THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 1, 1996 TAG: 9609010077
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: 222 lines
Saltwater anglers would have to pay $15 annually for the privilege of fishing in North Carolina's coastal waters.
Watermen who want to fish commercially but don't hold a state license would have to prove they earned at least $5,000 - or half their income - by catching seafood before they'd be allowed to purchase a permit.
And part-time fishermen working nets would be able to keep only as many fish as anglers using hooks and lines to snare the same species.
Those are just some of more than 100 proposed changes in North Carolina fishing regulations that will be discussed at public meetings around the state this month.
The 18-member Moratorium Steering Committee is expected to vote on the new rules by November. The legislature's Joint Seafood and Aquaculture Committee is scheduled to consider the revisions before January. The General Assembly could adopt new laws early next year.
The new laws have the potential to completely alter the way North Carolina's fishermen - and visitors - work and recreate.
``A lot of these changes don't just affect one user group. They cross over commercial and recreational boundaries and will really touch all fishermen,'' said Hatteras Islander Susan West, a member of the state's Moratorium Steering Committee who has spent two years working to overhaul coastal fisheries.
``With good input, my mind can be changed on a lot of these things. It's important for people to come to these meetings and voice their opinions before we adopt our final recommendations.''
At the request of some fishermen and fisheries managers who feared North Carolina's marine resources were being depleted, the General Assembly approved a two-year ban on the sale of new commercial fishing licenses in July 1994 and appointed 18 people to examine the state's fisheries. The moratorium was extended until July 1997. And the committee received $250,000 to study all aspects of commercial and recreational fishing and management policies.
On Aug. 2, committee members approved 135 pages of draft recommendations that address everything from licensing to law enforcement to habitat issues - even the size and location of official bodies that manage North Carolina's fish.
Committee members will be in the Outer Banks Sept. 10 to 12 to hear comments before revising and approving their final plans. RECREATIONAL FISHERMEN
Much of the controversy over the recommendations has centered on the idea of requiring a license for recreational saltwater anglers.
Fisheries managers and committee members say they need the licenses to help protect and improve the state's marine resources.
Some fishermen, however, say the license is just another example of government intrusion on the public's right to use public resources.
``I'm a very strong advocate for the saltwater sports fishing license. It has tremendous implications to help restore and enhance the resource,'' said Nags Head recreational fisherman Norm Bradford - a newly appointed member of the state's Marine Fisheries Commission.
``Anything we can do to . . . create fish hatcheries and nursery areas and produce and release fingerling fish into the wild will certainly address some of our problems.''
Wanchese resident Tom Wagner disagrees.
``It's an unnecessary tax because it will never enhance the resource,'' said Wagner, who runs charter boat trips for anglers around the Outer Banks.
``There's no way to restock the fish. Hatcheries will never work. Until regulators lift catch limits on predator species like bluefish, they won't be doing anything but wasting our money.'' COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN
Already the most regulated of all fishermen, and certainly the ones who depend on marine resources the most for their incomes, commercial watermen would not feel much immediate impact - except for an increase in license costs.
Commercial fishing licenses now cost an average of $200 or less, depending on the type of boat, gear and species sought. Many commercial fishermen might pay an additional $100 or $200 for permits under the proposed changes. Crew members who do not sell the catch or own the boats would not be required to hold commercial fishing licenses.
By early next century, however, all commercial fishing laws could be overhauled.
Originally, the moratorium on license sales was suggested so regulators could figure out a way to limit the amount of gear in the water and protect current commercial watermen from an influx of out-of-state and foreign fishermen.
After two years of study and thousands of dollars in contracted surveys, however, the steering committee's gear recommendations suggest that ``long-term reduction in the amount of fishing gear used in North Carolina will be dependent upon the development and implementation of appropriate Fishery Management Plans. . . . There is a general perception that there is too much fishing gear in use in some areas and fisheries in coastal North Carolina and that the excess gear is responsible for biological, social and economic problems,'' the committee report says. ``This perception is not, however, based on any objective or extensive data analysis.''
Committee members suggested that the state's Division of Marine Fisheries develop fisheries management plans for most saltwater species.
The lack of such data and plans has prompted criticism of North Carolina fisheries managers for decades. Now, it will be next century before many management issues can again be addressed.
``What concerns me is that these fisheries management plans will go right back to the division where the same personnel who've been working on them for 20 years will just be charged with re-working them,'' said Ocracoke fish house owner Murray Fulcher, a member of the Moratorium Steering Committee's gear subcommittee.
``I think our recommendations fall short of expectations because of there are no fisheries management plans - and it all hinges on them. I'm scared of those plans and what they'll do.''
The major recommendation for full-time commercial fishermen is to license individual watermen - rather than their boats. Anyone who now holds a state commercial fishing license and license to sell the catch will be able to receive one after the moratorium is lifted. But newcomers to the commercial fishing field will have to prove they've earned a minimum amount of income on the water as a crew member before they'll be allowed to buy a permit.
