The Habitat and Water Quality Advisory Committee to the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will meet at 1 p.m., April 12 at the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Washington Regional Office, 943 Washington Square Mall, Washington.

The committee will receive a presentation on proposed nominations for strategic habitat areas in Region 4, which is the southeastern coastal waters of the state. Also, the committee is scheduled to vote to recommend nominations for strategic habitat areas to the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission.

In addition, the committee will receive a presentation on coastal development permit activity and the review process.

Strategic habitat areas (also called strategic coastal habitats) are locations of individual fish habitats or systems of habitats that provide exceptional habitat functions or are particularly at risk due to imminent threats, vulnerability or rarity. The N.C. Coastal Habitat Protection Plan calls for the state to identify strategic habitat areas so that agencies can focus non-regulatory conservation and restoration efforts on them.

The Marine Fisheries Commission is scheduled to vote in May on including the proposed nominations for strategic habitat areas in region 4 in the Coastal Habitat Protection Plan.

For more information, contact Anne Deaton, with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, at

Anne.Deaton@ncdenr.gov 901-796-7215 or Katy West, also with the division at Katy.West@ncdenr.gov or 252-946-6481.