THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 15, 1995 TAG: 9505150041
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SELMA LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
For the last two years, North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission Chairman Robert V. Lucas has been calling for increased patrols by fisheries enforcement officers. Extra fish police, Lucas reasoned, would be a deterrent to folks who might be tempted to violate fisheries regulations.
It's kind of like the way state troopers keep motorists in line with the threat of spotting a patrol car on the highways, Lucas says.
Seems Lucas encountered one such deterrent at the end of a fishing trip near Cape Lookout May 7.
Fisheries enforcement officers Anthony Velez and Chris Bennett were on patrol near Barden's Inlet, called ``The Drain'' by fishermen, near Cape Lookout. Velez, who has worked as a fisheries enforcement officer for more than two years, and Bennett had set up a blockade just inside The Drain about 4 p.m. with the division's 19-foot flat-bottom skiff. They had a couple of boats stopped when they flashed the blue light and motioned aside a 31-foot, center-console Fountain sports fishing boat.
``I had only seen Mr. Lucas one time in person,'' Velez, a Carteret County native, said last week from division headquarters in Morehead City. ``And the man at the helm of the boat was wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap.''
That man turned out to be Lucas, returning to Harker's Island from an offshore fishing trip with several long-time friends.
``I was tired. I wasn't nervous,'' said Velez, who had worked 13 hours Saturday patrolling in the area. ``And whether I had been nervous or not, I had to check this man.''
Lucas knew the drill, Velez said, and immediately opened the cooler on his boat without being asked. He willingly showed the enforcement officer his day's catch - all of which greatly exceeded the state's minimum-size limits.
Lucas' encounter with the fish patrol lasted only about 10 minutes. His was one of about 60 boats stopped by Velez and Bennett that Sunday. Fortunately, the state's top fisheries official was not among the 18 or so fishermen who received citations or warnings.
So what kind of fisherman is the state's top fisheries official?
Pretty good, it turns out.
Lucas and his friends caught several dolphin, wahoo and two 43- to 45-pound yellowfin tuna.
``Those guys were proud of those fish,'' Velez said. ``I believe they had done better than anyone else we had checked that day. He must know some good places to fish.'' by CNB