Tradewinds February/March 2020

COMPLIMENTARY

February/March 2020

WWW. NCFISH.ORG

COVER

A Publication of North Carolina Fisheries Association, Inc.

Board of Directors The North Carolina Board of Directors is comprised of members representing all of the State’s coastal regions as well as the many facets of the industry gear type, targeted species, and commodity groups. The association elects its board members and officers annually.

Brent Fulcher-252-514-7003 Chairman Doug Todd-910-279-2959 Vice Chairman Glenn Skinner-252-646-7742 Executive Director Dewey Hemilright-252-473-0135 Treasurer

Tradewinds

A publication of the North Carolina Fisheries Association Tradewinds have been used by captains of sailing ships to cross the world’s oceans for centuries. The captain of a sailing ship would seek a course along which the winds could be expected to blow in the direction of travel.

Tradewinds were important in the development of trade and provided a means of transportation and communications to isolated coast communities We are still isolated in a sense even with our modern ships, aircraft, telecommunications and the internet.

We need a connection from island to island, person to person…and to the rest of the world.

We hope that this Tradewinds will become as important to you as the Tradewinds were to our ancestors, not only to in-landers wanting to know more about the coast, but coastal people learning about other coastal people.

NCFA Staff: Glenn Skinner Executive Director Jerry Schill Director of Government Relations Aundrea O’Neal Weeks Administration & Accounting Tradewinds Editor Nikki Raynor Barta Membership/Receptionist Tradewinds- Co-Editor 101 N. 5th Street Morehead City, NC 28557 Office: 252-726-(NCFA)6232 | Fax:252-726-6200 www.ncfish.org

Tradewinds is proud to announce that our publication will now be archived at: North Carolina Collection at Wilson Library University of Chapel Hill, NC 2

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Area 1Vacant Area 2Dewey Hemilright-252-473-0135 Area 3Mark Vrablic-252-305-2718 Area 4Kris Cahoon Noble- 252-926-4178 Area 5Wesley Potter-252-229-1881 Area 6Brent Fulcher- 252-514-7003 Area 7- Doug Todd-910-279-2959 At LargeSonny Davis-252-725-0784 At Large- Chrissy Fulcher Cahoon-252-670-7223 At LargeRoss Butler-757-435-5317 At LargeJeff Styron-252-675-8354 Charter BoatRalphie Craddock-252-473-0953 Albemarle Fisherman’s Association Terry Pratt-252-339-7431 Carteret County Fisherman’s Association Bradley Styron-252-342-8821 Ocracoke Working Waterman’s Association Hardy Plyler-252-928-5601 Pamlico County Fisherman’s Association Wayne Dunbar-252-670-7467 Brunswick County Fishermen’s Association Randy Robinson-910-209-3463 NC CatchKaren Amspacher-252-732-0982 NC For-Hire Captain’s AssociationRyan Williams-910-263-3097 The Tradewinds is a free publication published bi-monthly by the NC Fisheries Association. All parties advertised herein and the claims represented are the sole responsibility of the advertiser.

Though every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of all advertising and copy contained herein, the publisher may not be held responsible for typographical errors. The NC Fisheries Association reserves the right to refuse any advertising or editorial deemed inappropriate. The agency, its employees, agents or representatives may not be held responsible for any actions or consequences derived as a result of following advice or instructions contained herein. ©2019

November/December 2019 Nikki Raynor............................. 4

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From Your Editor...................... 4 A Word From Jerry................... 5 A Word From The Chairman.... 6

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A Thought From Glenn............ 7 NC Catch 8th Annual Summit... 9 Brown’s Island 11 & 12A Sunday Visitor................ 10-12 Did You Know?....................... 15 Bill Hitchcock............................ 17 Gloucester Mardi Gras.............. 19

NCFA Annual Meeting.................................. 25

BBFA............................................ 33

Maritime Angels..................... 21

MMAP......................................................... 25

AMSEA.................................... 34-35

FEATURE STORY

Talk On The Docks - Commercial Fishermen Are Still Here.......................26-27

Affiliate Contacts...........................36

Wildlife Commission Proposes Measures That Will Impact Protection of Coastal Fish Habitat and Commercial Fishing.... 22-23

On the Cover: Great White Egret Photo by: digidreamgrafix

Core Sound Waterfowl Museum............................................... 29

Councils & Commissions..............37 Membership Application................39

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Red Right..................................................... 31

TW Disclaimer: Articles and letters appearing in Tradewinds are the opinions of the authors and unless specifically noted may or may not reflect the opinions or official positions of the North Carolina Fisheries Association.

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Help keep the commercial fishing industry alive and become a member of the North Carolina Fisheries Association!

We’ll keep you updated on the latest industry news by mail, email, or fax. You’ll also receive a copy of this educational publication with every new edition that we make. For a limited time, you still have the option to receive a free sweatshirt or t-shirt when you sign up as a new member. Be sure to check out our Facebook page for photos of the t-shirts and sweatshirts we have to offer, as well as other news that we share (www.facebook.com/NCFisheriesAssoc/). We are a nonprofit organization, so your support greatly matters. Join today!

www.ncfish.org/join/

Alternately, your Membership Application can be found on page 39.

For more information, you can email your questions to nikki@ncfish.org or call (252) 726-6232.

Membership Applications can be mailed to:

North Carolina Fisheries Association PO Box 86 Morehead City, NC 28557

Nikki Raynor Barta NCFA Membership NCFA Reception Tradewinds Co-Editor

From your Editor Thank you to each and every one of you for your support!

I hope that you are satisfied with the story qualities that are provided in this publication. My main focus and purpose for taking on this task is to keep our fishermen informed, educate the public and to show that you (whether you are a fisherman or a consumer) are an ESSENTIAL part of our industry!

If there is a question, subject or interest that you may have and would like to see in this magazine, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I will try my best to get the question answered, story written or interest directed to the proper people that will supply that information for you.

With your continued support, we can show that we are using conservative, sustainable practices to keep our industry going for the years to come.

Thank you Again!!!

Aundrea O’Neal Weeks 252-503-8302 Aundrea@ncfish.org Tradewinds@ncfish.org

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Attorneys C.R. Wheatly III, Stevenson L. Weeks, James M. Lupton, Debra L. Massie, J. Jefferson Newton, & John E. Nobles III

(252) 728-3158 “Serving commercial fishermen and the industry for over 100 years!”

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As many readers may know, NCFA worked with our General Assembly after Hurricane Florence in 2018 to provide financial assistance to commercial fishermen affected by the hurricane and we sincerely appreciated the help provided to many families as the result.

What’s been unfortunate, but not surprising, is the criticism coming from the Coastal Conservation Association, (CCA-NC), in its fall newsletter in an article “Storm payouts scrutinized”. In these fish battles of late anything NCFA does on behalf of commercial fishermen is looked upon in a negative light by the CCA, even if we have a prayer breakfast as per another article in the same issue. (“Laughridge reflects on MFC; thinks fisheries future bleak”.) https://ccanc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/fall-2019-final-PDF.pdf When working with the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) to come up with a formula to help fishermen with the hurricane assistance, it was decided to use quantifiable landings data associated with our state’s trip ticket program. We decided against using any plan that relied on data that could not be quantified to avoid any hanky panky, whether real or perceived.

The bottom line for the article is really sour grapes. The fact is we came up with a plan to help commercial fishermen that were economically harmed by the hurricane and the recreational industry didn’t. Maybe the CCA didn’t do it because they couldn’t come up with a quantifiable

method like we could. That’s a legitimate reason, but why then criticize NCFA and commercial fishermen for doing it? Comparing apples to apples, those seafood entities that suffered substantial losses from the hurricane to docks, buildings, freezers, etc., didn’t receive a dime for those losses either outside of their possible insurance coverage. They are still waiting for federal assistance. That aid has been approved but the criteria has not yet been determined. In this case the commercial and recreational fishing entities are in the same predicament.

