NORTH CAROLINA — August 3, 2012 — The three owners of Seaview Crab Co. shelved their college degrees to take up a career in the seafood industry. At the time, they didn't know that their bait of choice would become the centerpiece of a seagoing battle.
Brothers Sam and Joe Romano and longtime friend Nathan King opened Seaview Crab Co. on Carolina Beach Road in 2009. Menhaden has been their predominant bait since the beginning.
"It's a more oily fish. The crabs smell it better," King said.
But the fish has been at the center of conflict, one that state lawmakers waded into again during the recently concluded legislative session. As part of a seafood study bill, they banned purse-seine fishing operations for menhaden in state waters.
Recreational fishermen think over-harvesting of menhaden cuts their chances of catching popular gamefish species that prey on the oily fish.
Commercial fishermen think of the bill as a gear ban that could open the door for more regulation.
But recreational fishermen and lawmakers agree the state doesn't need the large factory ships that come in from Virginia to scoop up whole schools of the fish.
Traditionally menhaden have been used to make fish oil, fish meal and fertilizer.
The 2005 closure of the last factory in North Carolina, however, did not mean the end of factory harvest for menhaden. Omega Protein Corp., based in Reedville, Va., sends ships into North Carolina waters to harvest menhaden.
In 2007, a Brunswick County-specific bill was passed by the General Assembly restricting the harvesting of menhaden within three miles of the county's shore. This year, Senate Bill 821 extended the purse seine ban.
Read the full story at the Star News Online.