After six years of litigation and a nearly six-week trial earlier this year, a Wake County judge has ruled that the state has failed to manage and protect coastal fisheries.
In his nearly 200-page order issued Aug. 17, Superior Court Judge Bryan Collins Jr. explained that the court, “based on the preponderance of the evidence” finds that the state has “breached its obligations under the public-trust doctrine” as directed in the North Carolina Constitution.
Coastal Conservation Association North Carolina and more than 80 others filed the lawsuit Nov. 10, 2020, against the state for what the nonprofit calls “North Carolina’s ‘abject failure’ in meeting its legal duties to properly manage coastal fisheries resources on behalf of North Carolina’s current and future citizens.”…