CCA Executive Director David Sneed was quoted in the article: “The response on why there was no hurricane relief money for the recreational industry has always been ‘because they didn’t ask for any”.

Well, that’s the way things usually work!

The author of the article, Rip Woodin, CCA-NC Editor, goes on to say: “Commercial fishermen went to Raleigh and demanded state assistance…” Hyperbole at its finest. NCFA respectfully asked for help and demanded nothing.

In another article, same issue, former Division of Marine Fisheries Director Louis Daniel extols the virtues of the “Let them Spawn” bill, which passed the House last year and is now in the Senate Rules Committee. Daniel is now with the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, which has shown no love for commercial fishing families. I don’t think it’s a stretch to suggest that if Louis Daniel hadn’t gotten fired from the Division, he would be opposed to the “Let them Spawn” bill. What we need in fisheries are decisions based upon science, not on who is paying our salary.

As for the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, not long ago Robin Hayes, former North Carolina G.O.P. Chairman, was listed as a “special advisor”.

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P

roactive means to be positive, upbeat, and preemptive. Those aren’t words normally associated with commercial fishermen, especially in today’s regulatory environment. Many can’t see the wisdom of working within the process due to a perceived notion that it won’t do any good. Typical responses when asked if a fisherman is going to a hearing or meeting are “It’s a waste of time”. “They already know what they want to do”. And “We’re doomed anyway”.

Those of us that are active within the process obviously don’t agree with those sentiments, but there are times when I wonder if maybe the doomsayers are the ones being wise. The shrimp fishery is a perfect example.

In 2013 an individual filed a Petition for Rulemaking with the Marine Fisheries Commission that would have devastated the commercial shrimp fishery. The MFC is required to address such petitions and after a lot of anxiety the proposed regulatory measures in the petition were rejected. Just two years later, the NC Wildlife Federation filed another Petition for Rulemaking that was different but still would have led to the death of the fishery. It also failed.

Then again, in May 2019, the NC Wildlife Federation filed yet another Petition with different devastating measures and was once again rejected.

Keep in mind that every time such a legal Petition for Rulemaking is filed, it must be addressed by the MFC, which amounts to staff time and significant costs to the taxpayer. The staff are directed away from other duties which are very harmful to the whole fisheries management process. It’s bad for recreational and commercial fishermen obviously, but also for consumers and all taxpayers.

All these proposals are pushed by the proponents while lying to the public and legislators with the implication that the Division of Marine Fisheries is doing little and the commercial shrimpers are doing nothing to protect the resource. Contrary to that notion, there is no fishery in our state where you can find more documented evidence of being proactive to protect the resource over the years than the shrimp fishery!

In the 70s primary and secondary nursery areas were established which either severely limited or banned all bottom disturbing gear, including shrimp trawling within those areas. That measure was proposed by commercial shrimpers and the North Carolina Fisheries Association.

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In the late 80s and early 90s shrimpers worked with regulators and academics to find a workable turtle excluder device (TED) in shrimp trawls that is now universally used to not only exclude turtles, but offers reduction of bycatch of juvenile finfish. The same is true in the early 90s with bycatch reduction devices with North Carolina being the first state to mandate their use in shrimp trawls to significantly reduce bycatch. After further studies, North Carolina was the first state to mandate two bycatch reduction devices

In the shrimp fishery management plan amendment 1, and Industry Working Group was established to reduce bycatch even further. The research was conducted from 2015 – 2017 with tremendous success reducing bycatch over 40%! That study resulted in new bycatch reduction requirements for Pamlico Sound that are proven to reduce the bycatch of juvenile finfish to a level that doubles what is federally mandated.

Now, the Marine Fisheries Commission is considering the adoption of some of the measures that were rejected as part of the Petition for Rulemaking and some of those can be very harmful to the shrimpers. So you can see why fishermen get disheartened. They put their heart and soul into addressing the conservation issues with success, only to hear from some corners they’re not doing enough or some that lie and say they’re doing nothing at all.

While it’s easy to change from upbeat to downbeat with such a scenario, it’s not helpful. Naysayers are everywhere. We’ll choose to stay engaged and positive! We just don’t want you to succumb to the lies.

Carteret County Fisherman’s Association Proud Affiliate of the North Carolina Fisheries Association

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n February of 2019, the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) produced and widely circulated a chart titled “Expected November 1, 2019 Recreational Fish Limits By State” comparing North Carolina’s bag limits to those in eight other States, from Virginia to Texas. The chart compared the recreational bag limits of Striped Bass, Speckled Trout, Flounder, and Red Drum; and predicted that

by Nov 1, 2019 NC anglers would only be allowed to harvest four speckled Trout, one Red Drum, zero Flounder and zero Striped Bass, which was far less than was predicted for the other eight states. Absent from the chart was any explanation for why North Carolina’s recreational limits were so low, except for a question which asked “Can you guess the only state that still allows commercial gillnetting and shrimp trawling in its bays and sounds?” implying that commercial fishermen are somehow responsible. Can this be true?

Can simply banning gillnetting and shrimp trawling in our estuaries as other states have done mean more fish and increased bag limits for North Carolina anglers? To answer these questions, let’s first look at the accuracy of the CCA’s predictions.

In the case of North Carolina, the predicted bag limits were somewhat accurate as North Carolina had closed the recreational harvest of Flounder statewide and Striped Bass in the Central Management Area, but they failed to include that two Striped Bass anglers were allowed to harvest in the Albemarle Sound Management Area in their chart. With the exception of this little white lie, the CCA’s predictions for North Carolina were pretty close. But what about the other states? Has the removal of commercial gears guaranteed an endless bounty for anglers in the other eight states? The answer is a resounding NO!

By May 11, 2019, Florida had closed the recreational harvest of Red Drum and Speckled Trout for almost the entire state, and when it reopens in June of 2020 Florida anglers will have bag limits for these two species almost identical to North Carolina’s current bag limits. Like Florida, Alabama’s recreational bag limits had also decreased in an attempt to end overfishing in both the Southern Flounder and Speckled Trout stocks. By Nov 1, 2019, their Speckled Trout bag limit had dropped from ten fish per day to six, and flounder harvest was closed during the month of November (reopening in December) with a bag limit decrease from ten fish per day to five. Now you may think that anglers in Texas (the birthplace of the CCA) would be spared, but like the CCA predictions, you would be wrong! Effective September 1, 2019, the Speckled Trout bag limit decreased from ten fish per day to five, and once again the CCA told a little white lie as the recreational Flounder bag limit is two fish per day in November, not the five fish shown on the chart. (The Flounder bag limit is five fish per day Dec 1- Oct 31) with the exception of Virginia’s Striped Bass bag limits, the other states not mentioned above had no changes as of Nov 1, 2019, but that may change soon. South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida may soon be making changes in their recreational Flounder fisheries to end overfishing on the Southern Flounder stock, and Louisiana is currently exploring options to end overfishing in their recreational Speckled Trout fishery which has been overfished since 2014.

While its obvious that the CCA’s assertion that banning commercial gears will assure liberal bag limits is absolutely without merit, it’s hard to

ignore the fact that even with the recent changes in other states, North Carolina’s combined bag limits for all four species is still significantly lower than the other states. But does it have to be? Once again, the answer is absolutely no! If you were to take the CCA’s chart at face value, you would assume they were upset about the recreational bag limits in North Carolina, the truth is that not once in thirty years has the CCA of North Carolina ever advocated for higher recreational bag limits. In fact, recreational bag limits for Red Drum and Speckled Trout (two of the species compared on their chart) could easily have been raised in North Carolina and we have discussed doing so several times, but the changes were opposed by the CCA. In the case of Red Drum, North Carolina could adopt the more liberal bag limits seen in the other states on the chart and still be in compliance with the ASMFC, but with support from the CCA, North Carolina chose the most restrictive bag limits available.

