COASTAL FISHERIES LAWSUIT HEADS TO TRIAL
The fight to save North Carolina’s coastal fisheries heads to trial in a Wake County courtroom next week. On January 20, 2026, more than five years after the lawsuit was filed, a multi-week trial will begin in the closely watched lawsuit seeking to hold the State accountable for failing to meet its legal duty to protect and preserve North Carolina’s once-abundant coastal fisheries.
The lawsuit was filed in 2020 by the Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina (CCA NC) and a group of nearly 90 citizen plaintiffs, including five former members of North Carolina’s Marine Fisheries Commission. The State of North Carolina is the defendant. In the more than five years since the case was filed, the plaintiffs have prevailed at every stage of the proceedings, including against a motion from the State to dismiss the case, an appeal by the State to the Court of Appeals, and another motion by the State to end the case before trial.
In its unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 2022 ruled in favor of the plaintiffs that the State has a legal obligation to preserve critical fish species for the public’s benefit. As the court explained, the State has “an affirmative duty . . . to preserve the people’s right to fish and harvest fish,” which includes a “duty to preserve fisheries for the benefit of the public” and a “duty to keep fisheries safe from injury, harm, or destruction for all time.”
For more information: https://ccanc.org/lawsuit/