THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 8, 1995 TAG: 9505080045
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 124 lines
The debate between North Carolina's commercial and sports fishermen over access to dwindling fish stocks grew louder last week when one commercial fishing trade group targeted the advertisers in a magazine for recreational anglers and hunters.
The North Carolina Fisheries Association, a commercial fishing trade group in New Bern, has asked its board of directors to contact coastal businesses that advertise in the North Carolina Sportsman and ask those firms to consider the publication's editorial content before buying any more ads.
In its May 1995 issue, the North Carolina Sportsman endorsed the conservation efforts of the state chapter of the Atlantic Coast Conservation Association, a group of about 3,000 North Carolina sports anglers.
Many in the N.C. Fisheries Association believe the Atlantic Coast Conservation Association was the impetus for a bill filed in the General Assembly last month that called for a voter referendum on the use of most types of nets in North Carolina's coastal waters, according to Jerry Schill, executive director of the N.C. Fisheries Association.
Richen M. Brame, executivedirector of the Atlantic Coast Conservation Association, has denied that its group prompted the net ban bill. Friday, he said the fisheries association's action against the Sportsman is unwarranted and unfair.
The commercial fishing group is asking firms that advertise in the Sportsman to consider the association's views of the publication's editorial content in placing future ads, Schill said.
And, he said, if the advertisers don't respond to an initial contact from the commercial fishing group, the association may consider additional actions against those firms.
``The advertisers need to know what the North Carolina Sportsman is printing,'' Schill said. ``If these advertisers are happy with the North Carolina Sportsman, then we may talk about something else.''
Todd Masson, editor of the Sportsman, said Friday from Boutte, La., that the publication stands by its editorial endorsement of the ACCA.
``I don't think the ACCA is an enemy of commercial fishing groups,'' he said. ``There's plenty of room in North Carolina for both groups.''
The magazine's editorial opinions have not been affected by threats from commercial fishermen in the past and will not change its editorial stance or its editorial content because of any action by the N.C. Fisheries Association, he said.
While this is the first time the group has targeted a publication geared to recreational fishermen, the group has contacted advertisers of one television program for sports anglers, ``Southern Sportsman.''
And Schill said the group probably will expand such efforts in the future.
``I can't see what it's hurting,'' Schill said. ``If something's printed and there's no subsequent objection to it, then it's seen as true. I think we need to try to set the record straight.''
But the state's top fisheries official, when contacted about the association's effort, said such actions by commercial or sports fishing groups will hurt efforts to manage the state's fish stocks fairly for both groups.
Any effort to intimidate advertisers is bad for the coastal fishing industry ``because it's a skirmish that ultimately leads to a war,'' said Robert V. Lucas, chairman of the state Marine Fisheries Commission, the 17-member panel that oversees North Carolina's coastal fishing industry. ``And nobody wins.
``The stakes and the rewards are too high to get sidetracked on what advertisers are on Page 4 of what publication,'' Lucas said. ``Those battles will lead to dead ends.
``Our efforts have got to be toward the big picture,'' he said. ``Otherwise it's a constant battle that will never end.''
The North Carolina Sportsman is published monthly except January by Carolina Publishing Inc. of Boutte, La., a small town near New Orleans, and has a circulation of about 10,000.
While the Sportsman targets the state's sports fishermen and hunters, the publication is not anti-commercial fishing, Masson said.
Its 40-page May 1995 issue contains articles on white bass fishing at Badin Lake, marlin fishing, bass fishing on the Chowan River, flounder fishing with Fred Kluge, and fishing for kingfish, as well as information on fishing regulations in North Carolina and offshore waters.
At issue, Schill said Friday, is a two-page advertisement by the state chapter of the Atlantic Coast Conservation Association, a group of more than 2,000 sports anglers across the state, and a regular feature of the magazine.
The May 1995 advertisement includes information on the ACCA, a registration form for a King Mackerel Tournament, an article on the state's moratorium steering committee, an article on weakfish and an endorsement of the ACCA by the North Carolina Sportsman.
Schill said he was disturbed by the ACCA's article on weakfish, part of the paid advertisement, that calls for similar commercial and recreational size limits for weakfish and identifies about 15 boats using flynets as the major cause of overfishing of the species.
Schill said he was also concerned about an article on flounder.
Reading from the magazine, Schill said, `` `In this North Carolina Sportsman exclusive, Kluge tells you where to go and what to do to fill your ice chest with big flatties.' ''
``What the article doesn't say is there's a mandatory bag limit of eight,'' Schill said.
The publication is ``blatantly anti-commercial,'' Schill said. ``They're just bad news.''
Schill and the fisheries association have targeted 22 of the magazine's coastal advertisers from Hatteras to Wilmington for contact by association board members.
Of those advertisers who could be reached for comment Friday afternoon, none said they had been contacted by commercial fishermen or fisheries association members about the publication.
But one advertiser, Johnson Marine Services of Wilmington, said that firm would halt its ads with the North Carolina Sportsman because of the controversy.
``I'll sure get out of the way. We don't want to irritate anybody,'' said Roger Johnson, an owner of the firm which sells boats and motors. ``We'll cease to renew the ad.''
Tyron Conti, regional advertising director for the North Carolina Sportsman, said from his office in Stantonsburg, N.C., that he had heard of the N.C. Fisheries Association's efforts but as of Friday, no advertisers had contacted him.
Masson said the fisheries association efforts are part of a growing national debate between sports and commercial fishermen that has become louder in the months since Florida's voters approved in November 1994 a ban on the use of nets in that state's waters.
A sister publication, Louisiana Sportsman, with a circulation of about 48,000 readers, has been targeted by Louisiana commercial fishermen but this is the first time a commercial fishing group has targeted the North Carolina version of the magazine, Masson said. by CNB