Fall on the Coast

Roast for the Coast

The fall season is the perfect time to get together with friends and enjoy a classic oyster roast. We hope you’re making plans to join us on October 24 in Wilmington at the beautiful New Hanover County Arboretum for our annual Roast for the Coast!

With delicious steamed NC oysters, a low country boil, drinks, a silent auction, and so much more, there is something for everyone!

Your support at this event ensures that the Federation’s local efforts to restore our native oysters, including recycling oyster shells to support new oyster reefs coastwide and restoring new local reefs in the lower Cape Fear River, can continue.

Be sure to grab your tickets today and check out all of the great silent auction items, here!

Buy Tickets!

Join Us at Wrightsville Beach Brewery

In celebration of NC Oyster Month, Wrightsville Beach Brewery is donating 11% of its proceeds from the sales of its featured beer, the Anomaly of Science Hazy IPA!

We’ll also be hanging out at the Brewery on October 23 from 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm, and we hope you’ll join us to enjoy a pint of the Anomaly of Science Hazy IPA.

King Mackerel and the Blues are Running

Join us on October 24 & 25 for a performance of the long-running KING MACKEREL & THE BLUES ARE RUNNING, a night of music and stories about fishing and life along the Carolina coastline. The night will be full of tall tales and rollicking songs told by The Coastal Cohorts, an adventurous performance you don’t want to miss.

Ticket sales support the Coastal Federation and the Core Sounds Waterfowl Museum. The concert will be taking place at Joslyn Hall on the Carteret Community College campus in Morehead City on both October 24 & 25 at 7:00 pm.

Buy Tickets Today!

Protect the Lower Cape Fear River

The Cape Fear River is at risk and it needs your voice now. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is taking public comments until November 3rd on a proposal to deepen and widen the Wilmington Harbor, a project that could cause irreversible harm to our rivers, wetlands, fisheries, and nearby communities.

This is a pivotal moment. The Corps must hear from people who care about clean water, healthy wildlife, and the future of our coast, not just from industry interests. Every comment matters, and your input can shape the final outcome.

Submit your comment today on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement:

Online: Corps public comment portal or

By email: WilmingtonHarbor403@usace.army.mil

You can find background materials, fact sheets, and talking points to help you craft your comments, here.

This is likely the last major opportunity for the public to speak up before the Corps finalizes the project. Please take a few minutes to share why protecting the Lower Cape Fear matters to you, and encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same.

A Lesson on Living Shorelines

Recently, we teamed up with students from an Environmental Education course at North Carolina Central University who joined us at Maysville Elementary School in Jones County.

This group of students helped us work with fourth and fifth-graders by leading a lesson on living shorelines.

Following our lesson at the elementary school, we headed to Hammocks Beach State Park to explore the area. It was a beautiful day of learning and exploring the coast!

We’d like to give a special thanks to Mrs. Chamberlain and Mrs. Starzynski at Maysville Elementary for allowing us to work with their students, and to Dr. Gerald for her partnership at NC Central University.

Day at the Docks

Several of our staff and volunteers recently spent the day at Day at the Docks, an annual event in Hatteras Village. Day at the Docks was started to celebrate the “Spirit of Hatteras” when the village recovered from Hurricane Isabel in 2003 as a united community anchored by the commercial and charter fishermen. The event celebrated its 21st anniversary this year and continues as a confirmation of the strength and resilience of the community.

The Coastal Federation team hosted a booth display to interact with visitors and share information about nature-based solutions and ongoing projects that will protect and restore habitats and water quality, such as living shorelines. Attendees also had a chance to mark places that matter most to them on a detailed map display or by completing a survey with staff and volunteer support. The information we collected will help guide future efforts to protect and restore the coast on a local level and be integral to coastwide efforts.

This work is funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s National Coastal Resilience Fund through the South Atlantic Salt Marsh Initiative.

If you’re interested in helping our team shape future restoration projects on the coast, fill out this survey.