A similar situation occurred in the management of Speckled Trout.

When the 2015 stock assessment determined overfishing was not occurring, the Marine Fisheries Commission could have changed the Trout regulations but chose to maintain the four fish bag limit implemented to rebuild an overfished stock at the recommendation of the CCA. By now you may be asking yourself “Why would an organization advocate for extremely restrictive recreational bag limits in one breath and then condemn our state for adopting these very same bag limits with the next breath?”. The answer is simple, the CCA feeds off the turmoil created when our fisheries are over-regulated. Simply put, happy anglers don’t buy into the propaganda, they don’t sign petitions or send pre-written letters, and they certainly won’t donate money to the CCA! The truth is, with the exception of Flounder, recreational catches of the species compared on the CCA chart have been increasing in North Carolina, but anglers are forced to throw back most of the fish they catch as size limits have increased and bag limits decreased.

By now, it’s clear that North Carolina has some of the most restrictive recreational bag limits in the country, but I bet you didn’t know we also have the strictest statutes for managing our coastal fisheries of any state in the United States. It was these statutes that forced our state to adopt the extreme management measures that closed the harvest of Southern Flounder. While it’s true that the Flounder fishery is overfished in North Carolina, overfishing is also occurring in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida; but unlike North Carolina, these states have no statutory requirements to take action. If these states choose to reduce their harvest of Southern Flounder in the future, they will have the flexibility to do as little or as much as they feel is appropriate, a luxury we don’t have in North Carolina. If you are questioning why North Carolina would adopt statutes that require such draconian measures, maybe that’s a question you should ask the CCA of NC, because once again they actively lobbied to assure North Carolina had the most restrictive coastal fisheries in the Country.

And now you know why!

Glenn Skinner President, North Carolina Fisheries Association

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OCTOBER 23, 2017 / DAVID CECELSKI

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Elizabeth Turner (later Taylor), Brown’s Island, N.C., 1938.

Courtesy, State Archives of North Carolina 10

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Sunday visitor. The nearest villages to the Brown’s Island mullet camp both lay 12 miles west at the mouth of the New River, a long haul anyway you made it in that day.

“Yet most Sundays the girls arrive,” the photographer, Charles A. Farrell, noted.

This young fan of Mickey Mouse was Elizabeth Turner (later Taylor). She lived on her aunt’s farm on the other side of Browns Sound and often visited the fishermen with her aunt and sisters.

“Every fisherman on the island wanted his picture made with this charming lass,” Farrell wrote on the back of the original print.

How often the fishermen visited the mainland of Onslow County, where they might have first met Ms. Elizabeth, is not clear. Chadwick’s Landing, one of two villages at the mouth of the New River, did have a pair of general stores where the fishermen might have gone to procure groceries and tobacco. Marines, a small community on the other side of the river from Chadwick’s Landing, also had two stores and a gristmill.

Stump liquor was not in short supply at either place.

Behind the young lady, salted spots hang on nails in a cabin wall. The fishermen first headed, split, gutted and lightly salted the fish. Then they hung them to dry in the sun and wind: it was an ancient and much favored way to preserve fish without having to salt them so heavily as when they packed them in brine. Buck Gillikin, the camp’s young cook, intended to fry these fish sometime soon.

Salt fish drying in the sun was once a common sight on the North Carolina coast, prior to the ready availability of ice and refrigeration. Fishermen’s families often laid the fish on the roofs or porches of their houses, at other times on makeshift benches in a sunny, unused room or, as here, pinned to the sides of homes or

outbuildings. At Salter Path, mullet fisherman Norwood Frost told me that his mother-in-law used to hang salt fish from her clothesline.

The Back Story: The Woman in the Mickey Mouse Shirt

A couple years ago, I included this photograph in an exhibit of the Brown’s Island photographs at the Center for the Study of the American South at UNC-Chapel Hill. That exhibit later traveled to the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center on Harkers Island, N.C. At that time, I had failed to identify the young woman at Brown’s Island by name and I didn’t know anything about her background or her time on the island.

That was a shame, because everybody who saw her photograph wanted to know who she was and how she had come to be at Brown’s Island!

I soon discovered who she was however! Not long after the exhibit in Chapel Hill, I was a guest at an annual reunion of people whose family roots lay in several dispossessed communities in Onslow County, N.C.. The reunion included a big potluck dinner and, completely by accident, I ended up sitting next to the mystery woman in the Mickey Mouse shirt!

She had appeared in Charles A. Farrell’s photograph more than 75 years earlier!

years old and living on her Aunt Sarah’s farm. The farm lay immediately across Browns Sound from the mullet fishermen’s island.

She had moved to her aunt’s farm 5 or 6 years earlier. Her aunt was widowed, and Elizabeth helped with her little boy and the farm chores.

The Belle of the Ball

Aunt Sarah often took her to picnics and dances. “She was heavily courted and pretty much the belle of the ball,” Betsy told me, speaking of her mother.

They often visited Brown’s Island. “Jack would take us or the boys would come get us,” Ms. Elizabeth explained. “All we had do was go down to Aunt Sarah’s landing and wave and someone would come get us.”

She recalled, in particular, that a mullet fisherman named Warren Gillikin often fetched them by bringing his boat over the salt marsh in front of her aunt’s landing on a high tide.

Ms. Elizabeth and Aunt Sarah beckoned the fishermen by waving a white handkerchief.

When they visited Brown’s Island, the women often helped the fishermen if they were busy at work. Ms. Elizabeth remembered “gilling” the fish—removing the gills and guts. She said she

A Lucky Meeting

Her full name was Sarah Elizabeth Turner Taylor (she went

by Elizabeth) and, when I first met her, she was 99 years old. She and her daughter Betsy had come to the reunion from their home in the state’s piedmont.

Ms. Elizabeth was a little hard of hearing and no longer had the best eyesight, but neither her mind nor her taste for adventure had diminished from those days on Brown’s Island.

In the following months, she graciously shared her memories of Brown’s Island with me. Her daughter, Betsy Taylor Sergomassov, was also a tremendous help. She’s a talented amateur genealogist and has a first-rate historical mind, so she was able to fill in important parts of the story.

Here’s what I learned: Ms. Elizabeth was born in 1915 in Hubert, on the eastern side of Onslow County. She was the 2nd oldest of 11 children. Her mother and father were sharecroppers, and her father was also a blacksmith at a lumber mill in the Swansboro area.

When Elizabeth was growing up, her mother had not wanted her to work in the fields (except for tobacco harvest, when everybody worked in the fields or the barn!). Though she was not a big woman—she weighed 95 pounds when she married in 1939— Elizabeth often snuck into the fields and helped her brother Jack plow with a horse or mule.

“She liked to work and always had to be doing something,” Betsy said.

In 1938, when this photograph was taken, Elizabeth was 23

Elizabeth Turner (later Taylor) posing with Leonard Gillikin on the right and a young fisherman on the left, Brown’s Island, N.C. Ms. Taylor thought the boy was mostly likely Moses Gillikin.

Courtesy, State Archives of North Carolina. north carolina fisheries association 11

used a wooden peg and that the guts came out with the gills, so she didn’t find the job too messy or unpleasant.

One of Betsy’s other aunts, Lettie, even waded into the surf and helped the fishermen pull in their nets.

Whether the women cleaned fish or pulled in nets, the fishermen always offered them a share of the catch. Aunt Sarah carried a dishpan or a tow sack with her so that she could carry fish home.

Elizabeth never bothered. “Mama said she just did it for the fun of it anyway,” Betsy explained.

“He Took A Lot of Pictures That Day”

When I first met Ms. Elizabeth, when she was nearly 100 years old, she still remembered the day that Charles A. Farrell took her photograph on Brown’s Island. Several of her younger sisters had come with her that day, she recalled.

