THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 17, 1994 TAG: 9411170474
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B01 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
A proposed fishing license for coastal sports anglers cleared its first vote Wednesday when a panel studying the measure voted to recommend it to the state's top fisheries regulators and to state lawmakers.
The study committee voted 7-1 to recommend the license to the Marine Fisheries Commission and end the era of free fishing for sports anglers in the state's coastal waters.
But many committee members agreed that, given recent Republican advances in the General Assembly, a coastal sports fishing license may face tough scrutiny from state lawmakers when the General Assembly convenes early next year.
``I think that the committee did a great job in considering all the data and the input at the public meetings,'' said Michael K. Orbach, study committee chairman. Orbach is a professor at Duke University's marine laboratory in Beaufort and a member of the Marine Fisheries Commission.
``I think the committee's judgment that this is a solid proposal is a good one,'' he said. ``This is something that could be done to benefit the resource, but the overriding sentiment is that you have to construct it carefully and make sure that the system does what it's supposed to do.''
Satch Smith, manager of the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center on Hatteras Island, cast the sole dissenting vote on the proposal.
Smith said he was concerned that the proposed price of the license is too high and that charter boat captains would be charged twice under the proposed license.
The license plan endorsed by the committee was changed only slightly from the proposal presented at the public meetings - with new exemptions added for blind fishermen, and reduced fees proposed for disabled veterans. The committee also included charges for lifetime infant licenses and personalized lifetime licenses in its proposal.
Under the plan, sports anglers would pay either $5 per week, $15 each year, or $250 for a lifetime license to fish in the state's coastal waters. Owners of fishing piers and charter boats can exempt their patrons from the license if they buy fishing licenses themselves. The cost of these licenses would be based on the length of the pier and the length of the boat.
Fisheries managers estimate that the 626,000 sports anglers who fish in North Carolina's coastal waters - including 302,000 in state and 324,000 out-of-state anglers - would pay about $5.9 million in license fees, including exemptions and reduced fee license sales, for all sports fishing licenses.
The plan approved by the committee calls for establishing a trust fund from the proceeds of license sales.
The money would be used to enhance recreational fishing through habitat restoration, new hatcheries, improved boating and beach access, construction of submerged reefs and other fisheries programs.
Generally, a majority of those attending public meetings earlier this month in Manteo and Morehead City opposed the license. But most of those attending meetings in Greenville, Wilmington, Raleigh, Charlotte and Winston-Salem generally favored the license.
So far, eight major sports fishing groups, one wildlife protection group and a task force studying ocean issues - all representing more than 29,200 members in North Carolina, Virginia and other states - have endorsed the license.
The largest groups to endorse the proposal are the N.C. Beach Buggy Association, a 4,300-member group of primarily surf casters, the N.C. Wildlife Federation, a 3,700-member wildlife-conservation group and the Atlantic Coast Conservation Association, which includes about 3,000 anglers.
But opposition to the plan remains strong among rank-and-file sports anglers, several of whom have begun to circulate petitions in Dare, Carteret and Onslow counties opposing the license and calling for a boycott of businesses whose owners support the plan.
To date, one local government, the Surf City Town Council, has opposed the plan as has one commercial fishing group, the N.C. Fisheries Association of New Bern.
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 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.
In debate at the committee meeting Wednesday, some study committee members said that, given the recent changes in the General Assembly and lack of leadership at the Division of Marine Fisheries, a license for coastal anglers should be delayed at least a year.
But Orbach said the state's new GOP leadership should be receptive to the proposal.
``I know just as many people who are Republican and support this as are Democrat and support this,'' he said. ``The major question is the degree of organizational change in the legislature. It might just be hard to get this through the confusion.''
KEYWORDS: NORTH CAROLINA MARINE FISHERIES COMMISSION
by CNB