The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries will hold meetings concerning a possible merger with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission tonight and Thursday.
The meetings will be held tonight at 6 p.m. in New Bern at the Craven County Cooperative Extension Office on 300 Industrial Drive; and Thursday at 6 p.m. in Manteo at the Dare County Administration Building, 954 Marshall C. Collins Drive.
This past spring, the state legislature directed the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries and the N.C. Department of Agriculture to study the current working format of these agencies and decide if they should be reorganized to provide more efficient and productive use of the state’s fisheries resources.
The NCDMF will receive public comment at the two meetings on the possibilities of any combination of the three state agencies.
Proponents of a merger between the NCWRC and NCDMF point to the need for refocusing of the NCDMF toward a more pro-resource orientation and diminish the influence of the commercial-fishing industry on the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission. The addition of the N.C. Department of Agriculture to the mix, however, could result in policies that treat seafood harvested by commercial fishermen as a for-profit “product” and not a natural resource.
Be the first to comment