“They did not want to be in a picture but someone would grab Mother and bring her into a picture and she did not mind,” she later told Betsy.

Her mother also told Betsy, “He took a lot of pictures that day.”

Ms. Elizabeth married a handsome young fisherman from Courthouse Bay named Wiley Taylor in 1939. “Both of them poor

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but made a lovely couple,” Betsy wrote me awhile back. Before WWII, Wiley also worked on a snag boat, ran the ferry to Hurst (Onslow) Beach and did a stint with the Civilian Conservation Corps. Wiley joined the Navy during the war. He eventually served overseas, but for a long time he was stationed at naval bases on more northern parts of the Eastern Seaboard.

Betsy wrote me: “When he could he sent for Mama & she stayed in the area. She worked in a little tearoom part time and the clientele called her `Dixie’ and many of them asked to sit at one of her tables. She made a lot of friends & still has pictures of a lot of them.”

Betsy also shared a nice memory from her parents’ courting days. I’m not sure if she heard it from her mother or her father or both, but I think it’s a good place to end our story:

“Daddy lived on Courthouse Bay and … courted Mama by boat. He liked to take her to visit people who did not have a wharf because he could anchor and wade ashore carrying her in his arms.”

What could be better than that?

Elizabeth Turner Taylor died on October 31, 2015, only 24 days shy of her 100th birthday.

Reprinted with permissions

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Commercial harvest of spotted seatrout from 2009 to 2018 consistently comprised a small proportion of total spotted seatrout catch, averaging approximately 13% of total spotted seatrout harvest.

From 2009 to 2018, spotted seatrout commercial harvest in North Carolina was variable, ranging from 75,239 to 367,648 pounds, and averaged 228,523 pounds. During the same period, spotted seatrout recreational harvest ranged from 430,579 to 2,878,160 pounds, and averaged 1,653,305 pounds.

From 2009-2018, recreational landings comprised 77-95% of total annual landings, and commercial landings comprised between 0.5-23% of the total annual landings

REFERENCES: Ellis, T.A., J.E. Hightower, and J.A. Buckel. 2018. Relative importance of fishing and natural mortality for spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) estimated from a tag-return model and corroborated with survey data. Fisheries Research 199:81–93.

Loeffler, M.S., Paramore, L.M., Darsee, S.P., Mathes, T.M., Comer-Flowers, A.M., Stewart, C.B., Poland, S.J., Bauer, T.C., Markwith, A.L., and Scheffel, T.K. 2018. North Carolina multi-species tagging program. North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, Morehead City, NC. CRFL Grant 2F40 F017. 29 p.

North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (NCDMF). 2014. Stock Assessment of Spotted Seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus, in Virginia and North Carolina Waters. North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources. North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, Morehead City, NC. 142 pp.

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“All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.” (Psalms 25:10) It isn’t some, or half, or even 99.9% of them, but rather it is “ALL” of the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. Everything of the Lord is done in truth because it is impossible for God to lie (Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18). In Him there is, “no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17). God is truth.

Truth is a constant or it wouldn’t be the truth.

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:8) The constancy of God is so absolute that everything God says either is or becomes. In other words, there is no difference between what God says, in what God does, and in what is. Because of which, God is always true to all of His promises.

“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent (change): hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19) It is interesting that mercy and truth are put in context of a path in this Psalm.

Because the New Testament definition of sin is to, “wander from the path of uprightness and honor” (Thayer’s). The Old Testament definition is, “to stumble in the path of rectitude” (Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon).

In both cases, righteousness and salvation are expressed as a path. Since the Psalmist says all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, then to sin could also be defined as wandering away from the mercy and truth of the Lord.

Aren’t we glad that mercy and truth are God? How else could we be saved if we happen to wander? Mercy and truth “are” God in that God doesn’t possess mercy and truth as an attribute or as some part of a whole. God is mercy and is truth in the same way that God is love (1 John 4:8,16) and God is light (1 John 1:5).

I know it sounds like circular logic, but when we sin, we fall out of the path of God. Since all the paths of God are mercy and truth, then we fall away from mercy and truth. The only way we can return to the path of God is through the mercy and truth that is God! Mercy and truth are the attractant that keeps drawing us to the way (path), the truth, and the light.

Let’s expand our thinking and see where mercy and truth resides. Mercy and truth are in love. Mercy and truth are in faith. They are in joy, forgiveness, judgement, righteousness, forbearance, patience and temperance. In short, if it is of God, then you will find His mercy and truth in it.

Conversely, look at where mercy and truth cannot be found. Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness,

revellings, and more. All these things are works of the flesh and not of the spirit.

Mercy and truth can’t be found in them because you can’t find God in them. But, through the mercy and truth that is God, we can return to God’s holy way.

Mercy is a love, a kindness and leniency afforded to those who don’t deserve it. It is the love expressed as favor of God when wrath is due. Sometimes mercy is transliterated from the Bible into English more appropriately as the word, “lovingkindness”, as for example in Psalm 51.

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.” (Psalm 51:1). In this verse the Psalmist is asking for God’s mercy according to His mercy.

Grab ahold of just how important the loving kindness that is mercy, is to us all.

“Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name” (Psalm 63:3-4).

Wow! The Psalmist says that God’s mercy is better than life. In fact, there would be no life without the loving kindness mercy of God because, “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

No one deserves mercy and that’s exactly the point. The very nature and essence of God’s mercy is that the receiver of mercy doesn’t deserve it. This is why mercy from man can only come from a man of God for mercy requires man to rise above his carnal self.

Mercy isn’t weakness or permissiveness. It is strength expressed as love and kindness for the edification of another and the betterment of circumstance. Punishment to the extreme, no matter how just, simply terminates. It ends the story where it is at with no potential benefit to the convicted or possible improvement of the situation. For a man to be all punishment and no mercy can only come from the ungodly, for there is no mercy and truth in him. And because there is no God, no mercy, and no truth in this type of punishment, then the punishment itself is nothing but sin.

Mercy allows the repentant spirit and soul to live and flourish past the sin, past the condemnation and to influence others in mercy and truth as well! Punishment hinders, hurts, and sometimes kills that very loving kind spirit.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies” (Psalm 103:2-4) By: Bill Hitchcock

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28th Annual Gloucester, NC Mardi Gras 476 Pigott Road, Gloucester, NC 28528

Saturday, February 15, 2020 11 AM – 6 PM

Unknown Tongues will host the 28th annual Gloucester, NC Mardi Gras at the Community Club.

Preparations start the Friday night before with veggie chopping and a music jam. Mardi Gras opens at 11:00 Saturday morning with live music. Gumbo, deep fried turkey, and delicious side dishes are ready by early afternoon, announced by a Fool's Procession. Mask-making available for the kids! Costumes welcome! Unknown Tongues plays at 3:00, kicking the dance off with the children's King and Queen coronation, march, and bead toss. We are accepting gumbo donations (chicken, sausage, onions, garlic, etc.)! Email unknowntongues@gmail.com. This event is always FREE and OPEN to everybody.

Kids and instruments? Oui! Dogs? Non! Need more info?

Call Barbara or Bryan 252-729-8021.

Gloucester Mardi Gras is an Accidental Production.

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ATLANTIC SEAFOOD Wholesale Seafood Distributor Fresh & Frozen Hampstead, NC

910.270.3331 • 910.270.4411 20

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The North Carolina Fisheries Association’s Board Members and Staff would like to thank everyone who made donations to our 3rd Annual Maritime Angels Christmas charity program. We did things a little differently this year than our previous two years. With all of the devastation that Ocracoke faced last year due to Hurricane Dorian, we decided the proceeds could best be used there during their time of rebuilding and recovering. Just before Christmas, we gave all of the Maritime Angels proceeds to Ocracoke Working Waterman’s Association to distribute to commercial fishing families in need. Hardy Plyler and crew made sure that the children of Ocracoke’s commercial fishermen in need were given gift cards, and the rest of the money was distributed as they saw fit. All donations have been greatly appreciated and you can rest assured that your contribution has been given to those who need it most. We continue to pray for Ocracoke and all of the families who are still trying to recover.

