DMF comments. Surf City Dredge and nourishment signed

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December 23, 2019
MEMORANDUM:
ROY COOPER
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MICHAEL S. REGAN
BRAXTON DAVIS
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FROM: Heather Coats, Beach & Inlet Management Project Coordinator
NCDEQ - Division of Coastal Management
127 Cardinal Drive Ext., Wilmington, NC 28405
Fax: [phone] (Courier 04-16-33)
heather. coats(&ncdenr.aov
SUBJECT: CAMA /Dredge & Fill Application Review
Applicant: Town of Surf City
Project Location: South of Humphrey Ave to north of 9'^ Street, adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean/Alww,
Surf City, Fender & Onslow counties
Proposed Project: Beach nourishment project
Please indicate below your agency's position or viewpoint on the proposed project and
return this form to Heather Coats at the address above by January 15, 2010. If you
have any questions regarding the proposed project, contact Heather Coats at [phone]
when appropriate, in-depth comments with supporting data is requested.
REPLY: This agency has no objection to the project as proposed.
"Additional comments may be attached"
This agency has no comment on the proposed project.
This agency approves of the project only if the recommended changes
are incorporated. See attached.
This agency objects to the project for reasons described in the attached comments.
PRINT NAME 'I I�U(li� h"P GK�
AGENCY (yC-� ) �-T
SIGNATURE
DATE ` 1 1 4
State of North Carolina Environmental Quality Coastal Management
127 Cardinal Drive Em, Wilmington, NC 28405 919 796 7215

ROY COOPER
Governor
MICHAEL S. REGAN
Secretary
STEPHEN W.MURPHEY
Director
MEMORANDUM:
TO: Heather Coats, Beach and Inlet Management Coordinator
FROM: Curt Weychert, NCDMF Fisheries Resource Specialist
SUBJECT: Town of Surf City beach nourishment and navigation dredging
DATE: January 14, 2020
A North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) Fisheries Resource Specialist has reviewed the
CAMA Major Permit application for proposed actions that impact fish and fish habitats. The Town
of Surf City has proposed to dovetail the navigation dredging and beach nourishment of Banks
Channel. The proposed are of dredging is 96 acres and will remove 1.3 million cubic yards of
shallow soft bottom, beach compatible sand via cutter -head dredge and will pump the sand to
approximately 32,S00 linear feet of beach, the entire limit of the town. There will also be an
additional 450,000 cubic yards of sand trucked in from a nearby mine. The channel will be dredged
to a depth of -12 feet. The undeveloped marsh islands and shallow water habitat immediately
adjacent on the north of the proposed dredge area is designated as PNA. The area within Banks
Channel that the Town of Surf City is proposing has significantly less of an area coverage of
submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). The waters in the area are classified as SA and SB and are
open to the harvest of shellfish.
PNAs are estuarine waters where initial post -larval development occurs. Species within this area
are early post -larval to juvenile and include finfish, crabs, and shrimp. Species inhabit PNAs
because they afford food, protection, and proper environmental conditions during vulnerable
periods of their life history, thus protection of these areas are imperative. SAV is a vital component
to the estuarine system and is prime nursery area for many fisheries species, such as gag grouper,
flounder, red drum, black sea bass, weakfish and Atlantic croaker SAV supports high diversity of
foraging fish and invertebrates, and provides valuable ecosystem services as a primary producer
and enhancer of water quality (Deaton et al. 2010). SAV filters water, stabilizes sediment (Fonseca
1996; Stephan and Bigford 1997), and provides refuge for juvenile finfish, crabs and shrimp (Savino
and Stein 1989; Rooker et al. 1998). SAV supports a vast array of epiphytes and other sessile
invertebrates that serve as a food source for many fisheries species.
Deposition of sand in the intertidal surf zones covers existing communities of infauna and
meiofauna. Depending on the depth of the placed sand as well as the mobility of specific fauna,
large mortalities can be expected in the footprint area of sand placement. The beach intertidal zone
community is comprised of infaunal burrowers that filter the water and sediments for organic
matter; aiding the overall system production. In terms of biomass, mole crabs and coquina clams
dominate the infaunal intertidal zone community (Peterson et al, 2000), with polychaete worms
and other infaunal species as well. Mole crabs inhabit the swash zone where they filter feed.
Recruitment is year round, with the greatest activity in early summer and fall. The reproductive
Nothing Compares.,,.,
State of North Carolina I Division of Marine Fisheries
3441 Arendell Street I P.O. Box 769 1 Morehead City, North Carolina 28557
252-726-7021

