THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510290072
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
About eight months before its members issue their final reports, a fisheries study is beginning to forge some recommendations for changing the way the state manages its coastal fishing industry.
The proposals made by the fisheries Moratorium Steering Committee, composed mainly of scientists, sports anglers and commercial fishermen, will have far-reaching implications not only for folks who make their living on the coastal waters but also for folks who fish for fun.
Three events have contributed to a general agreement among fishermen, scientists and fisheries managers that North Carolina's previous efforts at managing its coastal fish stocks and industry have not worked:
The recent spate of environmental problems on the Neuse River and the weeklong closure of a section of that river to fishing;
A general decline in the commercial landings of edible finfish over the past 15 years;
Increased fishing pressure on the state's coastal fish.
But while there is a consensus that changes need to be made, a consensus has not developed among industry participants about what should replace the previous management system when a moratorium on new commercial fishing licenses is lifted in two years.
Some of the committee's initial working recommendations - to change the commercial fishing license structure, to institute a point system for fisheries violations similar to that for traffic violations, and to license individual fishing gear - have raised concerns among the commercial fishing industry that its members will be asked to bear a disproportionate share of the burden of a new management system.
And early findings of one major study of the state's commercial fishing license holders may provide some worrisome numbers for the commercial fishing industry.
The next three months should bring intensified debate and attention to the committee as it begins to hone these proposals - ideas that could form the framework for a fisheries management into the next century - and as the results of committee-sponsored studies are unveiled, according to steering committee Chairman Robert V. Lucas.
The details of that new system will be at the heart of the debate in the coastal fishing community over the next few months, said Lucas, the Selma lawyer who also heads the state Marine Fisheries Commission.
``People in all walks of life know that something has got to be done,'' he said last week. ``People know that if the only thing you do is lift the moratorium, there is going to be an immediate onslaught of effort in the amount of people and demand on the resource.
``There is support for the concept of making commercial fishing a professional fishery in the hands of people who do it for a living and there is also broad support for the concept that there needs to be an overall solution across the board - changes don't need to be made on the back of one user group,'' said Lucas. ``The question is how deep that support is.''
Some commercial fishermen worry that the steering committee is focusing too much of its time and attention on the commercial fishing industry and not on the sports fishing community. Lucas disputes that.
``We are concerned with the general lack of attention being given to recreational issues,'' said Jerry Schill, executive director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association, the state's largest commercial fishing trade group.
``Recreational issues need to be addressed by the steering committee and specific suggestions on recreational fishing issues included in final recommendations to the legislature.''
Schill said that some subcommittees and steering committee members are placing too much emphasis on a proposed coastal sports fishing license - to be included in the steering committee's recommendations to the legislature - and are basing many of their decisions on the assumption that the license will be approved by the General Assembly.
``If there are problems, if you're going to address impacts of gear, for example, then don't just talk about commercial gear but talk about the impact of recreational fishing on the stocks,'' he said last week.
Duke and East Carolina universities are conducting a study of the state's commercial fishermen. The study has begun to supply the Moratorium Steering Committee with information that could affect their decisions.
Statewide, 21,941 commercial vessel licenses were sold in fiscal year 1993-94, while only 6,781 were bought by fishermen who also bought licenses to sell their catches.
In recent years, many in the coastal community used that 6,781 figure to estimate the number of commercial fishermen in the state.
But detailed interviews with about 300 holders of the commercial license to sell, coupled with telephone interviews with other groups, have led Duke and East Carolina University researchers, to believe that the state's commercial fishermen, people with a ``substantial income dependence on commercial fishing or fish harvesting'' now number about 3,500.
Lucas said this finding, if it holds true in the final Duke-ECU report to the steering committee in March, will have benefits and risks for commercial fishermen.
``I think it is going to be a lot of benefit to commercial fishermen in the sense that their numbers will show they are not making as much of an impact on the resource as maybe some people think they are,'' he said. ``It may hurt them on the other side in the sense that their numbers are so small in terms of political influence.
``That's why I think it is so important and why it was a goal of this moratorium that in order to protect this small group of people, we've got to take the steps of making it a professional fishery. Otherwise what you're going to have is a much larger part-time industry.''
Some coastal leaders also worry that, up to now, sports and commercial fishermen have been slow to acknowledge the activities of the steering committee while there is still time to participate in committee discussions.
``The magnitude of the steering committee's work has not sunk in yet,'' said Twila Nelson, president of the Carteret County Chapter of the Fisheries Association Auxiliary. ``And I don't think that it's sunk into the fishermen yet that they can help rewrite the laws.'' by CNB