Tradewinds is a bi-monthly publication owned and published by North Carolina FisheriesAssociation, Inc. (NCFA). The North Carolina Fisheries Association is a non-profit organization based on Families, Heritage, and Seafood.

Commercial fishermen established the North Carolina Fisheries Association, Inc. in 1952 to serve fishing families by protecting their heritage and promoting seafood.

Over six decades later, NCFA still believes the commercial fishing industry begins and ends with families – from those who harvest seafood to those who help supply the industries needs and to those who enjoy the harvest. We are committed to presenting an accurate portrait of the industry and the people who sustain it.

adewinds is a bi-monthly publication owned and published by North Carolina Fisheries

sociation, Inc.Ad(NCFA).

The North Carolina Fisheries Association is a non-profit organization Tradewinds Prices are as follows: ased onFullFamilies, Heritage, and Seafood.

Page: 8.62 X 11.25 $400.00 Half Vertical: 3.625 X 9.75 $250.00

Half Horizontal: 7.375 X 4.75 $250.00 ommercial fishermen established the North Carolina Fisheries Association, Inc. in 1952 to Quarter Page: 3.625 X 4.75 $150.00 rve fishing families by protecting their heritage and promoting seafood.

Eighth Page: 3.625 X 2.1875 $100.00

above rates are based per issue. For any additional information or to advertise, call 252-503-8302 or email: Aundrea@ncfish.org or Tradewinds@ncfish.org ver sixThe decades later, NCFA still believes the commercial fishing industry begins and ends with ~-Note: With Annual Prepaid Ad Commitment there is a 10% discount off the top (excludes Business Directory) **As a courtesy your ad will also be placed on NCFISH.ORG in a digital Tradewinds Flipbook**

milies – from those who harvest seafood to those who help supply the industries needs and north carolina fisheries association 21

those who enjoy the harvest. We are committed to presenting an accurate portrait of the

Photo by: Barbara Garrity-Blake

By: Jess Hawkins

M

ost North Carolinians realize that there are two agencies that deal with fishing in our state’s waters. One, the Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC), regulates hunting and freshwater fishing (Inland waters), while the other, the Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) sets restrictions on fishing in salt and brackish waters (Coastal waters). These agencies have divided their respective responsibilities for decades. However, most North Carolinians probably do not realize that the WRC has recently proposed new rules that will significantly change the measures put in place by the state to protect fisheries habitat and dramatically restrict the opportunity of commercial fishermen to harvest fish in waters currently designated as coastal.

In August 2019 the WRC voted to proceed forward with formal rules that would substantially change boundaries between Coastal and Inland waters that have been in place for over 50 years. The WRC relied on a salinity value (salt concentration in the water) of 2.6 parts per thousand (ppt) (freshwater by definition usually has 0.0ppt salinity). Using such standards would greatly expand the fishing waters controlled by the WRC. The action proposed and voted on by the WRC causes major economic, environmental, administrative, legal and scientific concerns.

First, the proposed expansion of Inland waters will have negative economic impact. Commercial fishermen are prohibited from using crab pots to catch and sell blue crabs from Inland waters. Fishermen and scientists recognize that male blue crabs (jimmies) prefer lower salinity waters and grow to larger sizes in those waters. The blue crab fishery is North Carolina’s most important commercial fishery. Much of the current coastal waters being proposed to be reset as Inland waters include large portions of Albemarle Sound’s tributaries and these areas have been traditionally used by crab fishermen for years. Albemarle Sound is one of the top blue crab producing areas in North Carolina.

The proposed expansion of Inland waters will have another negative economic impact in the coastal region. Fishermen are prohibited from using gill nets to take and sell finfish in Inland waters. Fish such as striped mullet, cat-

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fish (various species), and white perch spend much of their lives in the lower salinity areas of our rivers and sounds and support economically important gill net fisheries. Albemarle Sound and its tributaries are important areas for these fisheries and have been utilized for decades by fishermen to provide fish, as well as other waters, to consumers.

Second, the General Assembly, which created the two agencies, passed laws that require the WRC and MFC to agree on where the boundaries for inland and coastal waters are. The MFC has NOT agreed to the proposed new boundaries. In fact, the agency that provides scientific data to the MFC on fisheries conservation, the NC Division of Marine Fisheries, has serious concerns about the WRC’s proposed changes. The proposed rule, if passed by the WRC, possibly violates the General Assembly’s laws, since the MFC has not concurred with the boundaries and the WRC decided to proceed with rulemaking procedures without having MFC agreement. The Chief Deputy Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the lead stewardship agency in the Governor’s administration for the protection of North Carolina’s environmental resources, expressed concern that the WRC moved forward with the proposed boundaries with “little direct notice to the MFC or to DEQ”, further complicating the matter.

Third, and perhaps of concern to most North Carolinians is that the proposal boundary changes would remove waters critical to the state’s coastal fisheries from protection under coastal management, water quality and habitat conservation programs in North Carolina. These concerns are so substantial that the NC Coastal Resources Commission (CRC), who the General Assembly has empowered to protect fisheries habitat (such as Primary Nursery Areas), and manages coastal areas through the Coastal Area Management Act, has objected to the proposed boundary changes by the WRC. The CRC even took the extraordinary step to write the North Carolina Governor to express their concerns and opposition to the WRC’s actions.

The Deputy Secretary of NCDEQ also conveyed concerns to the WRC that

the proposed changes will likely degrade North Carolina water quality in the coastal area due to removing stormwater runoff protection measures. Stormwater runoff is known to contribute heavily to increases in fecal coliform levels, which impact use of waters for recreation. Stormwater protection measures are tied to existing uses of the waters, such as commercial fishing, and also to CRC designations as Areas of Environmental Concern. If Coastal waters are reclassified as Inland waters, those protections could be jeopardized.

Fourth, several years ago our legislative leaders passed the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) and passed regulatory reform measures to “improve and streamline the regulatory process to stimulate job creation, to eliminate unnecessary regulation…” As part of the Act and other regulatory reform steps, rule-making agencies such as the MFC and WRC must review rules at least once every 10 years. If a rule is not reviewed it will expire. The APA and regulatory reform statutes requires the rules to be reviewed by a separate Rules Commission and by a Legislative Review Committee before it can go in effect again to examine redundancy and economic impacts.

The boundaries of Inland and Coastal waters are ONLY found in the MFC rulebook. The WRC references the MFC rules for their listings and incorporates the specific descriptions of boundaries by referencing the MFC rule.

The two government agencies have essentially the same rules to describe their respective geographical jurisdictions, just using different administrative references. The MFC completed their statutory required 10-year review of the set of rules involving Coastal/Inland waters boundaries in 2018. The MFC classified the boundary and jurisdiction rule set as necessary without substantive public interest and decided they should remain in effect unchanged. The Rules Commission and Legislative Review Committee approved the MFC’s rule-making reports as required by law.

In 2019 the WRC claimed that they must undertake a review and substantive modification of their Inland/Coastal boundary rules to comply with the required 10-year review of the APA and that the rules needed to be part of their 2020 rule cycle to meet the legislatively-mandated time line. This determination was made even though the MFC had completed their review of the set of boundary/jurisdiction rules in 2018, no comments were provided by the WRC during the MFC rule review and no public comment had been received under the MFC review process.

