Shrimpers prevail; questions remain about ferry tolls

“Don’t you get tired of the fight?” someone asked after the June 17 Ocracoke Civic & Business Association meeting.

During that meeting, those present talked about how to screech to a halt the N.C. Senate proposal to enact or raise tolls on the ferries to our island.

Then a new battle popped up – a surprise amendment to a fishing bill in the N.C. General Assembly that would have effectively wiped out the local shrimp-fishing industry.

Hyde County Manager Kris Cahoon Noble alerted the OCBA to this latest affront and that the island, along with many others, should protest this amendment to House Bill 442.

This bill originally sought to expand the commercial and recreational fishing season for flounder and red snapper and was widely praised. It passed the House and went to the Senate.

But the Senate tacked on an amendment to prohibit shrimp trawling within a half mile of North Carolina’s coast then sent it back to the House Rules Committee for action.

The outcry was immediate and hundreds of shrimpers, seafood industry workers, local officials and concerned citizens descended on the Legislative Building in Raleigh on June 23 to try to prevent the bill from being passed before the Legislature recessed for the summer.

Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause and who owns a house on Ocracoke, sent us dispatches.

A long-time observer of the General Assembly, he said he had never witnessed such an impassioned and well-organized rally at the state capital, which included not only hundreds of people who traveled from eastern North Carolina, but also dozens of tractor-trailer trucks circling the state Legislative Building.

Sam Walker OBX News reported that just steps away from the main entrance to the building, giant insulated cold boxes were filled with thousands of pounds of fresh, brown shrimp on ice caught just a few days ago by the same trawlers that would be put out of business by the legislation.

To the credit of all, the protest was peaceful.

Ocracoke commercial fisherman Morty Gaskill sent us a letter to the editor (posted online) explaining how shrimping is not the environmental disaster it’s being painted as. It was widely shared via social media.

The people’s voices were heard and the next day the House Republicans decided not to move the bill out of the Rules Committee.

So, it is effectively dead for this session (and possibly forever) of the Legislature and coastal fish houses can breathe a sigh of relief for now and we can look forward to purchasing local fresh shrimp this year.

Unfortunately, the effort to increase the season for flounder and red snapper went down as well, and while the bill itself says the season can be allowed for six weeks between May 15 and Nov. 15 each year, it is unknown what will happen to this effort.

But the wrangling continues in Raleigh over whether to enact a toll on the Hatteras ferry (the most used ferry in the system) and raise tolls on the other tolled routes.

Noble and the OCBA mobilized, gathering talking points to use when contacting the N.C. legislators, particularly that no study was done to show the impact a Hatteras toll would have on island tourism, nor was there data on how much implementing a toll would cost vs. the estimated revenue.

The N.C. House drafted its own budget, which did not include tolls on the Hatteras ferry but differed in amount from that of the Senate. When that happens, a conference committee is formed to come up with a spending plan agreeable to both sides.

That has not happened and with the Legislature poised to recess for a bit, the current spending plans will continue to be in effect and several “mini” budgets may be passed before an overall budget may be enacted.

So, it appears that islanders can breathe another sigh of relief that there will be no tolls during the busy summer months, but all should remain vigilant.

Back in the late 1980s, islander Mickey Baker, co-owner of Ragged Sailor Trading Company, was one of the founders of LegaSea, a Manteo- and Ocracoke-based grass-roots group responsible for getting a 20-year moratorium on Atlantic offshore drilling.

Ocracoke members of the original LegaSea group included Baker, Carmie Prete, Ann Ehringhaus and Gary Coye.

The group trod the halls of legislators in Washington for five years, Baker said, and got the moratorium, which was renewed for another five years in March 2016.

Islanders might have to regird for that fight since the Trump Administration this year said it wants to develop a new schedule for offshore oil and gas lease sales on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.

Fighting is what we human beings do, whether for good or for evil, and sometimes it has a good impact, as shown by the Legislature’s capitulation on the HB 442 amendment.

But “fighting” has a connotation of violence. There are alternative terms.

Yes, we can’t tire of fighting for what we believe in, but let’s put it this way: We can’t tire of vigorously championing the cause we believe in.

We the people have a voice – enshrined in the Constitution – and we urge all to continue using those voices.