THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 3, 1994 TAG: 9412030241
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SMITHFIELD LENGTH: Long : 134 lines
The possibility that saltwater anglers will need licenses to fish moved a step closer to reality Friday when the State Marine Fisheries Commission endorsed the plan on a 13-4 vote.
The support for the controversial measure was stronger than expected, with the vote split largely along commercial-sports lines with all four negative ballots coming from commercial fishermen.
Hatteras commercial fisherman William Foster and seafood dealer Linner Perry II, however, voted to support the license.
``It's got to be a step in the right direction,'' said Robert V. Lucas, commission chairman. ``People are tired of the Marine Fisheries Commission; they are tired of the legislature . . . they want this group to fix the problem. It's time for us to stand up and be counted,'' said Lucas.
``This is probably the most important piece of business that has come before the commission, at least in the past few years,'' said Ronald C. Dilthey, a commission member.
``To me, the people who are most opposed to it on the coast are the main beneficiaries. . . . I can see this money going to great things . . . to increase the catch . . . and reduce conflict,'' he said.
But Beaufort seafood processor Jule D. Wheatly took issue with Dilthey's assessment. ``If everybody had your views and objectives, I would support this license, but, unfortunately, they don't,'' he said.
Commission member Michael K. Orbach, a Duke University professor who chaired a committee that studied the license proposal, said the concept of a coastal-fishing license should appeal to the new Republican majority in the legislature which must approve the plan before it becomes law.
``People want responsive and accountable government,'' he said after the vote. ``This is a fiscally responsible proposal with a great deal of constituent support.''
``It is not an issue that divides along partisan lines,'' he said. ``There are a great number of Republicans who are supportive of this.''
The commission approved a resolution asking the General Assembly to create a coastal fishing license that coincides with a larger review of the state's commercial and recreational fishing industries.
The resolution also stipulates that revenues from saltwater-license sales be dedicated to the improvement of recreational-fisheries resources, and if the money is diverted from that goal, that the license be terminated.
The resolution will be presented to the General Assembly along with an outline of specific license proposals.
Proponents of the proposal said a coastal-fishing license would help provide much-needed data for state fisheries regulators and would provide much-needed money to help solve the problem of a declining fish population.
Opponents of the measure feared the state's sport-fishing interests would use the data gained by the license to drive them out of the state's coastal waters.
The vote culminates a one-year review requested by the General Assembly of the need for a saltwater fishing license and the form such a license should take.
Sports anglers who fish the state's inland waters have been required for about 50 years to buy licenses, but sports fishermen are not required to buy licenses to fish in the state's coastal waters.
Despite the endorsement by the Marine Fisheries Commission, the license still faces several hurdles before it becomes law - including approval by the legislature.
While some of the state's new Republican legislative leaders say the proposed license will be a tough sell, other lawmakers interested in coastal issues say the license is crucial to helping the state protect and restore its coastal fish populations.
``It's going to be a tough sell,'' said Sen. Charlie Albertson, D-Duplin, in one recent interview. ``But we need to do something to help the fisheries resource and if not this, then what?''
Albertson is co-chairman of a legislative study committee on seafood and aquaculture issues which is scheduled to review the license proposal when his panel meets next week in Raleigh.
But Rep. Robert Grady, R-Onslow, dean of the Republican coastal delegation in the state House, said many GOP legislators representing coastal counties campaigned against the license. Grady, who has said in earlier discussions of the license that he is skeptical of the proposal, is also a member of the seafood and aquaculture committee.
Under a plan approved by the commission, sports anglers would pay either $5 per week, $15 a 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 whose fees will be based on the length of the pier and the length of the boat, under the committee plan. ILLUSTRATION: THE FEES FOR FISHING
Here's the proposed license structure and fee schedule for a North
Carolina saltwater fishing license for sports anglers endorsed by
the Marine Fisheries Commission. The proposal is scheduled to be
reviewed next week by a legislative panel studying seafood and
aquaculture issues. State lawmakers will likely begin debate on the
proposal after they convene early next year.
[Chart by] STEVE STONE/Staff
THE FEES FOR FISHING
License Type Fee
Annual license $ 15
One week $ 5
Lifetime $ 250 1
Lifetime infant 2 $ 100
Fishing pier 3 $ 3 per foot
Charter/head/dive boat 3 $ 1 to $ 3 per foot
Youth up to 16 years old
No charge
Over 70, handicapped and disabled
$ 5 one-time fee
Disabled veteran $ 5 one-time fee
Legally blind No charge
Subsistence 4 No charge
1 - Holders of the Wildlife Resources Commission lifetime
licenses can buy a lifetime license for an administrative fee, if
they apply for the saltwater license within six months of
ratification. The study committee recommended that the General
Assembly also consider a reduced fee for the purchase of both
licenses.
2 - Lifetime licenses for children less than 16 years old would
be available on a sliding scale for the first six months of license
sales.
3 - These licenses would allow fishing pier owners and charter
and other captains to choose to exempt their customers from
individual license requirements as long as the pier and boat owners
paid a yearly fee and a record is kept of the number of anglers
using the service.
4 - This license would allow those producing proof of eligibility
for low-income assistance programs to have the license fee waived.
SOURCE: N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries.
KEYWORDS: FISHING LICENSES by CNB