A major issue for the public and our legislative leaders is that two state agencies required to operate under the APA, passed as part of regulatory reform by our elected officials, have followed two disparate actions on essentially the same rules. The APA specifically states in subsection d) “Each agency shall determine whether its policies and programs overlap with the policies and programs of another agency. In the event two or more agencies’ policies and programs overlap, the agencies shall coordinate the rules adopted by each agency to avoid unnecessary, unduly burdensome, or inconsistent rules.” Clearly the intent of the APA was not followed and the APA was possibly violated by the WRC action.

A fifth major issue is that a level of 2.6ppt salinity used by the WRC does not reflect the most generally accepted scientific standards for definitions of estuaries (part of coastal waters) and appears to conflict with laws passed by the General Assembly. Our legislature has defined coastal fishing waters (under the MFC jurisdiction) as “the Atlantic Ocean; various coastal sounds; and estuarine waters up to the dividing line between coastal and inland waters as agreed upon by the WRC/MFC.” Most scientific definitions state estuaries are semi-enclosed water bodies where fresh and salt water mix and eventually open to the sea; most also state that they contain brackish waters, which are usually classified as those waters with salinities greater than 0.5ppt salinity.

Most scientists agree that even waters with 0ppt salinity, but are influenced by lunar tides are considered estuarine waters.

Using a standard of 2.6ppt salinity would remove substantial proportions of estuarine waters from the MFC and transfer such waters to the WRC. The General Assembly has clearly stated in G.S. 113-132 and other laws that the MFC has jurisdiction over the conservation of marine and estuarine resources in NC, not the WRC. The proposed action by the WRC appears to violate the intent of our legislative leaders.

The WRC have stated that using an absolute 2.6 ppt salinity standard is an objective science-based approach for determining boundaries where freshwater fish are most abundant. There are other scientifically based and perhaps more appropriate, indicators that could be used if state agencies desired to modify the boundaries between Inland/Coastal fishing waters. In joint meetings with the WRC/MFC, the Division of Marine Fisheries suggested several other techniques. Fish species composition within various salinity ranges,

fisheries characterization studies, salinity change rates or variations and lower Photo Courtesy of Endurance Seafood salinity values that better reflect scientific literature are a few of the techniques that could be used.

Another issue in using the 2.6ppt absolute value in salinity to characterize fresh/coastal waters’ boundaries is that the value was based on studies performed in Chesapeake Bay. All objective scientists recognize substantial differences exist between Chesapeake Bay and the Albemarle/Pamlico Sound estuaries, where most of the proposed boundary changes are being suggested. One of the major differences is that Chesapeake Bay is tidally driven, experiencing two high and two low lunar tides per day. The Bay, with its large opening to the Atlantic Ocean and deep channels, is characterized by saltwater (coastal water) being driven much further into the estuaries.

North Carolina has a unique barrier to the ocean, known as the Outer Banks, which substantially buffers much of our coastal waters from daily tidal influence. Pamlico/Albemarle Sounds are more heavily influenced by wind moving coastal (brackish) waters into inland (freshwater) areas and water flow from upstream sources.

It is clear and true that the WRC proposal to change the boundaries of Coastal/Inland waters using a 2.6ppt salinity value leads to significant environmental, economic, scientific, legal, and administrative issues. Citizens and leaders of North Carolina should be concerned about this proposal. The concerns are so substantial that they led the Deputy Secretary of NCDEQ, the leading environmental agency in North Carolina government, to state that the WRC’s proposal’s “consequences to the environment are simply not acceptable.” His statements could not be clearer or more concise. Let’s hope our Governor, who has the authority to address the action by the WRC, and our General Assembly members also agree.

Jess Hawkins has a Master of Science in Biology. He was a former Chief of Fisheries Management with the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries. He is currently an instructor with the Duke Marine Laboratory and North Carolina State University CMAST Laboratory teaching Marine Fisheries Ecology

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A MAN OR

A MINDSET?

TRED BARTA KNOWS NO LIMITS.

Most commercial gillnet, seine, trawl, and trap pot fisheries are listed as either category I or II fisheries under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (fishery categorizations are available at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/listfisheries-2019). Under the Marine Mammal Authorization Program, all category I or II commercial fishing vessels operating in state or federal waters are authorized to incidentally injure or kill a marine mammal during the course of their commercial fishing practices. However, they must carry onboard their vessel a Marine Mammal Authorization Certificate and report all fishing-related marine mammal

injuries or deaths within 48 hours of returning to port. A copy of the certificate and reporting form are available at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammalprotection/marine-mammal-authorization-program.

In addition, as a Category I or II fishery, fishing vessels are required to carry a fishery observer if selected by NOAA fisheries. For more information, please call the Marine Mammal Authorization Hotline at 727-209-5952 or visit https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammalprotection/marine-mammal-authorization-program.

NCFA ANNUAL MEETING WILL BE HELD FEBRUARY 17 10 AM- 2:00 PM

1800 VILLAGE POINT ROAD SW SHALLOTTE, NC 28470 IT’S IMPORTANT THAT ALL MEMBERS TRY TO ATTEND OR ASSIGN PROXIES TO ATTENDING MEMBERS, AS IT TAKES A MINIMUM OF 50, EITHER IN ATTENDANCE OR BY PROXY, TO CONDUCT BUSINESS. THIS IS THE ONE AND ONLY MEETING A YEAR WHERE ALL MEMBERS INCLUDING HALF PERCENTERS, CAN VOTE ON ISSUES AND GIVE DIRECTION FOR THE ORGANIZATION. EMAIL PROXIES TO: NIKKI@NCFISH.ORG or Fax to: 252-726-6200

We will have a "Member Meet & Greet" on February 16, 2020 @ Inlet View Bar & Grill from 4PM-7PM. north carolina fisheries association 25

Susan and Rob West live deep in Buxton Woods, where deer wander through the thicket and sedge, frogs sing from a freshwater pond and – if the wind is right – one can hear the crashing of waves from Cape Hatteras seashore. In the wintertime when foliage is Susan and Rob West (with their pup Lydia) sparse, a sweep of light from the spiral-painted tower even finds its way through the pines.

From this point of solitude, Susan West has had her finger on the pulse of the commercial fishing industry for thirty years, even though she’s never donned oilskins or hauled a net.

“I’m a wuss and I get seasick,” she quipped. Her husband Rob, on the other hand, is up before dawn to board the Lucy B to ply Atlantic waters for Spanish mackerel. Rob came to the Outer Banks from Long Island and Susan from Maryland in the 1970s, and they met on Hatteras.

“I was a waitress at the Sea Shell Restaurant in Hatteras Village, and Rob was a cook,” Susan explained in a 2014 Coastal Voices interview.

“I used hang my order in the kitchen, and bat my eyelashes and flirt with him.”

The couple settled in a low-lying neighborhood in Hatteras called Sticky Bottom and Rob took up commercial fishing, first hiring on as a mate and eventually buying a shad boat to fish pound nets in Pamlico Sound.

In 1992, anti-commercial fishing rumblings could be heard all the way to Hatteras. In response, women up and down the coast were organizing as auxiliaries to the North Carolina Fisheries Association, the state’s largest trade organization for the seafood industry.

“Some of the fishermen from Hatteras had gone to a meeting in Morehead City,” Susan recalled. “Rob came back and said, ‘You know, there were women who spoke at that meeting that are starting a women’s auxiliary.’ And I thought, hmm, we need something like that around here 26

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because we didn’t have good access to news about fisheries issues.”

Susan sat in her living room and wrote down a list of wives, mothers and sisters of commercial fishermen and started calling them to gauge their interest.

“A group of us from Hatteras and Ocracoke pulled together an auxiliary,” Susan said. The Hatteras-Ocracoke group joined a network that included the Carteret and Pamlico Auxiliaries.

“I think the Association was hoping the women would focus on bake sales and benefits to make money for the organization,” Susan laughed.

