A lawsuit challenging how North Carolina manages coastal fisheries can go to court, the state Court of Appeals ruled earlier this week.
The three-judge appellate court unanimously affirmed Tuesday a Wake County trial judge’s 2021 ruling that denied the state’s request to dismiss the suit brought by the Coastal Conservation Association North Carolina, or CCA NC, and 86 individuals in 2020.
The lawsuit alleges the state has “breached its obligation under the public-trust doctrine” to prevent overfishing of coastal fish stocks and prevent habitat destruction from inland trawling.
The North Carolina Wildlife Federation, Sound Rivers and Joseph Kalo, a professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s School of Law, have filed amicus briefs supporting the plaintiff’s complaints.
“Our concern is that the state has not taken care of certain areas that they are responsible for in their fiduciary responsibility to manage our public trust resources for the benefit of all the citizens of North Carolina,” said CCA NC Executive Director David Sneed.
The Fisheries Reform Act passed by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1997 was a good first step in managing coastal fisheries stock, but that legislation needs to be updated, he said.