THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 8, 1995 TAG: 9507080424
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEW BERN LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
The state Marine Fisheries Commission on Friday voted to oppose a ban on weakfish in offshore waters and offered instead new restrictions on the state's fishermen, restrictions it hopes will be more palatable to the federal government.
After nearly three hours of heated debate, the commission voted 7-6 to fight the ban, increase the minimum size for weakfish that can be caught by commercial fishermen in state and federal waters, and impose additional net restrictions on flynet and gill net fishermen.
Proponents of the measure said that it will be costly for some of the state's commercial fishermen but it is preferable to a total closure of offshore waters to weakfish, which would devastate the state's fishing industry.
Opponents, including most commercial fishermen at the meeting, said the compromise would be just as destructive to their industry as a moratorium and criticized the commission for not standing up to the federal government.
But despite Friday's vote, the crucial test for North Carolina's coastal fishing industry will come later this month when state fisheries managers present the proposal to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Weakfish Management Board, fisheries officials said Friday.
The ASMFC is a compact of 15 Atlantic Coast states that oversees management of fish, such as weakfish, that migrate in inshore waters along the coast.
Concerns from the ASMFC about apparent continued declines in the population of weakfish despite extensive conservation measures inshore prompted, in part, the proposed federal moratorium.
If the ASMFC management board members accept North Carolina's compromise, the chances are good of fending off a National Marine Fisheries Service proposal to halt all weakfish catch in offshore waters. But if the ASMFC board opposes the compromise, the odds of an offshore ban increase greatly, some fisheries officials said.
``The state is literally between a rock and a hard place,'' said Robert V. Lucas, chairman of the Marine Fisheries Commission, in an interview after the meeting. ``If we don't do something meaningful, we're going to end up with a moratorium.''
``There are strong opinions that even this won't be enough,'' Lucas said.
Former state fisheries Director William T. Hogarth, now with NMFS interjurisdictional fisheries management, said the commission's proposal is ``a significant move on the part of North Carolina'' but added that there is strong support elsewhere for the proposed moratorium.
Most commercial fishermen and state fisheries regulators worry that it would leave a significant number of Hatteras commercial fishermen scrambling for something else to do this winter and could lead to a significant increase in inshore fishing.
The changes approved by the commission Friday are intended to reduce the number of small weakfish caught by fishermen. The changes would impose a uniform minimum size for commercial and sports anglers and could reduce conflicts among the two groups over weakfish as well as help restore the Atlantic Coast stocks of weakfish, according to fisheries officials.
But some commercial fishermen say the move will devastate their industry - particularly the flynet industry centered in Carteret County and gill net fishermen in the state's southern waters.
``If it holds, there's going to be a lot of people who are going to be hurt and it won't help the weakfish a darn bit,'' said Jerry Schill, executive director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association, a commercial fishing trade group in New Bern, after the vote.
``It's not that we aren't willing to do something, but the state just shouldn't roll over and play dead.''
North Carolina is expected to be one of the few Atlantic Coast states to oppose the plan. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Robert V. Lucas
by CNB