AN ACT to limit the area of western core sound that may be leased for the cultivation of shellfish and to direct the division of marine fisheries to report to the joint legislative commission on seafood and aquaculture on the implementation of this act.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  For purposes of this section:
(1)	"Western Core Sound" is that part of Core Sound bounded by a line beginning at a point on Cedar Island at 35°00'39"N ‑ 76°17'48"W, thence 109°(M) to a point in Core Sound 35°00'00"N ‑ 76°12'42"W, thence 229°(M) to Marker No. 37 located 0.9 miles off Bells Point at 34°43'30"N ‑ 76°29'00"W, thence 207°(M) to the Cape Lookout Lighthouse at 34°37'24"N ‑ 76°31'30"W, thence 12°(M) to a point at Marshallberg at 34°43'07"N ‑ 76°31'12"W, thence following the shoreline in a northerly direction to the point of beginning except that the highway bridges at Salters Creek, Thorofare Bay, and the Rumley Bay ditch shall be considered shoreline.
(2)	"Lease" means a shellfish cultivation lease granted pursuant to G.S. 113‑202.
SECTION 1.(b)  It is the intent of the General Assembly to permanently limit the area within Western Core Sound that may be leased for the cultivation of shellfish to the area that is subject to a lease on June 30, 2003.
SECTION 1.(c)  Notwithstanding G.S. 113‑202, the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources may grant a new lease or renew an existing lease in an area of Western Core Sound only if the area is subject to a lease on June 30, 2003.
SECTION 1.(d)  This section shall not prohibit the transfer of a lease as provided in G.S. 113‑202(k).
SECTION 2.  The Division of Marine Fisheries in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources shall report to the Joint Legislative Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture on or before January 1, 2004, on the implementation of this act.SECTION 3.  Section 1 of this act becomes effective June 30, 2003. Sections 2 and 3 of this act are effective when this act becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 15th day of May, 2003.

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		 Marc Basnight
	 President Pro Tempore of the Senate

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		 Richard T. Morgan
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

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		 Michael F. Easley
	 Governor

Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2003