In June, House Bill 442 in the N.C. General Assembly originally sought to expand the commercial and recreational fishing season for flounder and red snapper, which was widely praised.
But the Senate tacked on an amendment to prohibit shrimp trawling within a half mile of North Carolina’s coast. It passed and went back to the House Rules Committee.
Days before the Legislature was to recess for the summer, hundreds of commercial fishermen and others descended on Raleigh to protest this bill, and the Rules Committee decided not to move the bill, effectively ending it.
By Susie O’Neal
We know through studies published in the N.C. State Economist and N.C. SeaGrant that commercial fishing provides 300 million dollars of economic impact and over 5,500 jobs to our state.
The N.C. State study was published in 2021. It is likely more than that now.
We know that North Carolina has one of the most regulated and sustainable commercial fishing industries in the country and by extension the world.
Every species of fish, every size, every location, every type of gear used is tracked. N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries was created solely for this purpose.
They control the factors they can control such as pounds of fish caught and areas of marine environment open or closed to fishing.
They cannot control other factors such as stormwater and agricultural runoff or water-quality issues affected by development.
We also know that people vacationing in eastern North Carolina, as well as inland, expect and deserve to eat delicious NC Seafood. Most of them get it through our restaurants and markets. Seafood is central to NC’s tourism industry — a $36 billion-a-year industry.
But it is more than that.
There are intangible ways commercial fishing affects eastern North Carolina and communities like Ocracoke that developed around it.
Every aspect in the making of Ocracoke has been tied to the sea, from the original pilots guiding three- and four-masted schooners through the inlet who decided to stay and settle here to the men lightering those vessels and moving those goods to ports inland.
Then, there were the fish camps where, like the indigenous people, men and women camped on the shore for weeks at a time drying and salting mullet and mackerel.
There were seafaring men who left Ocracoke to work on ships, dredges and tugboats up and down the East Coast.
They came home for births and deaths and storms, always coming and going by the water. Women, resolute, remained tending children and gardens and watching for storms that might do damage or bring menfolk home.
Men onshore patrolled the beaches to rescue other sailors and salvage ships — the future Coast Guard. Ocracoke men captained mailboats and acted as hunting and fishing guides.
There is a direct line from our history to commercial fishing today.
These are men who grow up on boats: Coming and going on the water — not big oceanic trawlers, but skiffs and small offshore vessels catching Blues and Spanish, Mullet and Drumfish in the ocean and Pamlico Sound.
They watch out for each other and feed the thousands of people who flock to Ocracoke and inland.
Many people come to Ocracoke and feel its magic but are not sure where it comes from.
The magic of Ocracoke comes from our history on the water: boats going out; boats returning — the resilience of enduring.
We had a close call recently with the amendment snuck on to House Bill 442 at the end of June.
And we will again with special interests who want to own the Pamlico Sound and sea.
The water surrounding Ocracoke contains our history and to lose commercial fishing would take away the magic that is Ocracoke.
So tell us how can we help…
Very good article, Suzie. Commercial fishing is an industry we must protect and the heritage and culture is has created.
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