THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 11, 1995 TAG: 9510110698
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HOLLY RIDGE LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
The Joint Legislative Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture voted Tuesday to support the continuation of a licensing program that requires fishermen to provide information about their catch.
North Carolina has the best data collection system on the Atlantic Coast, thanks to the 2-year-old license program, according to commercial fishermen, conservationists and fisheries managers who testified before the legislative panel at Dixon School in Holly Ridge.
They said the license has not only given fisheries managers the information they need to better manage the state's coastal fishing industry but has also, in some instances, helped the state fend off more restrictive federal regulations.
The seafood and aquaculture commission voted without dissent to recommend continuation of the license to the General Assembly when lawmakers return to Raleigh May 13, 1996.
``There's some really outstanding data from this license that is significant as far as I'm concerned,'' said Rep. Jean R. Preston, a Carteret County Republican and commission co-chairman.
The Joint Legislative Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture, comprised of senators, members of the state House of Representatives and commercial fishing and aquaculture interests, is the source of most fisheries-related legislation considered by state lawmakers each year.
The panel meets when the General Assembly is not in session to develop bills to present to lawmakers during the next session.
After two years of study, state lawmakers approved legislation in July 1993 which requires fishermen to be licensed to sell their catch and mandates reporting by seafood dealers of the fish and shellfish harvested and sold in the state. The trip ticket program, as the license's harvest report is known, identifies the seller, the dealer who buys the seafood and statistics about where and how the fish or shellfish was caught.
But the legislation included a provision that ended the program after the 1995-96 fiscal year unless it was specifically renewed.
The vote by the legislative commission Tuesday to continue the license is the first step in that renewal.
Since the license to sell and its accompanying trip ticket program were implemented, the accuracy and timeliness of commercial landings statistics used in managing North Carolina's marine resources has improved, according to state fisheries Director Bruce L. Freeman.
``We do have much better information now than we did before,'' said Freeman.
``The trip ticket also helps us resolve conflicts among user groups.''
Information gleaned from the trip ticket program has helped fisheries managers reopen the 1994 shark season and allowed North Carolina fishermen to catch an additional $400,000 in sharks. It has helped the Division of Marine Fisheries supply updated statistics to the National Marine Fisheries Service which the state hopes can be used to turn back a proposed moratorium on weakfish in federal offshore waters, Freeman said.
The legislative panel took no action on a request by Freeman to increase funding for the program by $65,000 to allow the Division of Marine Fisheries to fill two trip ticket positions that were originally created as part of the program.
The staff positions have either been left vacant or have been filled using money from temporary federal grants. by CNB