``When someone dies or retires, his commercial fishing license can't be transferred - except after an appeal,'' Fulcher explained.
``Family members, though, get the first shot at buying that license back for a minimal administrative fee.''
Another aspect of fisheries management commercial watermen had hoped the committee would address was measuring the amount of fish caught.
Fish stocks are assessed now only by landings data. Such numbers don't take into account new restrictions on quotas, seasons or fish-excluder devices required on certain shellfish nets - so they don't effectively measure the amount of fish that could be harvested.
Recommended rule changes don't address these issues either. PART-TIME COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN
People who catch fish commercially but don't earn most of their living on the water stand to see the biggest shifts under the suggested rule changes.
State officials sold 21,941 commercial licenses in 1994 - before the moratorium. About 6,540 of those license holders also purchased licenses to sell fish. But only 4,800 of those people actually marketed their catch.
So thousands of watermen who own commercial fishing licenses seem to use that permit only to catch seafood for their own consumption - or to give away to friends and neighbors.
Recommended regulations would prohibit those people from catching any more than the recreational limits of fish, even if they use hundreds of yards of net, crab pots or trawls.
Sales of their catches would be illegal.
``The folks raising the most ruckus are those who hold a commercial license but no license to sell seafood,'' Fulcher said.
``We want to find out how much gear those part-timers would be satisfied with. We've heard that they need everything from 50 to 1,000 yards of net and from five to 50 crab pots.
``I think there should be a cap on the amount of gear they can use because they're impacting the resource, too - sometimes considerably.''
Proposals call for a $25 ``Commercial Gear Recreational License'' for state residents and a $250 fee for such out-of-state permits.
There is no immediate limit to the number of those licenses the state can sell.
Part-timers say the suggested restrictions will inhibit their ability to work the waters as their ancestors have for centuries. Many retirees and people who work in the Outer Banks' tourism industry depend on fishing income to get them through the winter. They think it's unfair that the state would limit their commercial catches to recreational limits.
``I don't want to be cut out of selling my catch if I need to just because I don't commercially fish full-time,'' Wagner said. ``All I want to do is pay my bills in the winter. I don't think the state has any right to stop anyone from making an honest living on the water.''
Outer Banks recreational angler Wayne Lee, however, disagreed. ``If you don't have a full-fledged commercial license, you should have to abide by recreational fishing limits,'' he said. ``They're going to have to put a cap on the amount of gear in the water. We need restrictions on that to protect the resource until we get a better handle on what's out there.'' LAW ENFORCEMENT
Changes in law enforcement activities would include a ``Violation Point System'' - similar to the one used on drivers' licenses.
Points would be given to recreational and commercial fishermen who break rules according to how severe the infraction was. People who catch more than the reel limit or quota, for example, would get 12 points against their license. People who take fish by illegal means would receive eight points.
Anglers who accumulate 18 to 25 points in three years would have their license suspended for 30 days. Anyone who got 36 points or more would lose their license for at least a year. FISHERIES MANAGERS
State biologists and fisheries managers and members of the state Marine Fisheries Commission also could be affected by committee recommendations.
Suggestions include moving the Division of Marine Fisheries and much of his staff from the coastal office at Morehead City to Raleigh - closer to other state offices and further away from the lobbying pressures of seafood producers near the shore.
The commission would be cut from 17 to nine members - with three of the appointees coming from commercial fishing backgrounds, three representing recreational angling interests and three holding at-large seats.
``First, they've got to get the Division cleaned up and operating right. Then, they've got to get the data to manage these fish,'' said Sandy Seamans, spokeswoman for the North Carolina Fisheries Association, which represents commercial fishing interests.
Committee members stressed, however, that they want to receive a lot of feedback on their proposed rules before adopting the final recommendations and taking them to legislators.
``I'm sure there will be a lot of changes between what we're recommending now and what we adopt,'' Fulcher said. ``That's why it's so important to hear from everyone that will be affected by these proposals.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
Anglers fish Saturday along the shore of Pamlico Sound at Oregon
Inlet. A committee has proposed changes to the regulations that
govern the sport.
Graphic
ABOUT THE FISHING RULES
At 7 p.m. Tuesday, The North Carolina Coastal Federation will
hold a public information session to explain and answer questions
about the Moratorium Steering Committee's proposals to overhaul
state fishing rules. The meeting will be at the North Carolina
Aquarium on Roanoke Island and is open to everyone. Copies of all
recommended regulation changes will be available.
The Moratorium Steering Committee will hold public hearings to
receive input on the proposed fisheries rule changes throughout the
Albemarle area this month. On Sept. 10, a hearing will be held at
the College of Albemarle in Elizabeth City. On Sept. 11, comments
will be heard at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island. On
Sept. 12, the meeting will take place at the Hatteras Civic Center
on the north end of Hatteras Village, N.C. 12. All meetings begin at
7 p.m.
For more information, or to comment about the recommended rule
changes, call Mike Street at the North Carolina Division of Marine
Fisheries, 1 (800) 682-2632 or (919) 726-7021. by CNB