THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 12, 1996 TAG: 9604120572
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
Fewer than 10 percent of the people who hold commercial fishing licenses in North Carolina actually catch fish for a living, a Duke University professor said Thursday.
``While the number of people who have commercial vessel licenses has actually increased in the last couple of years, most of those are not really commercial fishermen,'' said Michael Orbach of Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment and Marine Laboratory.
``Those other people who have their commercial licenses but don't sell fish are basically recreational fishermen. They just use what is defined as `commercial gear.' . . . Our hypothesis was that most of the (license holders) were only marginally involved in the commercial aspects - which turned out to be true.''
Orbach and East Carolina University researcher Jeffrey Johnson presented findings of an eight-month study on commercial fishing license holders to members of the state's Moratorium Steering Committee on Thursday at the Crystal Coast Civic Center in Morehead City. The study was financed by the moratorium committee. But state fisheries spokeswoman Nancy Fish said she did not know how much it cost.
In July 1994, North Carolina's General Assembly stopped state officials from issuing any additional commercial fishing licenses because legislators were worried about increasing numbers of watermen - and the possible effects those fishermen might have on fish populations. That ban is scheduled to be lifted in July 1997. In the meantime, the Moratorium Steering Committee is studying all aspects of the state's fishing rules, fees and management structure.
Committee members are considering submitting recommendations to the legislature that would only allow watermen who earn at least a certain specified percentage of their income by selling fish to hold a seafood seller's license. To limit the amount of nets and other gear in the water, committee members also are discussing requiring watermen to earn at least a certain amount of money each year from fish sales. In addition to holding a commercial fishing license, watermen must have a separate endorsement to sell fish.
Although about 21,000 North Carolina residents have commercial fishing licenses, Orbach said, only about 6,500 of those people also hold endorsements to sell seafood. Of those holding the endorsements, only about 1,700 ``have sold more than $10,000 worth of fish,'' Orbach said.
The scientists based their findings on statistics they gathered from the state's fishing industry - and on interviews they conducted with about 350 saltwater fishermen across the coast, on boats, docks, fishermen's homes and in bars. Orbach and Johnson also conducted workshops with watermen across the state. Some commercial fishing license holders live as far west as Winston-Salem, Hickory and Charlotte.
Different areas of the state, they said, produced different data.
In the Albemarle Sound region, for example, 70 percent of commercial fishermen earn most of their income from selling seafood. In Dare County, that percentage drops to 45 percent. ``That's because Dare includes the Outer Banks, where a lot of people fish part time and there is major tourism,'' Orbach said.
Some commercial fishing license holders ``pay for their recreation by selling some fish,'' he said. ``And that's one of the big issues now. Some proposals being considered would not allow that anymore.''
Marine Fisheries Commission member Linnie D. Perry II, who owns a Washington, N.C., fish house, said the scientists' findings just go to show that ``the whole state system is screwy.''
``I know a lot of commercial fishing licenses wind up in the hands of fun fishermen,'' he said Thursday. ``I'm not surprised only 10 percent of the holders actually sell fish for a living. But I thought it would probably be a little higher than that.''
The study's findings underscore the need for state fisheries regulators to gain better knowledge about who's fishing for what - and why, Perry said. Some commercial fishing license holders, for example, only use commercial gear to catch seafood for their own consumption. Others use it to catch fish to sell and supplement their retirement or other income.
``If you don't know who the full-time commercial fishermen are, how can you regulate their gear?'' Perry asked. ``There should be some figure of income that denotes a commercial fisherman: $1,000 or $5,000 a year - or a certain percentage of their income.
``I know more yards of shrimp and gill nets are pulled by recreational fishermen than are ever used by commercial watermen - who actually sell their catches to the public so everyone can enjoy it. Those recreational guys are having an impact on the resource, too.
``But commercial fishermen who do it for a living are always the ones who take the brunt of the criticism - and who suffer the most from the regulations and restrictions.'' by CNB