Shellfish lease applicants in North Carolina are required to select their own proposed lease site, which is then approved or denied by the NC Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF). Applicant defined areas are required to meet the standards set by NC Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) rules, NC General Statutes, regulatory closures, and federal permitting requirements. Once the shellfish lease application meets these standards, it proceeds to a public comment period, where only comments specific to the proposed lease, that cite public trust use concerns (excluding viewshed), are considered. As a result of aquaculture industry growth in specific localized areas, the NC General Assembly required the DMF to study and implement MFC rules to address user conflict issues related to shellfish leases. The MFC then adopted rule amendments study aimed at reducing user conflicts, including the addition of cumulative impact language to limit the number of acres leased in any area.
Cumulative impact language is derived from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to be included in Environmental Impact Assessments of actions by Federal Agencies. The framework for assessing indirect, direct, and cumulative impacts required by the NEPA is outlined in Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 CFR §§1500-1508).
The inclusion of this language in the MFC shellfish lease rules allows for evaluation of a shellfish lease application for the current and future impacts of shellfish leases on public trust water usage in the surrounding area. However, the development of a cumulative impact implementation strategy that can be applied during the shellfish lease application process posed several difficulties, namely: the method of triggering a Cumulative Impact Analysis (CIA) for an application, the concerning factors to consider, division of waterbodies into CIA managing areas, and the inclusion of CIA results in the application process. Through collaboration with federal and local resource management partners, the DMF has created a cumulative impact framework to assess and apply management to the cumulative effects of shellfish leases in a predefined area. Ideally, this addition to the review process would enable the DMF to further resolve user conflicts and find consensus between shellfish lease applicants and the local public.