season ends with recruitment in September (Diaz 1980; Amend and Shanks 1999). In winter, mole
crabs move offshore during storm events and return in the spring (Bowman and Dolan 1985).
Coquina clams actively move with the tides to maintain the optimum filter feeding position at the
water's edge (Ellers 1995). In the fall coquina clams migrate into the subtidal zone. Many beach
intertidal zone inhabitants are prey resources for demersal fish and mobile crustaceans, such as
pigflsh, inshore pinfish, flounder, weakfish, red drum, and shrimp (Deaton et al. 2010)
In addition to impacts to bottom habitat, this office is also concerned with the impacts to water
column. Removal and deposition of sand is likely to increase turbidity. The resuspension of
sediment can create an increase in turbidity that larvae, juveniles, and especially filter feeding
species, can be acutely susceptible. An increase in suspended sediments can result in clogged gill
surfaces and mortality, and can cover oysters, SAV, and other sessile fauna and flora. Elevated
water temperatures reduce dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations, making the potential for a DO
crash from increased turbidity a concern. Increased turbidity also decreases light irradiation to
submerged vegetation which could reduce growth during peak photosynthetic periods (May -
September). Transport of suspended sediment in high -current areas such as inlets, increases
concern of sedimentation on nearby SAV, intertidal marshes, and shellfish beds leading to
smothering, anoxia, and ultimately mortality of these habitats.
In order to reduce and minimize the impacts of this project to avoid impacts to marine and
estuarine systems through direct and cumulative impacts to larval fish, sensitive fisheries habitats
and resources, this office maintains the previously recommended moratorium period of 1 April to
15 November. This recommendation will maintain consistency with the adjoining project and will
follow the recommendations of the Biological Opinion.
Bowman, M. L., and R. Dolan.1985. The relationship of Emerita talpoida to beach
characteristics. J. Coast. Res. 1: 151-163.
Deaton, A.S., W.S. Chappell, K. Hart, J. O'Neal, B. Boutin. 2010. North Carolina Coastal Habitat
Protection Plan. North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Division of Marine Fisheries, NC. 639 pp.
Diaz, H., 1980. The mole crab Emerita talpoida (Say): a case of changing life history pattern.
Ecological Monographs. 50: 437-456.
Ellers, 0., 1995. Behavioral Control of Swash-Riding in the Clam Donax variabilis. Biology.
Bulletin Vol. 189: Pp.120-127.
Fonseca, M. S. 1996. The role of seagrasses in nearshore sedimentary processes: a review. p. 261-
286 in C. Roman and K. Nordstrom (eds). Estuarine Shores: Hydrological, Geomorphological
and Ecological Interactions. Blackwell, Boston, MA.
Peterson, C. H., H. C. Summerson, H. S. Lenihan, J. Grabowski, S. P. Powers, and G. W. S. Jr.
1999. Beaufort Inlet benthic resources survey. UNC-CH, Morehead City, NC.
Rooker, J. R., G.J. Holt, and S.A. Holt. 1998. Vulnerability of newly settled red drum (Sciaenops
ocellatus) to predatory fish: is early -life survival enhanced by seagrass meadows? Marine
Biology 131(1): 145-151.
Savino, J. F. and R.A. Stein. 1989. Behavior of fish predators and their prey: habitat choice between
open water and dense vegetation. Environmental Biology of Fishes 24(4): 287-293.
Stephan, C. D. and T.E. Bigford. 1997. Atlantic coastal submerged aquatic vegetation: a review of its
ecological role, anthropogenic impacts, state regulations, and value to Atlantic coastal fish
stocks. Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, 77p.
Nothing Compares
State of North Carolina I Division of Marine Fisheries
3441 Arendell Street I P.O. Box 769 1 Morehead City, North Carolina 28557
252-726-7021

Contact Curt Weychert at [phone] or [e-mail] with further questions or
concerns.
Nothing Compares
State of North Carolina I Division of Marine Fisheries
3441 Arendell Street I P.O. Box 7691 Morehead City. North Carolina 28557
252-726-7021