THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 14, 1995 TAG: 9503140298
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Shoaling at Oregon Inlet has created ``a dire emergency'' for Albemarle area watermen, Dare County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr. said Monday.
The primary channel between the sounds and the Atlantic Ocean is now only 11 feet deep in many places - three feet less than the federally required depth.
Many commercial fishermen who need to use the inlet can't get to work. Some captains have not been able to navigate the inlet since early January.
To rectify the problem - and put watermen back to work - county commissioners passed a resolution on Monday, asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard to ``respond to this serious problem and get the Oregon Inlet channel open by whatever emergency means available.
``Winter months are prime economic months, and from now through mid-April the commercial fishing industry depends heavily on landings by vessels from the north,'' the resolution says.
``The channel now can only be navigated by experienced captains during high tide and daylight hours, and this has caused many vessels which normally land here to bypass the area and go south - or return home without fishing.
``There is a serious economic and safety problem at Oregon Inlet,'' the resolution says.
Last week, members of Dare County's Oregon Inlet and Waterways Commission asked Army corps officials to have the channel dredged as soon as possible.
Corps spokesman Jim Butler said dredging is to begin by August.
Watermen said they couldn't wait that long.
``We need that channel dredged out now,'' said Wanchese waterman Moon Tillett, a member of the county's Oregon Inlet and Waterways Commission. ``Fishing for us begins to drop off by mid-April.''
Copies of the county commissioners' resolution have been sent to North Carolina Gov. James B. Hunt Jr.; N.C. Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight; U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr., a 3rd District Republican; U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C. ; U.S. Sen. Lauch Faircloth, R-N.C.; the Army corps and the Coast Guard. by CNB