“But some of us were more interested in learning about the issues and advocating solutions for those problems.”

The women wrote position papers on a variety of regulatory proposals, outlining concerns, impacts, and recommendations. They attended meetings, and even piled into vehicles to carpool to Raleigh.

“In the early years, commercial fishing was sort of a man’s domain,” Susan said. “So, to have women walk in and speak attracted a lot of attention.”

The auxiliaries did some fundraising and public relations activities; the Hatteras-Ocracoke Auxiliary took part in Beach Sweep efforts, partnering with the school and focusing on cleaning up debris in Pamlico Sound.

But their main focus was representing the voice of fishermen in the public policy arena: working watermen who were hard-pressed to tie their vessels to the dock and attend meetings, call representatives, and craft statements to be read in Raleigh, Wilmington, or New Bern.

“Even though the auxiliary was run by women and our officers were all women, it really was an organization for the fishermen. They attended our meetings locally, and so did people outside of the industry who we invited such as fisheries managers and elected officials.”

Women learned the importance of coordinating their efforts across the region and speaking as one, even when the issue du jour didn’t necessarily pertain to their specific community.

“The first issue that brought us together wasn’t even going to impact fishermen on Hatteras Island or Ocracoke,” Susan said. “It had to do with shrimp trawling. But we looked at what was happening to that sec-

tor of the industry and realized we needed to keep on top of things.”

The auxiliaries communicated with each other, and festooned houses and boats with blue ribbons and flags, a symbol for commercial fishing solidarity.

Susan stressed that although members of the auxiliaries were naïve in thinking “truth would prevail” in the world of fish politics, the women did have an impact.

“We did a pretty good job,” she reflected. “Our auxiliary worked really, really well for about ten years. Then it kind of burned out. We all got tired. There weren’t any younger women coming in because there weren’t a whole lot of younger men entering the industry.”

Although the auxiliary system ran its course by the early 2000s, women stayed active in fisheries policy, serving on boards, commissions, and newly formed organizations.

Susan West has served on the Legislative Commission for Seafood and Aquaculture, the Moratorium Steering Committee that gave rise to the 1997 Fisheries Reform Act, and the board of NC Catch to name a few. She and this author wrote Fish House Opera about the plight of commercial fishermen in North Carolina, and today share fisheries-related stories on their blog Raising the Story (www.raisingthestory.com).

Even today, almost 30 years after the auxiliary days, Susan stays proactive. Fisheries conflicts and regulatory issues have only increased, so Susan took steps to bring back an organization that represented Hatteras Island fishermen. Not the auxiliary, but the Dare County Committee for Working Watermen, an advisory committee to the Board of Commissioners.

“This was a vibrant committee, then it fizzled,” said Susan. “I didn’t understand why it petered out, so last year I made the request to the commissioners that they revive it -- especially at this critical period of time. They went with my idea which was really cool!”

Why is this a critical time in the world of fisheries? Watermen face issues that were not on the radar thirty years ago, such as changing migratory patterns of fish due to warming waters and a slow-to-change management system that can barely keep up.

The Spanish mackerel fishery, for example, that Susan’s husband Rob fishes for, is managed by the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council, in charge of federal fisheries from Key West, Florida through North Carolina. Yet Spanish mackerel is trending more and more to the north. In 2015 the South Atlantic Council split the Atlantic Ocean commercial quota, allocating 20 % of Spanish mackerel to the “northern zone” (North Carolina through New York) and 80% to the “southern zone” (South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida).

“Spanish mackerel fishermen from Dare and Hyde Counties were worried that their quota was low and was getting met earlier than usual for the past three years,” Susan explained. “Plus they wanted to know why fishermen in other states kept right on mackerel fishing after the federal quota was met.”

To help fishermen get answers as to why they were getting the short end of the stick, she organized a meeting in Hatteras Village where state managers could hear their concerns and share information. “Then Hurricane Dorian hit! But Steve Poland and Randy Gregory from the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries made the trip anyway in the wake of the storm. They were very patient, and it was a good meeting.”

quota is met. This is because the mackerel fishery, which is healthy and not overfished, can continue to be be legally harvested according to a 500-pound bycatch allowance per vessel per day, a fact that eluded North Carolina fishermen and fisheries managers.

The North Carolina Fisheries Association urged state lawmakers to re-open the fishery which was indeed been closed once the northern quota was met. In a rare victory, Tarheel fishermen won a 500-pound daily limit of Spanish mackerel, giving them a much needed source of income in the weeks following the hurricane.

“I think the lesson here is that fishermen have to pay attention, stay involved, and they can’t assume that managers will know all the minute details,” said Susan West. With layers of management entities, confusion can reign – even for managers. “That’s why it’s key for fishermen to stay on top of things, because who’s watching the store?”

“The Spanish mackerel case also shows the benefit of fishermen having a good network of communication,” Susan added. “Not just with each other, but with the people managing their fishery, key players, and people up and down the coast – they don’t need to be timid in reaching out to scientists and policymakers with their observations and input.”

A newspaper article written twenty years ago about Susan West and the Hatteras-Ocracoke Auxiliary was headlined with her quote, “You can’t just go fishing.”

“Today? Same message!” she laughed.

Such hard-won lessons will be shared by Susan West and others at the 2020 Fish Camp, the North Carolina Sea Grant-sponsored workshop for young commercial fishermen designed to build leadership and communication skills.

“Looking back to the early days of the auxiliaries, that’s where it all started for me,” Susan reflected. “It was an exciting time - I really liked that atmosphere of women, researching issues and developing responses, going to meetings, and presenting information.”

The irony of living in a tucked-away, remote Outer Banks neighborhood while advocating for networking, communication, and political engagement to fishermen is not lost on Susan West.

“I grew up in a very political family and one of the reasons why I liked Hatteras Island so much was because it was removed from Washington and you weren’t listening to the news every night,” Susan said. “It’s sort of strange that I came around to being involved politically.”

What does she find rewarding that has kept her involved in fish politics for thirty years?

“We are still here!” Susan emphasized. “I remember starting off in the early 1990s, people said, ‘Oh, it’s over. Commercial fishing is over.’

Well, granted it’s not the same industry, but people are still fishing.

There’s still a demand for North Carolina seafood.”

Barbara Garrity-Blake RTS Works www.raisingthestory.com P.O. Box 91 Gloucester, NC 28528 (252)342-8028

Susan also encouraged Dare and Hyde County fishermen to attend a South Atlantic Council meeting in Charleston the very next week. Four men hit the road for South Carolina, only to find out that that fishermen aren’t prohibited from fishing for Spanish mackerel once the federal north carolina fisheries association 27

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C

ore Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center is already celebrating the new year with plans for REOPENING in April! After months of clean-up, fund-raising, repairing and rebuilding, we are GOING HOME soon. Please SAVE THESE DATES and make plans to join us “at the end of the road” this spring!

Sat, Feb 29: Waterfowl Program at 806: “Beginning Decoy Collecting”

• Special Guest Speaker: Robbie Smith, NC Decoy

Collectors Association

• Coffee and pastries at 10 am, Talk at 10:30

• Core Sound Museum at 806 Arendell St, Downtown

April 3: VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION DINNER

Time to visit beginning 5:30, dinner at 6; recognitions, awards, entertainment New volunteers welcome!

April 4: 6th Annual Core Sound Family Fun Run

9 am ~ Shell Point; “best family run anywhere around!”

April 14: All Down East Community Night – The Next Generation

Supper at 6, Program at 7; Kick-off for community night series w/ Rodney April 18: CORE SOUND Heritage Day: We’re HOME!

• Museum Gallery Tours; Vendors – Arts & crafts; Children’s Family Fun Area

• Demonstrations: decoy carving, boatbuilding, net-hanging

• Family-Fun Day for all the kids; Programs on decoy history, storytelling

• Music – Molasses Creek and others!

