March 4, 2014 — There has been for several years now, a vigorous debate about the role the State of North Carolina and the Federal Government should take in "managing" marine resources. The debate centers around two divergent schools of thought, generally divided between those who side with the "commercial" fishing industry and those who side with the "recreational" fishing industry.
Oversimplified, commercial fishermen use nets to catch their fish while recreational fishermen use hook and line tackle. Of course the boats are different as a result. Commercial fishermen are the folk who provide the fresh seafood served in restaurants and at fish markets. Recreational fishermen, by definition, do not sell their catch. They keep it for themselves or their friends.
The recreational fishermen claim that commercial fishermen destroy the populations of many fish with the use of their nets, particularly trawl nets. So they want the state to enforce regulations that the commercial fishermen contend will virtually outlaw them catching fish. An absurd example of these regulations is that in order to protect one, or a few, species of fish they pass regulations that make it illegal to catch those fish. But when you put your net in the water you can determine what you will catch. So to avoid the penalties many commercial fishermen has simple sold their equipment and have gone out of the business.
Here is where the issue gets much bigger than how fish should be caught. The commercial fishing industry produces fresh local seafood that is served in restaurants and sold at fish markets. Most people know there is no substitute for fresh seafood. Imported seafood is simply not as good, and some (including us) believe it is not "fitten to eat." So what we're really looking at here is whether the state is going to kill the fresh seafood industry and deprive us of that bounty.
Read the full story at the Beaufort Observer