THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 18, 1994 TAG: 9409200512
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SELMA LENGTH: Long : 113 lines
The state Marine Fisheries Commission needs more authority to address water-quality issues that affect coastal fisheries, according to the state's top fisheries regulator.
``I don't think that we have all the tools to protect and enhance the resource,'' Marine Fisheries Commission Chairman Robert V. Lucas said of the 17-member panel that oversees the state's coastal fisheries regulations. ``We need to discuss the issue of giving the Marine Fisheries Commission more power to focus on water quality,'' Lucas said. Not to do so is like ``trying to manage fisheries with one hand tied behind our back.''
``I'm tired of fishermen coming to me and saying we're not dealing with water quality,'' he said.
It's been about 18 months since Lucas, a Selma lawyer, took over as commission head, and during that time, fisheries regulators have been the subject of unprecedented scrutiny by state legislators, the public and the press.
It's been a year of great changes for fisheries - a moratorium on commercial-fishing licenses was enacted by the General Assembly, a blue-ribbon panel on oysters is being established and the Division of Marine Fisheries is working to set up a grant program for fishermen.
During his tenure, Lucas helped strike a compromise between tourism interests and menhaden fishermen over the use of waters off the Dare County coast. He has also spearheaded efforts to bring Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. to the coast, where Hunt became the first governor to attend and address a meeting of the fisheries commission, a 17-member panel that sets policy and enacts regulations governing the state's coastal fisheries.
Lucas has seen the departure of longtime fisheries director William T. Hogarth. He has officiated at meetings of commercial fishermen complaining about the influx of out-of-state fishermen into the Albemarle region. And he has responded to criticism about the lack of enforcement by fisheries officers.
``I definitely did not realize it would be as controversial,'' Lucas said in an interview at his law office just a block off of the main thoroughfare in Selma. ``I didn't have any idea it would be this time-consuming.''
Lucas is no stranger to fishing, having been a recreational boater and fisherman all of his life. The former owner of a charter boat based on Harker's Island, Lucas owns a home in the Carteret County fishing community within sight of the Cape Lookout lighthouse.
It was this lifelong interest in the North Carolina coast, its people and its traditions, coupled with the knowledge that the state's fisheries are in trouble, that prompted Lucas to seek a seat on the commission.
A native of Raleigh who has practiced law for 15 years, Lucas is the first commission chairman to have no direct financial interest in the state's fisheries. He's also the first to live inland.
He brings a lawyer's approach to fisheries regulations.
It's this approach that has convinced Lucas that sweeping changes need to be made in the way the state oversees its coastal environment.
``The legal system is based on the idea that every wrong has a remedy. That's what marine fisheries is trying to do real often - cure a wrong,'' Lucas said. ``I'm not convinced that the Marine Fisheries Commission has the remedies to fix the wrongs.
``Very often the problem is more than overfishing,'' he said.
The solution probably lies somewhere between disbanding the Coastal Resources Commission, the Environmental Management Commission and the Marine Fisheries Commission to create a single coastal commission and simply improving communication among the three panels, Lucas said.
``Over the next 10 to 20 years, water quality is going to be one of the most important issues affecting the development of the North Carolina coast, and we've got to face it now,'' Lucas said.
The state's top coastal regulator, Eugene Tomlinson of Southport, agrees that more cooperation is needed among the state's environmental-regulatory panels. In a recent interview in Wilmington, Tomlinson said he hopes to soon begin holding joint meetings of the three commissions at least twice a year.
Shortly after taking office, Lucas appointed members of the Marine Fisheries Commission to four subcommittees to deal with some of the more pressing issues before the commission: issues involving trout, trawling, crabs, oysters and clams. Since then, he has increased the number of committees to eight and has appointed representatives of various fishing interests to serve on those committees along with commission members.
Today, most proposed fisheries regulations are debated by at least one committee before being presented to the commission for review.
It's this opening up of the regulatory process that Lucas says is his greatest achievement. ``I feel like the committee system has opened up the process to more public involvement and has eliminated most of the surprises,'' he said.
What can commercial and recreational fishermen and other coastal residents expect from the Marine Fisheries Commission in the next few years?
``The No. 1 thing is dealing with the issues under the moratorium,'' Lucas said. ``No. 2, to create a sound, solid financial base for marine fisheries and No. 3, to create a proper and effective organizational base to manage marine fisheries.
``If we could solve these three things, we'd have it made,'' he said. ``I'm convinced that we can do it. . . . If we don't do it, the consequences could be disastrous and you don't have to look very far for an `i.e.' - and that is the Northeast.''
Lucas says all of this will not be easy.
``My motivating factor is to look back years from now and know I've made a difference,'' he said. ``That my 12-year-old son will be able to enjoy fishing and the coast like I did.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
ROBERT V. LUCAS
Age: 42
Family: Wife, Denise, and two children, Kelly and Jonathan.
Occupation: Lawyer with Lucas, Bryant & Denning in Selma.
Education: East Carolina University, 1975; Samford University in
Alabama, law degree, 1978.
Political: President, ECU student body; mayor of Selma, 1989-91;
headed Gov. James B. Hunt Jr.'s gubernatorial campaign in Johnston
County.
by CNB