THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 4, 1995 TAG: 9511040289
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROANOKE ISLAND LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
A proposal to charge fishermen $250 a year to set pound nets is discriminatory and unfair and should be dropped immediately, more than a dozen Albemarle-area watermen told members of the state's Marine Fisheries Commission at a hearing.
``Come on, guys. This is way too high. We're talking about a lot of money for fishermen here,'' Manteo commercial fisherman Mike Tillett told eight commission members Thursday night.
Edenton waterman Charles Lynch agreed.
``Last year, when you all cut off the herring April 15, you just about put me out of business,'' Lynch said. ``I'm in my 60s, and you're cutting off my ability to make a living at the only thing I've ever done. I'm trying to survive. But you've already brought me down to rock bottom.
``If I have to pay $250 per net per year, you'll put me clean out of business. And it's not just me. All the pound-netters on the Chowan River will be shut down if this becomes a law. You all just keep taking and taking from us - then ask us to give you more money to continue regulating us out of the water. I really wish you all would reconsider this.''
When the gear committee of the state's Moratorium Steering Committee originally proposed a pound-net fee, members suggested charging fishermen a one-time $250 fee to set their nets. But when the Marine Fisheries Commission took over that proposal, the rule was changed to an annual fee.
Officials said the change was made because the commission is not authorized to levy one-time fees - only annual charges.
Some watermen said they didn't even make a $250 profit per net last year.
Commission Chairman Robert Lucas said Thursday that ``there's a strong likelihood that this won't pass.''
The fee was one of 32 provisions the public was invited to comment on at five public hearings across the state.
More than 100 recreational and commercial fishermen turned out at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island Thursday night to address those issues. Pound-net fees received the most comment, by far.
Other issues included proposals to keep menhaden boats at least a half-mile off of Southern Shores beaches, to ban fly nets south of Cape Hatteras and to extend by another year the right of the state's fisheries director to issue proclamations and restrict gear to resolve user conflicts.
``At least 27 of those proposed rules make it easier for the division. Only one really benefits the commercial fishing industry,'' Wanchese resident James Fletcher said. ``This whole set of rules is indicative of where things are headed for commercial fishermen. The division has not done any resource enhancement at all. It just keeps restricting our rights to work on the public trust waters.''
Most speakers said pound nets should not incur license fees because no other commercial fishing gear has individual fees placed on it - and pound nets are the least damaging of all commercial fishing equipment.
Fish caught in pound nets survive until the fishermen take them out of the water, thereby yielding a minimal by-catch mortality. Fisheries officials said they proposed the fees because watermen were worried about a proliferation of pound nets in Hyde and Carteret counties.
Fishermen said that if a one-time fee were placed on new pound-net sets - and watermen were required to fish the nets for which they had permits - the problem might just take care of itself.
``My granddad fished down here in the '30s, and he said pound nets stretched from Marsh's Light in Wanchese all the way to Stumpy Point. There were a lot more nets out here back then,'' said Manteo waterman Mike Tillett. ``A one-time $250 fee is not a lot of money to set up in this industry. But once you're fishing in it, you should be left alone.''
The proposal to require menhaden boats to stay at least a half-mile off Southern Shores beaches from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31 - and at least a mile offshore between May 1 and Sept. 1 - stemmed from an identical law in effect in Nags Head, Duck and Kill Devil Hills.
Southern Shores Commissioner Dick Wood said visitors trying to surf fish along his town's four miles of beach expressed ``dismay and anger'' over the commercial purse seiners who cruise the Atlantic netting the small fish.
``Should this continue much longer,'' Wood said, ``we fear it will drive some of our guests to other areas where the boats don't come as close.''
Other speakers urging the Southern Shores menhaden boat ban said they worried about possible spills from the fish-processing vessels - as well as upsetting the tourists.
``Facts are facts,'' Southern Shores surf fisherman Paul Southerly said. ``Every time we see a menhaden boat come within sight, the surf fishing just disappears. It's not forever. I'm not saying that. But it is an immediate effect.''
Commercial fisherman Mike Peele said such sentiment was no reason to restrict an entire industry.
``These boats have been fishing for menhaden for 40 or 50 years. In that time, the tourist industry has increased 500-fold,'' Peele said. ``If the people coming here didn't like those boats, why'd they come down here and build all these houses on the beaches? I just seems you're favoring one user group over another in this case.''
John Barnes of Ampro Fisheries Co., a menhaden processor from Virginia, agreed.
``There is no scientific, environmental or biological justification for this closure close to shore,'' said Barnes. ``These rules are like a cancer to our industry. They don't kill you at first. But they eat away at you slowly, bit by bit, sucking all the life out eventually.''
The suggestion to ban fly nets south of Cape Hatteras came as a compromise to convince the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission not to close the area between between three and 200 miles offshore to weakfish fishing, said Lucas.
Weakfish, also known as gray trout, are usually smaller in those southern waters than they are along the northern Outer Banks areas. If fly nets were eliminated in that area, fisheries officials said, the weakfish mortality rate would improve significantly.
Recreational fishermen seemed to support that proposal. Commercial watermen did not want to give up their fly nets in that area.
``We do not support that fly net closure,'' North Carolina Fisheries Association Director Jerry Schill said. ``The industry already has taken great pains to comply with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's plans. We can't just keep giving up more.''
No consensus was reached on the director's proclamation authority. But for the most part, recreational anglers seemed to support an extension of that rule-making ability, while commercial watermen opposed the plan.
Members of the state Marine Fisheries Commission will vote on the proposed rules when they meet at the Hatteras Civic Center on Nov. 30. by CNB