12-14-2003, 08:05 PM
[font "Arial"][size 2]It didn't take an act of Congress to get much-needed dredging under way at Oregon Inlet, but it did take a nudge from Rep. Walter Jones and Sen. Elizabeth Dole.
Moving up the scheduled maintenance dredging became imperative after at least eight incidents of ships running aground or needing Coast Guard assistance in the past two weeks.
Oregon Inlet is a key inlet for North Carolina commercial fishermen getting to and from the Atlantic Ocean.
Contrell Dredging Co. of Chesapeake, Va., is expected to arrive later this week with the pipeline dredge Blue Ridge, a 12-inch dredge.
A spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers said Monday that a larger 16-inch dredge -- the Marion -- is expected to arrive in the next two weeks.
"It is an operations and maintenance dredging, which is regularly done in both channels every two years," said Penny Schmitt, Chief of Public Affairs for the Corps of Engineers.
Dredging is scheduled on the "Old House Channel" and "Hell's Gate," which are used by coastal fishermen, including those from Pamlico County.
"It is a very important access point for our fishermen at all times, but especially now with many vessels fishing for summer flounder and croaker," said Jerry Schill, president of the New Bern-based North Carolina Fisheries Association.
North Carolina's 141 licensed flounder fishermen are working on their remaining fall flounder quota of about 700,000 pounds. The boats are allowed to work in 10-day increments, the latest which began Saturday. Individual boats have a 15,000-pound limit during that time.
Because of the dangers at Oregon Inlet, the state Division of Marine Fisheries allowed emergency landings to be made in Virginia last Friday. A DMF spokesman said 16 North Carolina boats unloaded 127,821 pounds of summer flounder at Virginia packing houses.
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Moving up the scheduled maintenance dredging became imperative after at least eight incidents of ships running aground or needing Coast Guard assistance in the past two weeks.
Oregon Inlet is a key inlet for North Carolina commercial fishermen getting to and from the Atlantic Ocean.
Contrell Dredging Co. of Chesapeake, Va., is expected to arrive later this week with the pipeline dredge Blue Ridge, a 12-inch dredge.
A spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers said Monday that a larger 16-inch dredge -- the Marion -- is expected to arrive in the next two weeks.
"It is an operations and maintenance dredging, which is regularly done in both channels every two years," said Penny Schmitt, Chief of Public Affairs for the Corps of Engineers.
Dredging is scheduled on the "Old House Channel" and "Hell's Gate," which are used by coastal fishermen, including those from Pamlico County.
"It is a very important access point for our fishermen at all times, but especially now with many vessels fishing for summer flounder and croaker," said Jerry Schill, president of the New Bern-based North Carolina Fisheries Association.
North Carolina's 141 licensed flounder fishermen are working on their remaining fall flounder quota of about 700,000 pounds. The boats are allowed to work in 10-day increments, the latest which began Saturday. Individual boats have a 15,000-pound limit during that time.
Because of the dangers at Oregon Inlet, the state Division of Marine Fisheries allowed emergency landings to be made in Virginia last Friday. A DMF spokesman said 16 North Carolina boats unloaded 127,821 pounds of summer flounder at Virginia packing houses.
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