DATE: Thursday, February 27, 1997           TAG: 9702270476

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B4   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

DATELINE: RALEIGH                           LENGTH:   33 lines

FISHERIES REFORM BEFORE LAWMAKERS

Rep. David Redwine, D-Brunswick County, plans to introduce a bill in the General Assembly to reform fisheries management and licensing practices in North Carolina.

Redwine and representatives from the North Carolina Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. today in the Legislative Press Conference Room of the Legislative Building in Raleigh.

Redwine's proposals could include recommendations about implementing a saltwater sports fishing license, restructuring commercial fishing licenses and changing fisheries law enforcement practices.

In February, the legislature's Seafood and Aquaculture Commission, of which Redwine is a member, voted to table recommendations from the state's Moratorium Steering Committee to overhaul coastal fishing practices. Steering committee members had spent two years studying all aspects of the state's fisheries. But the lawmakers on the Seafood and Aquaculture Commission decided not to implement any new rules until the state auditor's office examines the Division of Marine Fisheries.

Redwine's proposal could revive some of the Moratorium Steering Committee's recommendations.

Meanwhile, members of the House are considering a bill that calls for banning nets in all North Carolina's inside waters. Last week, the state's Marine Fisheries Commission passed a resolution opposing that bill. Officials with the North Carolina Fisheries Association, which represents more than 1,000 commercial fishermen, seafood processors and fish dealers, also oppose the net ban bill.

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