THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 8, 1994 TAG: 9410080270
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DeGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NAGS HEAD LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
More than 1,500 pounds of bluefish, croaker, flounder, drum and trout caught off the Outer Banks beaches this week will provide free fish suppers for hundreds of hungry Northeast North Carolineans.
In the past, anglers in the Nags Head Surf Fishing Tournament sold their coolers full of fresh fish to a local seafood buyer.
But this year, more than 450 participants donated their catches to charity.
On Thursday, N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries workers helped haul about 800 pounds of fish to the Albemarle Manna Food Bank in Elizabeth City. Tournament officials estimated that the 80 surf-fishing teams reeled in an equal amount of fish Friday.
All catches from the tournament will wind up on a needy family's table.
``I think it's a great idea,'' said Brenda Belote, 43, of Norfolk, whose all-female angling team brought in a box of bluefish Friday. The six-member She Devils team paid a total of $240 to participate in one of the Outer Banks' oldest and largest surf-fishing competitions. After judges measured the fish and tallied points by species, officials turned over the entire catch to the non-profit group.
``We're in this tournament for the sport, the fun of it,'' Belote said as she stacked bluefish on ice. ``It's great if our fish can benefit others who really need them.''
Food Bank Outreach Coordinator Becky Rayburn agreed. ``It's a good size donation for us, and we really are grateful for everything we get,'' she said. ``We've got freezer and refrigerator space, so we may even be able to freeze some of these fish for later.''
As of Friday morning, Rayburn said, about 300 pounds of fish had been picked up by food pantry workers. Albemarle Manna Food Bank distributes groceries to 15 counties in Northeastern North Carolina, including Gates, Perquimans, Camden, Currituck, Dare, Hyde, Hertford and Tyrrell.
A Washington County non-profit day-care center for underpriviledged children and a Plymouth County food pantry were among the agencies which received fresh fish Friday.
``We give a lot of specimens we've been studying to the food pantry already. But I've never heard of a fishing tournament donating their catches,'' said N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries District Manager Harrel Johnson, who helped transport the fish from Nags Head to Elizabeth City. ``It's difficult for food banks to get high-quality sources of protein for their customers. So fish is really a great food source to donate.''
Thursday afternoon, workers from the state's fisheries branch on Roanoke Island filleted some of the speckled trout caught during the tournament. The fillets went to the food bank. The carcasses will be used for research.
``Besides feeding folks, this tournament gives us a good opportunity to get samples we don't have to pay for,'' Johnson said. ``It benefits even more people that way. It really is a great idea.''
Nags Head tackle shop owner Damon Tatem masterminded the fish-giveaway scheme. A longtime member of the Nags Head Surf Fishing Club, which has sponsored the annual tournament for 44 years, Tatem said he has always encouraged anglers to give away whatever they don't plan to eat. Tatem donated all the cardboard fish boxes and more than 200 bags of ice to use in transporting the fish to the food pantry.
``It would be a pity to waste all these fish,'' Tatem said while loading full boxes into the back of his pickup truck Friday. ``We need to find a way to get all these fish into the food line.
``Each little bluefish makes a meal for someone.'' ILLUSTRATION: DREW C. WILSON/Staff
Brenda Belote, left, and Doris Gard, anglers in the Nags Head Surf
Fishing Tournament, inspect fish caught in the competition. More
than 450 participants donated their catches to charity.
by CNB