THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 13, 1996 TAG: 9609130563
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROANOKE ISLAND LENGTH: 94 lines
Reese Stecher always planned on catching crabs commercially, but he went away to college for a few years before buying a boat.
And when he got back to the Outer Banks in July 1994, he found he was five days too late to purchase the permit he needed to work on the water.
North Carolina officials stopped the sale of commercial fishing licenses two years ago to study the state's fishing rules, management structure and law enforcement activities. Anyone who didn't own a permit was forced to wait until the moratorium expires to buy one.
New regulations the Moratorium Steering Committee recently proposed may permanently prohibit Stecher from fulfilling his goal of becoming a commercial fisherman.
``Those rules you want to adopt tell me that someone young, like myself, can't get into the industry unless we have someone in our family who's a commercial fisherman - or someone's going to die and leave us a license,'' Stecher told members of the steering committee at a Wednesday night public hearing. ``There's no room in the industry for people like us now - or in the future. Ten years from now, there's going to be nobody left.
``I wonder if that's equitable,'' the 26-year-old Kitty Hawk resident said. ``It seems you don't want anyone new to break into the business.''
Stecher was one of about 100 people who attended the hearing at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island. Commercial and recreational fishermen, fish house owners, charter boat captains and others interested in the industry asked questions and commented on 135 pages of proposed revisions to the state's fisheries laws. Stecher said he was just one of a myriad of people who would be hurt by the suggested rule revisions.
Members of the Moratorium Steering Committee - who are scheduled to vote on the recommendations in November - said there is an avenue for people who want to become commercial fishermen.
``You'll have to apprentice yourself with a licensed captain as a crew member for a couple years and prove an earned income from fishing,'' committee member Chuck Manooch said. One suggested rule calls for watermen wanting to get into the industry to earn $5,000 annually or at least half of their income before they are allowed to buy a commercial license. ``Our intent is not to keep young people from entering the industry,'' said Manooch.
Committee members, however, want to cap the number of commercial licenses available. ``So even if I spend two years proving I've earned money on the water, I still can't get a license unless someone dies or gets out of the industry,'' Stecher said. ``Without a license, it's awfully difficult to make a living crabbing.
``I might as well just find anotherjob that I don't want to do.''
Other issues audience members addressed at Wednesday's hearing included:
Charter boat captains being allowed to sell their party's catch if they purchase a commercial license.
Citizens volunteering to police fishermen - which no one seemed to support.
Applying fees for environmental impacts from hog farm spills and farming to enhance marine environments.
Gathering better data about fisheries stocks before new rules are implemented.
Allowing fisheries law enforcement agents to seize vessels and catches for certain violations - which some audience members supported and others denounced.
A proposed saltwater sport fishing license drew some of the most animated opposition. Three speakers supported the suggested permit - and a $15 annual fee. Twelve people spoke against the idea.
During a vote near the end of the three-hour hearing, after many people already had left, 24 audience members said they didn't want such a license and four people were for it.
``Tourists already pay food tax, lodging tax and sales tax when they buy tackle on the Outer Banks,'' Manteo fisherman Rick Caton said. ``It's not fair to make them pay a saltwater sport fishing license fee too. Pretty soon, you'll be adding a trout stamp, a croaker stamp, a bluefish stamp - on and on - to the fees. You'll never stop with just one recreational license. And you won't know what to do with the money.''
Kill Devil Hills angler Wayne Lee disagreed. ``There is no free lunch,'' he said. ``I support a recreational fishing license because we all need to contribute to the preservation of the resource.''
Some fishermen praised the recommended rule changes, saying they will help save fish for the future and allow biologists to better manage the marine environment.
Others, however, asked committee members to re-examine the regulations before submitting them to legislators. The General Assembly could consider recommended law changes as early as January. New rules could go into effect by next summer.
``Yes, there's a lot of problems with the current fisheries system. But these suggestions look a lot worse to me than what you've got,'' Wanchese fishing supply shop manager Butch Midgett said. ``I wish you'd take another year, throw out 90 percent of what you have and start again.''
Hearings on the proposals also were held in Elizabeth City and Buxton this week. ILLUSTRATION: COPY OF RULES
To get a copy of the proposed revisions to North Carolina's marine
fisheries rules - or to comment on them - call Mike Street at the
state's Division of Marine Fisheries, (800) 682-2632 or (919)
726-7021. by CNB