THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 30, 1996 TAG: 9607300254
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NAGS HEAD LENGTH: 104 lines
Balfour ``Butch'' Midgett spends most of the year selling commercial fishing nets, fluorescent floats and marine safety gear to Wanchese watermen.
In the past four weeks, he and his assistant have penned and processed more than 1,500 pink, green and yellow permits.
Their waterfront shop has overflowed with fishermen. Their upstairs office has been inundated with questions and complaints. They've become the busiest licensing agent for the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries on the Outer Banks.
But they're beginning to sink beneath the ever-deepening sea of red tape.
So on Monday, Midgett wrote state officials saying he plans to deep-six his affiliation with the licensing agency - and get back to business at Etheridge Fishing Supply.
``The sale of licenses has become too much of a financial and mental burden,'' Midgett wrote in a one-page letter to the fisheries' Morehead City office, saying he intends to stop selling licenses Sept. 1.
``It was making it impossible to do my real job,'' Midgett said Monday. ``It's just getting to be too much.
``I was told the system would improve. But it's only gotten more complicated. We're doing the state's work. And they're collecting the money off it. What we get doesn't begin to make up for the time and hassle it takes.
``I feel bad about having to stop selling licenses because I really wanted to do it for the fishermen,'' said Midgett, whose shop receives $1 for each license he sells. ``But there was just no way I could continue. And the state's gonna be real hard-pressed to find someone else who'll be willing to deal with all this mess.''
In June 1993, the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries had 46 license sales agents across the coast. Last summer, that number had dropped to 35. Three outlets sell state commercial fishing licenses on the Outer Banks - including Midgett's. But the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center caters primarily to charter boat captains who dock there. And Hatteras Island's only outlet operator says he might throw in the towel soon, too.
``Every year I say I'm gonna quit. It might really be this year,'' Willis Boat Landing owner Dan Willis said Monday from his Hatteras Village store. ``I want to accommodate the fishermen. That's why I've sold licenses for 20 years. But the state's throwing too much on us. They change their laws so much. It's all so confusing.
``It takes us up to two hours to explain the licensing laws just to one guy. The licenses expire June 30 - and we don't get the new ones 'til July 1. We've sold more than 600 licenses already this month. But it takes all our time. It's really not worth it.
``We've been threatened with lawsuits. We've almost been in fist fights over these things with some of the guys,'' Willis said. ``And we're not the governor. We don't make these laws. We're just trying to answer their questions so we can sell them the licenses they need.''
Until 1994, commercial fishermen were required to purchase only one state permit: a vessel license for each boat. Fees were based on the craft's length. Costs ranged from $1 to $3 per foot. Two years ago, at least 16,250 vessel licenses were issued throughout the state. Those fees haven't changed since 1984.
But in January 1994, the General Assembly added a second type of permit: a license to sell, required for anyone who wants to sell fish caught from a boat. Fees range from $25 to $45, depending on the vessel's length. At least 7,243 licenses to sell were issued to North Carolina watermen that year.
By July 1994, state officials had created three additional commercial fishing license categories - and closed the industry to anyone who did not have a commercial fishing permit. The original closure was supposed to last for two years. Recommendations that a state panel plans to vote on this week could extend that moratorium until the turn of the century.
``We're looking at two more years - at least - of dealing with this confusion,'' Midgett said. ``It's all going so slow. I've lost faith in the whole system.
``It's taken them two years to come up with ideas that no one likes. Who knows when - or if - it'll get better. So far, it's only getting worse.''
Some fishermen have to purchase five separate state permits to catch crabs, net croaker or reel in tuna on long lines. Fees range from $30 to $300 annually per person. And if a waterman wants to bring his wife along to help, that often requires a separate license.
Since June 1, seven licensing agents at the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries have fielded more than 6,100 calls from fishermen and license dealers trying to make sense of the complicated system. State officials added two new categories to the license-to-sell permit this year and issued a permanent five-digit identification code to each waterman. License Supervisor Janice Fulcher said problems have been building over time.
But she's sad to see Midgett quit processing her paperwork.
``I hate to see him go,'' Fulcher said Monday from Morehead City. ``Butch has done an excellent job for the Division of Marine Fisheries. He's been a real asset to the fishermen of that area. But he doesn't get a whole lot of money for the work he's got to do. Now, we've got to go out and locate another agent in that area.''
Fishermen can apply for and receive state fishing licenses by mail. But since most of them don't understand all the rules in the 270-page North Carolina Marine Fisheries regulation handbook - and since they generally don't have enough time to package all their licensing information between the time their old licenses expire and the date new ones are due - most prefer to pay for and pick up their permits in person. The only state outlet selling commercial fishing licenses is in Morehead City, at least a four-hour drive from the Outer Banks.
``They're not gonna get nobody else to do it if I stop selling,'' Willis said. ``No one wants this hassle. I don't know what the guys'll do.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
DREW C. WILSON
The Virginian-Pilot
Ricki Burrus processes heaps of applications for commercial fishing
licenses Monday at Etheridge Fishing Supply in Wanchese. by CNB