Catherine Kozak

6 days ago | islandfreepress.org | Catherine Kozak

By Catherine Kozak for the Outer Banks VoiceOuter Banks commercial shrimpers will be waiting until next week to learn the fate of a bill in the North Carolina House of Representatives that could potentially destroy their business. An amendment inserted unexpectedly into HB 442 last week set off a firestorm in coastal communities that harvest the majority of the state’s wild-caught shrimp.

1 week ago | outerbanksvoice.com | Catherine Kozak

By Catherine Kozak | Outer Banks Voice on June 20, 2025 By Catherine Kozak  | Outer Banks VoiceOuter Banks commercial shrimpers will be waiting until next week to learn the fate of a bill in the North Carolina House of Representatives that could potentially destroy their business. An amendment inserted unexpectedly into HB 442 last week set off a firestorm in coastal communities that harvest the majority of the state’s wild-caught shrimp.

1 week ago | islandfreepress.org | Catherine Kozak

Barely a week after the 2025 hurricane season officially launched, an update provided at the June 9 meeting of the Dare County Waterways Commission provided little comfort that maintenance of the Rodanthe-Stumpy Point emergency ferry channel for Hatteras Island would be in place to assure access in the event of a storm disruption. If anything, the situation is status quo: The channel is still passable with six feet of water at a shoaled spot in Rodanthe Harbor, but there’s no leeway.

2 weeks ago | coastalreview.org | Catherine Kozak

NAGS HEAD — Jockey’s Ridge used to be known as the tallest natural sand dune on the East Coast, but now it’s described as its largest natural active sand dune system. While it may not be as high as it was in 1973, the unique phenomenon of nature is still there — famously thanks to Carolista Baum, a young mother who that year physically blocked a developer’s bulldozer.

2 weeks ago | coastalreview.org | Catherine Kozak

HATTERAS — Long famous for its bountiful fishing, Hatteras Island now has a new state-of-the-art processing and packing facility that keeps Outer Banks fish local from sea to plate, while also enabling local fresh catch to be shipped directly to customers. And it’s owned by a local fishing family, to boot. “The thing was, all this fish used to go to Virginia to get processed,” owner Jeff Aiken said during a recent tour of Jeffrey’s Seafood, situated along Back Creek in Hatteras Village.