THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 5, 1997 TAG: 9702050475
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 93 lines
Lawmakers may have a hard time making heads or tails of what North Carolina fishermen really want.
The latest developments in a controversial proposal to start charging anglers to fish in saltwater could be confusing.
The state's largest organization of recreational anglers supports a plan that would require them to buy a license to cast lines in North Carolina's coastal waters.
But the state's biggest group of commercial fishermen say recreational anglers should not have to pay to pursue their sport.
The two groups have crossed lines in the past - with sports fishermen demanding more regulations to rein in commercial watermen's catches.
But this time, sports fishermen are asking for more regulations on themselves while commercial watermen - who have had to purchase licenses for years - are telling the state to leave recreational anglers out of the regulatory process.
Legislators will debate the saltwater sports fishing license next week as the state's Seafood and Aquaculture committee continues talking about a fisheries reform package that is scheduled to go to the General Assembly in March.
The proposal being considered would require everyone fishing in North Carolina's coastal waters to buy a $15 annual saltwater sports fishing license or a $5 weekly license. People fishing off piers or charter boats could be exempted from holding a license if the pier or boat owner purchased a blanket permit. Proceeds from the license sales are supposed to be deposited into a trust fund that would be used for fisheries enhancement, law enforcement and education.
``Passage of a reasonable $15 per year/$5 per week license is the best way the state's lawmakers can fund desperately needed fisheries reform without increasing taxes on the general population,'' says a statement from the Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina, which includes 4,000 sports fishermen across the state.
``The CCA-NC believes the saltwater fishing license, as part of a comprehensive fisheries reform agenda, will . . . help preserve, protect and enhance North Carolina's coastal fisheries resources well into the next century,'' said Richen M. Brame, executive director of the CCA-NC.
``The greater threat to North Carolina's coastal economy - to ocean pier owners, charter boats, tackle shop owners, restaurants, motels and other coastal businesses - is not the imposition of a fee of 4 cents a day to fish,'' Brame said, ``but continued declines in our state's coastal fish stocks and frustration from anglers over the inability to catch fish.''
A saltwater sports fishing license, the CCA said, would help document the number of coastal sports anglers, promote awareness and education about recreational fishing issues and provide revenues to enhance coastal sports fishing and fish stocks.
Most commercial fishermen, however, don't believe that money generated by sports fishing license sales would be used for the good of the fish.
They don't think state regulators can handle administering such a new permit. And they worry that revenue from recreational saltwater fishing license sales would be used to run commercial fishermen out of the water.
``Rep. Frank Mitchell has already been quoted in the media as wanting to use the funds from the license to buy out commercial fishermen,'' said Jerry Schill, president of the North Carolina Fisheries Association which represents more than 1,300 commercial watermen, seafood processors and fish dealers across the state. ``I don't think that a move like that qualifies to be called resource enhancement.''
Members of the fisheries association's Moratorium Review Committee voted Monday to oppose the saltwater sports fishing license plan. ``The committee could not identify any component of the recreational fishing license which would do anything to protect the resource,'' Committee Chairman Phil Prescott said. ``In fact, the license would discourage many of those who depend on fishing for sustenance rather than fun from being able to take advantage of this publicly held resource.''
Some sports fishermen, who do not belong to the Coastal Conservation Association, have agreed with commercial watermen - and opposed the saltwater sports fishing license.
At public hearings across the state and in Raleigh, they have asked legislators to drop the license requirement from the fisheries reform package.
Charter boat captains from around the Outer Banks also submitted petitions signed by hundreds of anglers who don't want to have to purchase permits to fish.
Most of the sports fishermen who oppose the license live on the coast.
``Over half of the commercial fishermen and their families work in the tourism industry, too - or in some form of recreational fishing,'' fisheries association spokeswoman Sandy Seamans said Tuesday. ``They don't want to see tourism adversely affected by a saltwater sports fishing license. They don't want such a license at all.
``We agree that the state needs a really good fisheries management system. But to get that, they need really good fisheries management plans and data,'' Seamans said. ``This license plan does nothing to protect the resource. It's just another tax. And I'd be shocked if the state didn't raid the trust fund that's supposed to be set up to handle license sales revenue at some point.''