industry also good for Cooke

June 25, 2018 — The following is excerpted from a story originally published in Undercurrent News: 

Many North Carolina fishermen are petitioning in support of the Support Shellfish Industry Act. One group, Citizens for a Level Playing Field, have created a petition in support of the Act.

A vote by the North Carolina General Assembly — potentially as early as Monday — could make it easier for Cooke Seafood USA and others to harvest more oysters in the US coastal state. But it’s coming down to the wire, as the state’s legislature is expected to end its session either this week or next.

The Support Shellfish Industry Act (HB 361) would raise the cap for oyster permits in the Pamlico Sound – the US’ second largest estuary, covering over 3,000 square miles of open water behind North Carolina’s touristy Outer Banks — from a combined 50 acres to 200 acres, allowing for larger scale operations. It’s a change being sought by the Wanchese Fish Company, a Suffolk, Virginia-based harvester and processor acquired by the Canadian Cooke family in 2015, among others.

The measure, which was originally introduced in late May as Senate Bill 738 by Republican state senators Bill Cook, Harry Brown and Norman Sanderson, passed the North Carolina upper chamber on June 15 by a 28-9 vote, but still requires approval by the state’s Republican-dominated House of Representatives.

“With our acres of pristine waters, and a large and growing interest in cultivated oysters, the potential for the industry in the state is huge,” the three lawmakers said in a press release when introducing the original bill. “Our goal is for North Carolina to become the ‘Napa Valley’ of oysters and to become a $100 million dollar industry in 10 years.”

The North Carolina lawmakers might have picked a different area to represent dominance in the US wine industry. Despite its reputation, Napa Valley produces just 4% of the grapes used in California.

Regardless, Jay Styron, president and owner of the Carolina Mariculture Company, an oyster grower in Cedar Island, North Carolina, would settle right now for his state just getting on a playing field that’s level with the oyster industries in Virginia and Maryland, two states on the Chesapeake Bay (the US’s largest estuary), with lease caps that allow operations of up to 2,000 total acres.

Other states, like Louisiana and Washington, allow similarly high oyster growing caps, he said in a letter to the editor published Friday by Undercurrent News.

Styron told Undercurrent he isn’t interested in expanding beyond the 6.5-acre floating-cage oyster and clam farm he owns in the adjacent Core Sound, but is arguing for the change on behalf of other oyster growers in his role as the president of the North Carolina Shellfish Growers Association.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

NORTH CAROLINA: Senate passes Marine Aquaculture Development Act

June 29, 2017 — Amended changes to a marine aquaculture bill were unanimously approved in the Senate on Wednesday, meaning that a growing ocean-based business may soon have a bigger impact on the North Carolina coast.

Senate Bill 410, the Marine Aquaculture Development Act, was sponsored by Sen. Bill Cook (R-District 1), Sen. Norman W. Sanderson (R-District 2) and Sen. Jerry W. Tillman (R-District 29). The bill will next be sent to Gov. Roy Cooper.

Marine aquaculture is one of the fastest growing food production methods in the world, and SB 410 is designed to attract global seafood companies to the state, according to a Thursday afternoon news release.

In October 2015, Wilmington hosted the annual BioMarine International Business Convention. It was the first time the convention was held in the United States.

Approximately 300 business executives, researchers, entrepreneurs, and economic development officials from more than 16 countries attended the event.

“With a large abundant natural water resource along our state’s coastline, North Carolina is a prime location for deepwater aquaculture facilities,” Cook said. “Aquaculture is, indeed, among one of the fastest growing segments of food production worldwide, and with this bill, North Carolina will be appropriately positioned to join the market.”

Nearly one-half of all fish consumed globally are harvested from aquaculture facilities, according to the release, and by 2030 over 145.5 million metric tons of aquatic food will be needed to meet global demand.

Read the full story at WECT

Senators file bill to expand aquaculture

March 30, 2017 — Two lawmakers from coastal North Carolina filed a bill Monday to encourage the Wilmington District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to allow shellfish cultivation and aquaculture activities in North Carolina waters containing submerged aquatic vegetation.

Sens. Norman Sanderson (R-Carteret) and Bill Cook (R-Beaufort) described Senate Bill 410 as an economic development driver that is also good for the environment.

“With our acres of pristine waters and a large and growing interest in cultivated oysters, the potential for the industry in the state is huge,” said Sanderson and Cook in a press release. “Our goal is for North Carolina to become the ‘Napa Valley’ of oysters. A single adult oyster can filter and clean up to 50 gallons of water a day — thus our waters will be cleaner and our economy will grow.

“North Carolina’s estuaries are well-known for being some of the most productive in the world. We have the second largest estuary system in the United States and the largest contained in one state. Amending this federal rule has tremendous potential to create new jobs with the shellfish and aquaculture industry.”

The federal rule in question aims to protect submerged aquatic vegetation, but the bill sponsors contend it is too restrictive.

“This policy is more stringent than policies used in other coastal states, including the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said the senators in a statement. “Shellfish lease applications in North Carolina have been routinely denied by the Division of Marine Fisheries due to the presence of any submerged aquatic vegetation. Virginia falls under the Norfolk District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and in that state, after the individual lease holder has a preconstruction notification, their lease can have a certain amount of submerged aquatic vegetation under certain conditions.”

Read the full story at North State Journal