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Susan West, Hatteras Connection:

~ Whew – the whirlwind of challenges and surprises for coastal communities that hope to retain a sense of place and a traditional connection to marine resources just doesn’t stop.

Policies and programs continue to be launched and implemented largely without the involvement of the local communities - like Hatteras Island - that stand to feel the most impact.

It’s time for Hatteras Connection to kick it up a notch, but in order to do that, we need structure and organization to facilitate the sort of collaboration that brings together people who believe that marine-based economies benefit the entire island community. One approach might be to create several workgroups focusing on science and policy, local seafood promotion and development, outreach and alliance building, and other areas.

If you're game, drop me an email.

~Hatteras Connection is looking at ways to keep used or abandoned fishing net and gear out of the county landfill. A national program called Fishing for Energy recycles nets and converts them into electricity. If you’d like to help get something like that started here, let me know.

~The new buzzword in coastal and ocean management is marine spatial planning. In 2009 the Island Institute started a human use mapping initiative aimed at filling critical data gaps in spatial information on human uses of the marine environment along the coast of Maine, particularly commercial fishing, recreational fishing and boating, near-shore shipping, and tourism - this project is designed to document how island and coastal communities use and depend on marine areas. Similar documentation would benefit Hatteras Island and the Outer Banks. We need volunteers to pull together the resources to start a similar initiative, so shoot me an email if you're interested.

~Hatteras Connection will hold a seafood dinner fundraiser for the Hatteras Island Food Pantry and Hatteras Meals on December 7, 2010, so mark your calendar now. Our first dinner raised almost $3000 and collected loads of non-perishable food items.


Susan West
ridgeroad@earthlink.net or 252-995-4131