Commercial fishermen in North Carolina are pushing back against a proposed expansion of military training operations in Pamlico Sound, warning that additional restricted waters could limit access to productive fishing grounds and interfere with navigation.
According to reporting by Carolina Coast Online, the proposal from Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point would increase aircraft and unmanned systems operations, add watercraft operations, and expand restricted waters around two longtime bombing targets in Pamlico Sound.
The proposal is currently undergoing a federal consistency review by the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management (DCM), which must determine whether the project complies with the state’s coastal management laws and regulations.
The plan would expand the existing intermittent restricted waters surrounding Bombing Target 9 at Brant Island Shoal and Bombing Target 11 on Piney Island, effectively connecting the two areas into a single restricted zone stretching more than nine miles across Pamlico Sound near the mouths of the Neuse and Bay rivers.
Project documents acknowledge that activating the expanded area could “impede navigation or interfere with access or use of public trust areas or estuarine waters.” The documents do not, however, define how frequently the proposed “intermittent” restrictions would be put in place. The Navy would issue Notices to Mariners before closing the larger area to non-military users.
The proposal would also establish a permanent 500-foot restricted safety buffer around Piney Island, a provision that drew concern from fishermen during a Sept. 29 public hearing.
Commercial fisherman and guide Wayne Dunbar of Pamlico County said the additional permanent restriction was unnecessary. “This proposal threatens to severely limit access to waters that have supported generations of people,” Dunbar said, pointing to commercial oyster, fish, and crab harvests as well as recreational fishing and hunting.
Other commenters questioned how often the larger intermittent closure would be activated. Fisherman Jeff Aydelette said the proposal failed to explain “how many times that’s going to be closed to nautical transportation.”
North Carolina Fisheries Association executive director Glenn Skinner and chairman Brent Fulcher also opposed moving the proposal forward without additional information.
“There was no presentation, no explanation, nobody here that could actually answer our questions,” Skinner said. “And I say: if you can’t justify it, you don’t do it.”
Fulcher, who also owns several North Carolina seafood businesses, said the association wants the Marine Corps to demonstrate why the additional restrictions are necessary. “We strongly disagree with anything moving forward,” Fulcher said, “until they can come and show the need for it.”
The proposal also calls for two watercraft access points, a roughly 10 percent increase in field exercise training days, events and annual expenditures across the Cherry Point Range Complex, and increased military activity involving aircraft and unmanned systems.
Bombing targets BT-9 and BT-11 have been used for live-fire training since World War II. Because the proposed changes could affect coastal resources and public trust waters, North Carolina is reviewing the project for consistency with state coastal management requirements.
DCM will accept written public comments on the proposal through Oct. 15. These can be submitted via email to [email protected] with “Federal Consistency: USMC MCAS Cherry Point” in the subject line, or via standard mail to the Federal Consistency Coordinator, 400 Commerce Avenue, Morehead City, NC 28557. All comments received will be considered as part of the state’s federal consistency review.
