THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 17, 1994 TAG: 9410170060
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 124 lines
Is $15 a year a fair price to pay to fish in the state's coastal waters?
Should folks who fish from piers or charter boats be exempt?
What should be done with the money raised from license sales?
State fisheries regulators want to hear the answers to these and other questions from residents regarding a proposal to charge anglers a fee to fish in the state's coastal waters, and they have scheduled a series of public meetings to receive suggestions.
The first meeting will be held tonight in Manteo with other meetings to follow in Greenville, Morehead City, Wilmington, Raleigh, Charlotte and Winston-Salem.
``All those who participate in the harvest of fisheries resources should participate in the conservation and enhancement of that resource,'' said Michael K. Orbach, chairman of a committee studying the saltwater fishing license at a press conference Wednesday in Morehead City. ``This idea has been around for a long time . . . but it's the pressures on the resource and the demands for use of that resource that have brought it to our attention at this time.
``This proposal is intended as a talking document,'' Orbach said. ``Nothing will be finalized until after all the public meetings are held.''
Under the study committee's latest proposal, sports anglers would pay either $5 per week, $15 each year, or $250 for a lifetime license in order to fish in the state's coastal waters. Owners of fishing piers and charter boats could exempt their patrons from fee if they buy licenses whose fees would be based on the length of the pier and the length of the boat. Exemptions would be made for children under 16, with special rates for the elderly or handicapped.
Fisheries managers estimate that the 600,000 sports anglers who fish in North Carolina's coastal waters could pay as much as $9 million a year in license fees, although some speculate that the total revenue from the license will be about half that amount.
Under the committee's plan, the money generated would be used to help revive the industry.
One plan under consideration by the committee calls for the establishment of a trust fund from the proceeds of license sales. Under this plan, proposed by Senate leader Marc Basnight of Manteo, the interest from a trust fund would be earmarked only for expenditures to improve fishing.
Licensing also would help officials regulate catches. Currently, the Marine Fisheries Commission, which overseas fishing in the state's coastal waters, has enacted regulations based primarily on information from commercial catches, with limited data available on the state's sports fishermen and the size of their catch.
The additional license data would give the state a more accurate picture of the entire coastal fishing community and its catch, according to Robert V. Lucas, chairman of the fisheries commission.
``We can't possibly make the decisions we've got to make without proper data. We've got to have the numbers,'' he said in an interview Thursday. ``Right now we are just whistling in the wind and we've got to do better than that.''
But despite support from the state's top fisheries regulators and some of its most powerful lawmakers, the license faces several hurdles -scrutiny by the public at the meetings, a final vote by the study committee, action by the state Marine Fisheries Commission and action by the General Assembly - before it becomes law.
And coastal North Carolina is sharply divided over the proposal.
So far, one major sports fishing group, the Atlantic Coast Conservation Association, which includes about 3,000 anglers, has endorsed the plan as has the N.C. Beach Buggy Association, a 4,300-member group of primarily surf casters who live in North Carolina, Virginia and other states.
But opposition to the plan remains strong among rank-and-file sports anglers - several of whom have begun to circulate petitions opposing the license and calling for a boycott of those businesses whose owners support the plan.
Opponents of the plan 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. They also say the state's pier and charter boat owners will face added financial burdens under the plan.
Some commercial fishermen have questioned whether the state is acting fairly in promoting sports fishing at a time when it has imposed a moratorium on commercial license sales. And other commercial fishermen see a saltwater fishing license as a means of enhancing the influence of sports fishermen at their expense.
`What I don't like about it is the tax of it,'' said Charles Midgett of Wanchese, a commercial fishermen and former charter boat owner in an interview Friday. ``Everything is so discouraging. I just think it would be money thrown away.''
Former charter boat captain and Wanchese resident Tom Wagner agreed. ``There's a lot more opposition to this than everybody thinks. It is a tax, no matter what they say.''
``They've got their heads in the wrong place on this one,'' he said.
Basnight, an early supporter of a saltwater fishing license and a veteran of similar legislative battles over user-fees and trust funds, predicted earlier this week that the debate over the license would be intense as it moves toward the legislature. ILLUSTRATION: DREW C. WILSON/Staff
Surf fisherman wait for the blues recently on an Outer Banks beach.
Licenses for salt water anglers there have been proposed at rates of
$5 per week, $15 each year or $250 for a lifetime. State fisheries
regulators will hold open debates on the fees starting tonight in
Manteo. Meetings in Greenville, Morehead City, Wilmington, Raleigh,
Charlotte and Winston-Salem will follow.
LICENSE PUBLIC MEETINGS
The Marine Fisheries Commission has scheduled seven public
meetings on the proposed saltwater fishing license throughout North
Carolina during the next two weeks. Here's a list of the meetings
scheduled for northeastern North Carolina:
Oct. 17, 7 p.m. N.C Aquarium, Airport Road, Manteo.
Oct. 18, 7 p.m., Pitt County Community College, Fulford Building,
Room 153, N.C. 11 South, Greenville.
Oct. 20, 7 p.m. Carteret County Community College, Joslyn Hall,
3505 Arendell St., Morehead City.
SALTWATER RECREATIONAL FISHING LICENSE
[For a copy of the chart, see microfilm.]
OTHER STATES WITH SALTWATER FISHING LICENSES
[For a copy of the chart, see microfilm.]
by CNB