THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 11, 1995 TAG: 9505110412
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
The debate over whether North Carolina will withdraw from a 15-state compact that manages migratory species of fish will apparently go down to the wire today as one key coastal legislator decides what to do.
State Sen. Beverly M. Perdue, a Craven County Democrat, said she will decide today whether to push for an immediate withdrawal from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission - or choose to study the issue.
Commercial fishermen say the ASMFC has not lived up to its statutory obligations to hold public hearings and to involve commercial fishermen in developing fisheries management plans.
Watermen who support withdrawing from the agency have until the end of today's legislative session to provide the information needed to support withdrawing from the ASMFC.
On Wednesday morning, Perdue said that if they don't supply that information, she will pursue a study instead.
``If we don't have the legal opinions or the scientific data to support withdrawing from the ASMFC, then we're not going to move,'' she said.
Most lawyers with expertise in fisheries and environmental issues generally agree that North Carolina would be required to comply with and implement fisheries management plans promulgated by the ASMFC even if the state withdraws from the compact.
They acknowledge, though, that North Carolina would lose most, if not all, of its voting privileges if it withdraws from the compact.
But not all coastal fishing interests agree with or accept these findings.
In its recent newsletter, the state Fisheries Association, a commercial fishing advocacy group, cited one opinion that maintains the legislation creating the ASMFC is unconstitutional and that North Carolina and other states do not have to comply with ASMFC mandates.
But Perdue and others said that opinion was written by a law student for a school publication and could not be relied upon by the state.
Efforts to reach Jerry Schill, fisheries association executive director, in New Bern for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Schill was one of four people asked last week by Perdue and Rep. Jean R. Preston, a Carteret County Republican, to comment on withdrawing from the ASMFC.
Preston said Wednesday that even though she is sponsoring a bill to study withdrawing from the ASMFC, if Perdue ``does go ahead with a bill to withdraw, I will support that.''
The issue of withdrawing from the ASMFC faces a deadline today, imposed by legislators and known as the ``crossover deadline.''
To be eligible for discussion for the remainder of the session, most bills must be approved by either the House or the Senate by the time the two chambers adjourn this afternoon. Bills that contain appropriations and bills that authorize studies are among the few measures that don't have to meet the crossover deadline.
The legislators also asked Robert V. Lucas, chairman of the state Marine Fisheries Commission; Bruce L. Freeman, director of the Division of Marine Fisheries; and Rich M. Brame, director of the state chapter of the Atlantic Coast Conservation Association, a sports fishing group, for their comments.
Lucas, Freeman and Brame oppose withdrawing from the ASMFC.
Lucas said on Wednesday that while the ASMFC has problems, those problems can best be addressed by North Carolina staying in the compact and working to change the system from within.
Earlier this year, the Virginia legislature approved a measure calling for the Commonwealth to withdraw from the ASMFC in 1996. Since then, commercial fishermen throughout eastern North Carolina have advocated a similar move for their state. Recently, one group of commercial anglers spent the day in Raleigh seeking legislative support for the move.
But withdrawal from the ASMFC is opposed by many sports fishing interests, many coastal legislators and some fisheries regulators, who believe North Carolina's coastal fishing industry would be hurt if the state withdrew from the regional compact.
Last month, Preston introduced legislation calling for a one-year review by a House and Senate panel that studies seafood and aquaculture issues on the role of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in the management of North Carolina's coastal fishing industry.
The committee would report its findings to the legislature in May, 1996. by CNB