Gov. Perdue met with leaders Monday at the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce about ways to avoid the potential closing of the Oregon Inlet, the major route used by commercial and recreational fishing vessels.
Gov. Perdue received a briefing from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard. She flew over the Inlet to see first-hand the dredging efforts currently in progress. Sand is piling up in the inlet faster than it can be dredged.
Gov. Perdue pledged Monday to find state money to fund additional dredging vessels if the federal government is unable or unwilling to pay for the additional efforts.
Keeping the inlet open means hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars in economic impact for North Carolina. The commercial fishing fleet has already moved north to Virginia and transferred fishing quotas out of state. Delaying or closing the inlet for charter, recreational and private vessels would have an estimated impact of millions of dollars to the state.