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Readers write about the issues facing Hatteras and
Ocracoke Read
more
Commentary:
The good old days of skinny dipping on the seashore are over
Skinny
dipping has a long history on the Outer Banks. Dewey Parr
writes
that he doesn’t really understand what the allure is to walk the beach
or swim naked, but to many it has been a long-time tradition. In fact,
he confesses he has done it. But he says, our skinny dipping
days
are over on Hatteras and Ocracoke. Read
more
Commentary:
NPS refusal to drain stormwater is a point of contention for islanders
and visitors
Stormwater
from Hurricane Irene and heavy rains on Hatteras in September have led
to serious flooding in areas of the seashore, especially near Ramps 43
and 44 and in the Cape Point campground. Hatteras Island
blogger
Jeffrey “Wheat” Golding takes on the Park Service and its refusal to
deal with a problem that has been around since Hurricane Isabel in
2003. He says it degrades the seashore and is a serious health issue.
Read
more
Commentary:
A young Hatteras waterman weighs in on the absurdity of catch shares
Hatteras
waterman
Patrick Caton, 26, writes that catch shares are not about conservation,
and they are definitely not about fishermen. Their
implementation, he writes, would have devastating consequences for all
fishermen in the South Atlantic and would effectively ruin North
Carolina’s small fishing communities. Read
more
Here
come catch shares: How NOAA and the Environmental Defense Fund plan to
destroy North Carolina’s working watermen
Catch
shares are here. They are, as you read this, being
implemented by NOAA through the National Marine Fisheries Service. The
goal is to reduce the number of working watermen in the United States
by more than 60 percent. The propaganda put out by the
Environmental Defense Fund, which has endorsed and pushed the program,
“informs” fishermen that the ones left standing, after their neighbors
are economically destroyed, will be able to get rich and somehow
fishing towns and villages will then “be vibrant.”
First,
commercial fishermen were introduced to catch shares.
Charter boats and headboats are being targeted now, and it won’t be
long before it will affect recreational fishermen who don’t fish on
charter boats.
If
we want to see coastal heritage and traditions vanish, we should
simply do nothing. If we believe that the right to fish
should be
the exclusive right of those who have the deepest pockets, we should
simply do nothing. If we believe that reducing the ability of
coastal citizens to generate income and pay more taxes is good for our
state’s economy, we should simply do nothing.
Or
we need to let our representatives in Congress know that we want no
part of this program. Read
more

Guest
column: Where is the truth on sea turtle nesting success?
After
the 2008
sea turtle nesting season, Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC),
the National Audubon Society, and Defenders of Wildlife (DOW) first
started claiming that the consent decree had improved sea turtle
nesting at Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area (CHNSRA).
I
got upset
because I had naively expected the whole truth and nothing but the
truth rather than propaganda from these presumed reputable
organizations. Unfortunately, even after they were told that sea turtle
nesting in 2008 was at record levels throughout North Carolina (highest
since 2000), they continued their spin on how the consent decree
improved nesting at CHNSRA. ....Read
more
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