THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 18, 1994 TAG: 9409180077
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY AND LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: NAGS HEAD LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
Each fall, hundreds of fishermen line North Carolina's piers and beaches to try their luck in the state's coastal waters.
But these coastal sports anglers may be facing one of the last fall fishing seasons in North Carolina when they can travel to Nags Head and other spots along the coast and fill their coolers for free.
On the beach near the Nags Head Fishing Pier last Friday, Gene Moore, 63, and his wife, Ruth, 59, of Richmond, Va., were fishing for trout on North Carolina's Outer Banks when asked about North Carolina's proposed license for coastal anglers.
``Seems you can't do anything for free anymore,'' said Ruth Moore.
A study committee is nearing the end of debate on a proposal that would require sports anglers to pay $15 per year to fish in coastal waterways.
Meanwhile the state's coastal legislators are beginning to prepare for the General Assembly and its debate on the issue which could begin in late January next year.
Study committee members and state lawmakers are preparing for heated debate on the issue which, so far, has the state's sports and recreational anglers divided over whether or not to support the proposed license.
``There are many people who feel this is an idea whose time is long past,'' said Michael K. Orbach, a member of the state Marine Fisheries Commission and chairman of a committee studying the saltwater fishing license. He spoke at a recent committee meeting in Washington. ``And there are many people who feel this is an idea whose time should never come.''
While North Carolina requires licenses for sports fishermen who fish in inland waters, it is one of the few states in the Southeast and along the Gulf Coast that doesn't require a fishing license for coastal sports anglers.
``Other states have been doing it for years now,'' said fisherman Jimmy Walker. ``Why shouldn't we too?''
Walker, 77, a former Richmond, Va., resident who moved to the Outer Banks last summer, lives near the Nags Head Fishing Pier and fishes often.
Proponents of a saltwater fishing license for sports fishermen generally say the revenue from license sales could be used to better manage and conserve the state's sports fisheries. They also say that if North Carolina institutes a saltwater fishing license, the state will be eligible for a larger share of federal grant money for sports fisheries enhancement projects.
But opponents of the license fear that tourism along North Carolina's coast will drop if the state institutes a saltwater fishing license because fishermen will opt to vacation in states without such a license or where license fees are lower.
And others question whether money raised from the sale of saltwater fishing licenses - the state's estimated 600,000 sports anglers could pay as much as $9 million a year in license fees - will be spent properly.
``If 100 percent of the licensing money would go back to the fisheries, I'd be all for it,'' said Dave Davenport, 28, of Colington Island. Late Friday afternoon he was catching Bonita off Nags Head Fishing Pier. ``But once those work for the resource.''
Like Davenport, the Moores worry that the money wouldn't actually go back to help sports fishing. But if it would, they said, they could support a saltwater fishing license.
``If we don't do something now, we won't have anything left,'' Moore said.
So far, the license has been endorsed by at least one sports fishing group - the state chapter of the Atlantic Coast Conservation Association.
``Sure it was great fishing for free,'' said Bo Nowell, president of the 3,000-member ACCA. ``However the time has come for us all to recognize that our ability to fish saltwater in the future depends on more money.''
But other anglers say they will fight the plan.
Among the opponents is 32-year-old former charter boat captain Tom Wagner of Wanchese.
Wagner, a long-time Dare County resident who works as a factory sales representative in a family business, is circulating a petition - signed by about 1,230 people in two weeks - which asks anglers to oppose the saltwater fishing license and be prepared to boycott those businesses whose owners support the measure.
Wagner said the saltwater fishing license would impose an undue burden on charter boat operators and pier owners who are already faced with rising fees from other state and federal agencies. And handling license sales would require many small business owners along the state's coast to hire extra employees at great expense.
``I just think the whole thing is wrong,'' said Wagner in an interview earlier this week in Washington. ``I think the business we're going to lose with the license is going to be great.''
The proposed license also faces growing opposition from groups of commercial fishermen who fear the license will increase the clout of the recreational fishing community at the expense of the state's commercial fishermen.
Some commercial anglers say that by encouraging sports fishing while a two-year freeze on commercial fishing is in effect, the state is acting unfairly.
Questions over spending the revenue from license sales recently threatened to stall the license until Senate leader Marc Basnight offered a plan earlier this month that infused new life into the proposal.
Basnight, a Manteo Democrat, suggested a plan to create a trust fund with the proceeds from sales of the new license, the interest from which would be used to improve the state's fisheries stocks and related programs. And he hit the road to talk with coastal newspaper editors about the idea.
In an interview Thursday afternoon, Basnight said response to the idea had been generally favorable.
While Basnight's support will mean a great boost for the proposal when debate begins in the General Assembly, other coastal legislators are coming under increased pressure to vote against the measure.
In an interview last week, Rep. Jean Preston, R-Carteret, said some constituents have told her that if she supports the proposal in 1995, she will face a difficult re-election campaign in 1996. And others such as Reps. Robert Grady, R-Onslow, and Ronnie L. Smith, D-Carteret, are already lining up against the license.
Meanwhile, the state's top fisheries regulator said in an interview last week that the state should press ahead with the license.
``A saltwater fishing license is going to be very controversial,'' said Marine Fisheries Commission Chairman Robert V. Lucas of Selma. ``People perceive it as another tax, particularly over something that is perceived as being the last frontier.''
``It's. . .a question of do we let things get worse before we enact it,'' Lucas said. ``It sure would be nice to do something visionary once in a while instead of waiting until it's too late.'' by CNB