February 28, 2014 — A trade group of North Carolina commercial fishermen has proposed that the General Assembly raise their fishing license fees to pay for regulatory measures.
Flounder fishermen sometimes get endangered sea turtles caught in their gillnets, so federal law requires that the state hire trained "observers" to check nets regularly. The General Assembly only funded the observer program until next summer, but if there's no observer at all, the state will be required to stop all gillnet fishing.
Jerry Schill of the NC Fisheries Association said the group now wants the state to double the cost of commercial fishing licenses to $400 per year. He said it's "bittersweet" for the fishermen.