$3.28 Million Clean Up Of Edenton Bay Announced

The Town of Edenton, Chowan County, the North Carolina Environmental Defense Fund (NCEDF), and the North Carolina Wetland Restoration Program today praised the commitment by North Carolina’s Clean Water Management Trust Fund to pay $3.28 million for funding the first phase of an integrated restoration plan for Edenton Bay. This plan is designed to begin the restoration of water quality needed to re-establish spawning and nursery habitat for river herring.

River herring once abounded in Albemarle Sound, fueling fishing industries from colonial times until the late 1960’s, when harvests reached 20 million pounds per year. Current allowable harvest levels have just been reduced by the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission to 100,000 pounds. The decline has resulted from overfishing, water quality deterioration, and degradation of spawning and nursery habitats.

“Restoring sustainable river herring populations requires both actions to re-establish important habitats and to temporarily reduce fishing effort at the same time,” said NCEDF Senior Scientist Dr. Douglas N. Rader, who helped design the plan. “This plan provides an important model for watershed-based restoration efforts all over the coast.”

The plan includes removal of major sources of pollution from streamside areas and floodplains, including a hog farm and a welding/metals finishing plant, the use of an old fish hatchery for stormwater management, the restoration of riparian forests, and the protection of existing high-quality riparian wetland forests.

“Funding of this program provides a great opportunity for the Town of Edenton to make an important contribution to restoring our environmental heritage, while improving the quality of life for local residents,” said Edenton Town Manager Anne-Marie Knighton.

“This program shows how we can work together to address environmental problems in a way that benefits all our citizens,” said Cliff Copeland, Chowan County Manager.

“This plan provides a good model for integrated watershed rehabilitation,” said Ron Ferrell, Program Manager of the North Carolina Wetland Restoration Program. “Implementation will help bring back herring, and address the problem of pollution in flood-prone areas.”