THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 3, 1995 TAG: 9504030073
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
A Cumberland County lawmaker is expected to decide this week whether to seek General Assembly approval of a ban on trawling and other nets in the state's sounds and rivers.
During the past two weeks, Rep. W.O. ``Billy'' Richardson, a Fayetteville Democrat, has met and talked with some of the state's top fisheries regulators and representatives of the sports fishing industry to gauge support for the proposal.
Richardson, a lawyer in his second term in the Assembly,outlined his concerns in a March 23 letter to Robert V. Lucas, chairman of the state Marine Fisheries Commission. The commission is a 17-member panel which oversees the state's coastal fishing industry.
Richardson wrote that he had been considering a bill to ban trawling and netting in the North Carolina estuaries during the past two legislative sessions.
``I feel compelled to do so,'' he wrote, ``based on the fact of our declining fisheries and the fact that 14 our of 23 species of fish in our state are severely stressed or over fished.''
Richardson wrote that he would file a net-banning bill if he did not receive word from Lucas to hold off.
In his letter, Richardson cited inaction by state and federal fisheries regulators as one of the causes of fish stock declines. He said regulators have failed to stop harmful fishing practices, such as trawling and fly net fishing, and have failed to adequately control the amount of gill nets used in coastal waters.
In Jacksonville on Friday, Lucas said that restricting the amount of commercial fishing gear in the state's coastal waters is an issue that fisheries regulators should discuss.
But he said Richardson's bill is premature. Studies that are part of the current two-year moratorium on commercial license sales may address Richardson's concerns without banning nets, he said.
``I think the purpose of this moratorium was to focus on solutions that will be less drastic,'' Lucas said. ``I think that there are other steps that have got to be taken before you can deal with the problem with that broad of a brush stroke.''
If Richardson does seek a ban on trawling and netting in the state's sounds and rivers, he can expect strong opposition from the state's commercial fishing industry and most coastal legislators - many of whom hold key posts in the General Assembly.
``I would have extreme difficulty in supporting such a thing,'' said Rep. Jean R. Preston, a Carteret County Republican. ``If I had to vote today, I would not support the legislation. I don't believe it would be very popular with the coastal legislators.''
Another key coastal legislator, Senate leader Marc Basnight, a Dare County Democrat, said earlier this week that he would oppose a net ban.
As the Senate's most powerful lawmaker, strong opposition by Basnight to any bill means the proposal would have little chance of passing in that chamber.
``No one has given me any data to show that any such step is necessary,'' he said last week.
A net ban would place most of the regulatory burden on commercial fishing, which is just one contributor to the decline in fish stocks. A ban would not curb water pollution or stop habitat destruction, which are major causes of declines in some fish populations, Basnight said.
Commercial fishermen said a net ban would devastate their industry.
``It's just total stupidity,'' said Jule Wheatly. ``It would shut down commercial fishing in eastern North Carolina . . . what are they going to do in Atlantic for a living? What are they going to do in Wanchese for a living?''
However, a growing number of Piedmont and western legislators - including some freshman Republicans normally wary of government regulations - agree that drastic steps may be needed to protect coastal fish populations.
``We as a government are going to have to step in,'' said Rep. Dennis Reynolds, an Alamance County Republican. ``We're going to have to do something to see that there's a future for our finfish and shellfish.''
But Reynolds also said he would prefer ``a limit on inshore trawling and inshore nets,'' instead of a total ban. ``Let's wait another year and see what the studies come up with.''
Richen Brame, executive director of the state chapter of the Atlantic Coast Conservation Association, said that while there's little chance a net ban will be approved by the General Assembly, the debate could be good for the coastal fishing industry. by CNB