- A Wake County judge has ruled that the state of North Carolina has failed to meet its constitutional obligation to protect state fisheries.
- Superior Court Judge Bryan Collins’ 190-page ruling arrived nearly six months after he conducted a multiweek trial in a lawsuit led by the Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina.
- Collins has given the parties 45 days to prepare a report to address the remedy phase of the case challenging state fisheries policies.
A Wake County judge has ruled that North Carolina has failed to meet its obligation to maintain fisheries as required by the state constitution. The decision could impact the future of commercial fishing in the state.
Superior Court Judge Bryan Collins’ 190-page ruling arrived nearly six months after he conducted a trial that extended from January into February.
“On this trial record reflecting approximately six weeks of evidence, and after carefully weighing all of the evidence presented, the Court concludes, based on the preponderance of the evidence … that the State has failed to meet its ‘obligation to manage and protect fisheries for the benefit of the general public’ as required under the public-trust doctrine, failed to ‘keep fisheries safe from injury, harm, or destruction for all time’ as required under Article I, Section 38, and failed to ‘protect the harvestable fish population “for the benefit of the citizenry”’ as required under Article XIV, Section 5,” Collins wrote in an order issued Monday…