Water Quality Priorities Identified by Coastal North Carolina Fishermen:

• Agriculture and Factory Farm Runoff
• Stormwater Runoff from Roads, Highways, and Parking Lots
• Industrial Pollutants
• Plastic Pollution
• Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants and Septic Tanks

Coastal Carolina Riverwatch. 2021. “Commercial and Recreational Fishermen Survey.” ECU Center for Survey Research, Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC. March 4-21.

The Industry Working Group (IWG)

The Industry Working Group (IWG), made up of the North Carolina coastal commercial and recreational fishing community, play a vital role in the WQ4F program.

The IWG represents the voice of our coastal fishing community and have come together to resolve water quality issues that impact fisheries.

In 2021, the IWG met the following goals:

1. Collaborate and communicate with other fisheries representatives to address concerns about how water quality impacts fisheries.
2. Collectively learn (from the WQ4F Assessment Process) what is currently being done in the State to address water quality issues impacting fisheries.
3. Collaboratively make recommendations on what more needs to be done to improve water quality for fisheries.
4. Propose next steps to address gaps in addressing what is not currently being done to address water quality issues.

Coastal Carolina Riverwatch Water Quality for Fisheries Industry Working Group (IWG):

Thomas Newman – Williamston
Mark Hooper – Smyrna
Mike Blanton – Elizabeth City
Sam Romano – Wilmington
Glenn Skinner – Newport
Greg Ludlum – North Topsail Beach
Joey Van Dyke – Frisco
Krissi Fountain – Wrightsville Beach
Jot Owens – Wilmington

Coastal Carolina Riverwatch re-launched, revamped, and refueled the (White Oak River water basin) Pure Farms, Pure Waters Program in the mid-summer of 2021. CCRW also launched the Water Quality for Fisheries program in early 2021.

Just like the first law of ecology, everything is connected. The two programs address water quality improvement through several collaborative objectives. In the coastal community, everything is connected to our coastal waters and our fisheries. Now, both programs are elevating coastal voices through advocacy to improve water quality with a focus on priority areas outlined by survey work.

A research-based survey was conducted among the NC coastal fishing community (recreational and commercial) to identify prioritized water quality concerns. From these results, it was determined that agricultural and factory farm runoff was the number one concern. Pure Farms, Pure Waters is a program that works directly to address water quality issues that have a direct impact from industrial agriculture and factory farm runoff.

“Through research and assessment, we know that industrial agriculture and factory farming impacts water quality, and therefore fisheries, through runoff of chemical and bacterial pollutants. North Carolinians can help reduce these impacts by supporting sustainable farms and advocating for improvements in industrial farm regulations that reduce or eliminate impacts to water quality. Coastal Carolina Riverwatch (CCRW) staff, board, and members are grateful for the support and collaboration from the commercial and recreational fishing community. Together, we are identifying recommended future actions to improve water quality through the voices of the coastal fishing community.” – Lisa Rider, Executive Director, Coastal Carolina Riverwatch

“Industrial agriculture pollution has affected North Carolinians for decades. Unmanageable animal waste and copious amounts of fertilizers and pesticides are running into our waterways. This is all exacerbated by extreme weather events that our state regularly experiences. These water quality impacts are felt deeply by coastal fishing communities who depend on our waters as a way of life. Through the Water Quality for Fisheries program we are working collaboratively to amplify these voices and move towards a more sustainable future for our fisheries, farms, and all North Carolinians.” -Rebecca Drohan, Waterkeeper, Coastal Carolina Riverwatch

The past few weeks, Coastal Carolina Riverwatch has been highlighting the Pure Farms, Pure Waters campaign. Pure Farms Pure Waters is a Waterkeeper Alliance program calling attention to the destructive practices of industrial animal agriculture. Coastal Carolina Riverwatch participates in this program locally, in the New River and White Oak River watersheds. You may read more in depth about the program, HERE.

We Appreciate Small Farmers
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) have negative impacts on water quality, environment, and public health. These facilities hold thousands of animals in very confined spaces. NC is number two in the nation for swine production and number three in poultry production. With massive amounts of animals, comes massive amounts of unmanageable waste. This waste pollutes our water, air, and soils with fecal matter, bacteria, nutrient overloads, hormones, and heavy metals. This can result in algal blooms, fish kills, noxious odors, and health impacts in surrounding communities. These impacts disproportionately affect communities of color and/or low income.

Though these are huge problems to address, one way we can take action is to support the small sustainable farmers that the CAFO industry threatens.

We envision collaborative alternatives, working with local farmers to protect our community and natural resources. Building relationships with our food providers ensures the transparency we need to make the best choices for our health, environment, and local economy. We appreciate our small farmers and the many benefits of choosing local.

Benefits of local farms:

• Animal waste can be managed more effectively.

• Reduces greenhouse gas emissions from food transport and long term refrigeration.

• Produce is less likely to come wrapped in single-use plastic.

• Preserves genetic diversity of crops and livestock.

• Supports our local economy, jobs, and our neighbors.

• Local food can even be more nutritious as it is harvested at peak freshness.

• Small farms can be more equitable. Industrial agriculture operations are often located in communities that are predominantly Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and/or low income, contributing to environmental injustices.

• Many small farmers take great care to be good stewards of our environment and communities. Check out our #FarmFriday series on our social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) where we highlight local farmers and their sustainable practices.

We want to share with you 5 reasons why we are thankful for clean water. Water is truly fascinating. It is the most abundant compound on Earth’s surface, covering about 70% of the whole planet.
Though there are many more reasons we could share, we are limiting it to 5.
With your help, we will continue to work to keep the waters in Coastal North Carolina safe, and clean.