BEAUFORT, N.C. — April 24, 2013 — An advisory panel in Carteret County has gone on record against a proposed game fish bill saying it would hurt the consumers of local seafood as well as the state’s commercial fishermen.
The Carteret County Marine Fisheries Advisory Board adopted a resolution Tuesday night opposing the portions of House Bill 983 that propose to designate red drum, spotted sea trout and striped bass as coastal game fish.
With the designation, the fish could only be caught by hook and line. The move would effectively cut commercial fishermen out of the fishery, preventing them from catching or selling the fish.
Recreational anglers already catch about 80 percent of the harvest of the three fish. The legislation would in essence give 100 percent of the harvest to recreational fishermen.
Jonathan Robinson, a Carteret County commissioner, commercial fisherman and chair of the advisory board, said it’s a public resource going to a single user group.
“It’s supposed to be a resource for everybody in the state,” he said.
Read the full story at the Jacksonville Daily News