The estuarine system of the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve is the third largest in the country, encompassing more the . This system is of prime economic importance to the coastal area—90 percent of the commercial
seafood
Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...
species caught in the state spends at least part of their lives in an estuary. The North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve was established to preserve these fragile natural areas and the variety of life they support.
The state is representative of two major biogeographic regions located north (
Virginian) and south (Carolinian) of
Cape Hatteras. Therefore, NOAA and the state of
North Carolina created a multi-component reserve with the following sites:
Currituck Banks (960 acres near
Corolla
Corolla may refer to:
*Corolla (botany), the petals of a flower, considered as a unit
*Toyota Corolla, an automobile model name
* Corolla (headgear), an ancient headdress in the form of a circlet or crown
* ''Corolla'' (gastropod), a genus of moll ...
), Rachel Carson (2,625 acres near
Beaufort Beaufort may refer to:
People and titles
* Beaufort (surname)
* House of Beaufort, English nobility
* Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England
* Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility
Places Polar regions ...
),
Masonboro Island (5,097 acres near
Wrightsville Beach
Wrightsville Beach is a town in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. Wrightsville Beach is just east of Wilmington and is part of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,477 at the 2010 census. The town co ...
) and Zeke's Island (1,165 acres near
Kure Beach
Kure Beach ( ) is a town in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States , approximately 15 miles south of Wilmington. It is part of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,012 at the 2010 census. It is found ...
).
References
North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve
External links
The North Carolina Coastal Reserve & National Estuarine Research Reserve
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Protected areas of North Carolina
National Estuarine Research Reserves of the United States
Estuaries of North Carolina
Protected areas established in 1982
1982 establishments in North Carolina