Marine Fisheries Commission receives draft Coastal Habitat Protection Plan Amendment

The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission received a presentation on the draft Coastal Habitat Protection Plan 2026 Amendment, one of several agenda items during the board’s regular quarterly business meeting in Raleigh this week.

The Fisheries Reform Act, adopted into North Carolina law in 1997, requires the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to develop Coastal Habitat Protection Plans (CHPPs) for critical fisheries habitats to be adopted by the Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC), the Environmental Management Commission and the Coastal Resources Commission. The first CHPP was adopted in 2005. The current CHPP Base Plan was approved in 2016 and amended in 2021.

Prior to the meeting, the MFC Chairman amended the meeting agenda to remove the originally scheduled vote to take the draft CHPP to public comment. The vote will likely occur at the November or February meeting.

The CHPP describes the state’s coastal habitats – Water Column, Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV), Shell Bottom, Wetlands, Soft Bottom and Hard Bottom. It also evaluates the function, value to fisheries, status and trends of coastal habitats, identifies threats to those habitats and recommends actions to protect and restore habitats.

The draft 2026 amendment focuses on four issues: Ecosystem Based Management, SAV Protection and Restoration, Planning for Multi-Decadal Wetland Change and Strategic Habitat Area (SHA) Validation.

Draft recommendations include:

Integrating ecosystem data into resource management decisions and developing a state ecosystem report card.
Initiating the MFC rulemaking process to develop a habitat-based rule framework to address impacts to water column, shell bottom, SAV, soft bottom and hard bottom habitats.
Collaborating with division and commission partners to facilitate the passage and implementation of a water clarity standard to protect SAV and exploring barriers to on-the-ground SAV restoration.
Validating the Albemarle and Pamlico Sound regions’ SHAs, initiation of the MFC rulemaking process to propose SHA designation and development of management strategies for SHAs.
Coordinating the development of best practices specific to North Carolina for potential Thin Layer Placement projects to enhance wetlands resiliency. Thin Layer Placement involves adding a thin layer of sediment to the surface of wetlands to help stabilize the marsh.

The recommendations follow those of the recent UNC Collaboratory Study of the Coastal and Marine Fisheries of the State.

Recognizing that habitat management often falls under the jurisdiction of other DEQ agencies, the MFC invited representatives from the Division of Water Resources (DWR) to discuss that agency’s mission and provide an overview of its responsibilities. It was the first of several planned presentations from DWR.

In other business, the commission voted to:

Approve the final determination of 335 MFC rules as necessary under a mandatory periodic review of existing rules (NCGS 150B-21.3A), which requires state agencies to review existing rules every 10 years.
Re-elect Commissioner Sarah Gardner as vice-chair.
Set the number of Standard Commercial Fishing Licenses in the eligibility pool to 500 for the 2026-2027 license year.
Approve the suspension of section (h) of MFC Rule 15A NCAC 03J .0103 Gill Nets, Seines, Identification, Restrictions for an indefinite period. This continues the rule suspension in Proclamation M-14-2026, which expands gill net attendance requirements in portions of the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rivers and the small bays between the rivers for the small mesh gill net fishery that reopened in some areas in May after a March closure.

The commission also heard from DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson, who gave an update on several Department focus areas.

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