THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 16, 1994 TAG: 9410180529
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 133 lines
Commercial and recreational fishermen, scientists and politicians will come together in the next few weeks to begin a study of North Carolina's coastal fisheries that could ultimately lead to significant changes in the way the state regulates commercial and recreational fishermen.
A committee of 19 citizens and state officials with fishing interests will start one of the largest overhauls of a state fisheries management program ever attempted.
``There are so many things that need to be done,'' Nags Head tackle shop owner and study committee member Damon Tatem said in an interview Friday. ``It's not just fiddling with some crab rules, it's looking at . . . the whole works.''
``Everybody's going to have to get in there and make some tough decisions on how to protect the resource,'' he said.
``It's going to be tough and ain't nobody going to be happy with our recommendations.''
Tatem is just one of those appointed by Sen. Marc D. Basnight, D-Dare, and Rep. Daniel T. Blue, D-Wake, to a steering committee to oversee a study of the state's fishing industry as part of a two-year ban on commercial fishing licenses. The General Assembly appropriated $250,000 for the study earlier this year and announced the committee memberships earlier this week.
The steering committee will recommend to the General Assembly any needed changes in the state's fisheries management based on the results of that study.
``The mission is difficult, at best,'' said Basnight in an interview from his office in Raleigh. ``They have a very important task ahead of them.''
That's a tall order, said B.J. Copeland, director of the Sea Grant Program at North Carolina State University, the agency that will administer the study.
``There isn't enough time and there isn't enough money to do all the things we need to do,'' he said in an interview Friday. ``We're not going to cure the situation with the fisheries resource. . . . But I hope we'll be able to make a significant step forward.''
State fisheries regulators earlier this year said the combined efforts of nets, hooks and pots from an increasing number of fishermen were beginning to overwhelm the state's fish populations. They called for a two-year freeze on commercial fishing licenses. State lawmakers agreed, and enacted the freeze July1.
``The goal is to reduce the amount of fishing effort,'' Copeland said. ``That's going to be difficult. The steering committee is going to have to make some tough decisions.''
The moratorium was intended to give the state time to review the way it manages its coastal fisheries - a $1 billion industry annually for North Carolina - at a time when its problems range from shrinking fish numbers to fights between sports and commercial fishermen.
``It's the most significant thing that has happened in fisheries since I have been chairman,'' said Robert V. Lucas, chairman of the state Marine Fisheries Commission and chairman of the study oversight committee, in an interview from his Selma law office. ``And it's the most significant thing that could happen in fisheries with regards to the future.
``It's a wonderful opportunity to accomplish something,'' he said. ``It is a chance to truly make a difference.''
The committee is scheduled to report its findings quarterly to a state legislative panel studying seafood and aquaculture issues and to the General Assembly for its action on the recommendations in 1996.
Among the issues that the group will review:
The effects of imposing seasonal, regional or gear restrictions on holders of fishing licenses;
A comparison of North Carolina's license programs with those of other states;
Definitions of different groups using the state's coastal fisheries;
The development of management plans for crabs, shellfish and other species of fish;
An evaluation of the state's fisheries law enforcement program.
Any other issues related to the state's fishing industry.
One of the most pressing and contentious issues the committee will face is defining who should have access to a commercial fishing license in North Carolina and ways to limit that access.
``We're going to have to be able to make recommendations as to what constitutes a fishery and develop a mechanism for who does what and when,'' Copeland said.
The executive director of one of the state's leading commercial fishing trade groups agreed.
``If they do not come up with a definition of a commercial fisherman, then they might just as well give up,'' said Jerry Schill, executive director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association in New Bern.
``That should be their primary task.''
At a time when interest in fisheries issues is very high and the attention of many state lawmakers is turned to the coast, the pressure on the committee to develop viable solutions will be intense, its members said.
``A lot of people have put a lot of faith in this moratorium that something useful will come out of this,'' said Lucas. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
MORATORIUM STUDY STEERING COMMITTEE
Here's a look at the members of the 19-member committee that will
oversee a study of the fishing industry and current management
practices that govern the state's coastal fisheries:
Robert V. Lucas, Selma lawyer and chairman of the Marine
Fisheries Commission
Bob Jamieson, of Wilmington, interim director of the Division of
Marine Fisheries
B.J. Copeland of Raleigh, director of the N.C. Sea Grant Program
Rep. David Redwine, D-Brunswick, co-chairman of the Joint
Legislative Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture
Sen. Charlie Albertson, D-Duplin, co-chairman of the Joint
Legislative Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture
Barbara Garrity Blake of Gloucester, social scientist with East
Carolina University's marine sciences institute
Tommy S. Bowner of Brunswick County, a recreational fisherman
Ford ``Bud'' Cross, fisheries scientist with the National Marine
Fisheries Service in Beaufort.
Murray Fulcher of Ocracoke, a commercial fisherman
Joe Huber of Davis, a private aquaculture operator specializing
in shellfish cultivation
Chuck Manooch, fisheries scientist with the National Marine
Fisheries Service in Beaufort
Ardon Moore of Shallotte, a commercial fisherman
Hans Pearl, an ecologist with the University of North Carolina
Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City
Melvin Shepard of Sneads Ferry, president of the N.C. Coastal
Federation
Kerry Smith, economist, with Duke University in Durham
Sherrill Styron of Oriental, a seafood processor
Damon Tatem, a Nags Head tackle shop owner
Pete West, a building contractor of Greenville and a sports
fisherman
Susan West, president of the Hatteras-Ocracoke Auxiliary of the
N.C. Fisheries Association.
by CNB