Fresh local seafood, desserts April 24: Down East Earth Day

Field trips for area elementary and middle schools and homeschoolers April 25: Portsmouth Homecoming www.friendsofportsmouthisland.org

Fri, Feb 28: Winter Taste at Sammy’s Southern Salt

• $75/person, limited to 200, firm.

• Tickets on sale now. Evening begins at 6. Silent auction, • waterfowl video, live music, decoy display

north carolina fisheries association 29

M U R R AY

L.

N O X I N ERY FISH

INC.

1141 Nixon Fishery Road Edenton, North Carolina 27932 HACCP CERTIFIED www.nixonfishery.com 1-800-672-4756 • Fax: 252-221-4118 Phone: 252-221-4115

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I had an opportunity to speak at the Sea-Grant sponsored Fish Camp, this week. The Fish Camp program is designed to provide new Commercial Fisherman with the tools and information they need to run a successful business. The folks running it were very professional and the facility (Trinity Center, Salter Path) was the perfect venue. And it was free for Fishermen, thanks to Sea-Grant. It was encouraging to see so many young faces, and female Fisher-women being well represented. I was on the agenda to speak for an hour on the last day. But if invited back, I would ask to listen in on the entire program, it’s that interesting.

My part was to discuss the CFVS Exam program. I distributed booklets with information about all the safety requirements along with contacts and pointers to a few informational websites.

The following are a few of the key points.

The requirements vary based on several factors like; boat size, where and when you’re fishing, etc… There is a very good checklist generator here: www.fishsafewest.info/checklist.html For more information and to schedule an exam, contact one of the three Coast Guard CFVS program coordinators.

Ø Barry Everhart, Atlantic Beach, NC 252-247-4526 Barry.D.Everhart@uscg.mil

Ø Rick Hawkins, Wilmington, NC 910-772-2234 Rick.Hawkins@uscg.mil Ø Bruce Morris, Nags Head, NC 252-441-0300 x-111 Bruce.W.Morris@uscg.mil

The dock side exam is mandatory if commercially fishing 3nm or greater off-shore. It is free, no penalties for failing and when passed, a 2yr decal is issued.

Stay safe and Return….

- Phil Amanna, Coast Guard Auxiliary - Barry Everhardt, Coast Guard CIV, CFVS

NOAA Observers require a valid decal, no matter if you’re off-shore or inland fishing. The message for inland fisherman, don’t wait for a NOAA observer to call. Go ahead and schedule your exam.

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BWFA continues to work within the regulatory process in order to revitalize our US Pelagic Long Line (PLL) Industry. This past August, BWFA submitted public comment on 3 separate National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) regulatory actions.

1 Amendment 13 which deals with issues not able to be resolved during the Amendment 7 “Three Year Review”. This includes the resetting of the PLL Industry Bluefin, Tuna -Individual Bluefin Quota (BFT-IBQ) yearly allocation.

2) Issues and options for research and data collection in closed and gear restricted areas in support of Spatial Fisheries Management. This research and data collection are essential if we are to ever regain access to areas which have significantly hindered our PLL industry’s ability to fully utilize this country’s US Swordfish International Commission for the conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) Allocation.

3) Amendment 14, which plans to make changes which will affect this country’s shark fisheries.

In September, BWFA submitted public comment on the ”Bluefin Tuna Area-Based and Weak Hook Management Measures” proposed rule. This, along with a supplemental comment identifying an area in the Gulf of Mexico which our most current active vessels identified to us as being of greatest significance.

In October, BWFA Legislature consultant Glen Delaney led our BWFA ICCAT Advisory Committee (IAC) team at the IAC meetings which included Dewey Hemilright, Alan Weis and Jason Bahr. BWFA’s participation is essential at the (IAC) meetings as we look to establish US Fishing policy and positions for the upcoming ICCAT meetings in November.

As for a PLL fishing update, I am happy to report that over the last quarter the fishing has been generally good to outstanding for most of our fleet.

-Martin Scanlon BWFA President

north carolina fisheries association 33

A

t AMSEA, we stress the importance of taking a

previously trained as Drill Conductors. The second group

Fishing Vessel Drill Conductor (DC) class and

consisted of fishermen not previously trained. The latter

conducting monthly drills of your boat’s emergency

group was provided training early in 2007 in just four of the

procedures. The idea behind this is that training and regular

survival skills taught in DC courses, including exercises with

drills will keep your crew familiar with your boat’s survival

immersion suits, radio usage, and cold-water survival skills.

gear and how and when to use it. That makes sense on the

Both groups were tested on skills retention one month and

face of it, but how effective are training and drills in actual

three months after their training.

practice? Once you have attended a DC class, will you need to take it again at a future date?

Each group had at least 30 men and women and included fishermen from vessels 32 to 58 feet in size. Participants

We tackled those questions in 2007, when AMSEA worked

were primarily from Sitka, Alaska and Seattle, Washington.

with the University of Washington’s Pacific Northwest Agri-

Most of the participants fished in the commercial troll salmon

cultural Safety & Health (PNASH) department to study how

and longline halibut and sablefish fisheries. However, many

long skills taught in AMSEA Fishing Vessel Drill Conductor

participants had fished in other fisheries and in various parts

classes are retained. The survey also looked at how and if

of Alaska.

safety drills are conducted on commercial fishing vessels.

Two groups of commercial fishermen were chosen to participate. One group consisted of commercial fishermen 34

www.ncfish.org

RATE OF SKILLS DECAY Survival skills performance decreased from 100% to 86%

in just one month. Skill loss, however, remained fairly un-

96.7% of both groups interviewed felt that refresher train-

changed out to three months. This highlights the need to

ing would be useful for Drill Conductors. 90.5% of all fisher-

do monthly drills. Fishermen who were trained years ago

men interviewed recommended that refresher training take

scored only 71%. This indicates that not conducting drills on

place from one to five years from date of initial training.

a regular basis contributes to the decay of skills.

OBSTACLES TO CONDUCTING DRILLS The biggest obstacle to conducting drills, reported by 37.5% of previously untrained fishermen and 25.8% of those

SKILLS KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT DC TRAINING The average pre-training test score of fishermen who had not previously received Drill Conductor training was only 64%.

previously trained, was “master or captain doesn’t enforce

Our 2007 survey was the first time that the retention of

it”. “Crew too busy” was reported as a major problem by

skills taught in Drill Conductor classes and the effect of that

37.5% of untrained fishermen, but only 6.5% of trained fish-

training had been studied. The findings bear out the impor-

ermen. This perhaps demonstrates that fishermen trained

tance of initial training in emergency procedures, conducting

to conduct drills are more likely to recognize than untrained

thorough monthly drills of emergency procedures, and the

crew, that emergency drills do not actually take up that much

importance of Drill Conductor refresher training.

of a crews’ time.

EFFECT OF AGE ON SKILLS RETENTION The study demonstrated a moderate negative correlation between age of subject and retention. As age increases, retention decreases a bit.

FREQUENCY OF CONDUCTED EMERGENCY DRILLS Fishermen who had been previously trained as Drill Conductors were more likely to participate in emergency drills, at least once in the season than those that had not been previously trained (71.1% versus 40.7%). However, only two people from each group reported conducting drills monthly as required.

It appears that fishermen who complete Drill Conductor training are more likely to conduct drills at some point in the season and with more frequency than untrained fishermen, but it made no difference in compliance with conducting the drills on a monthly basis as required by the USCG.

REFRESHER TRAINING FOR DRILL CONDUCTORS north carolina fisheries association 35

Get involved Become a member in your community CONTACT : North Carolina For-Hire Captain’s Association President: Ryan Williams 910-263-3097 Albemarle Fisherman’s Association Terry Pratt 252-339-7431 Pamlico County Fisherman’s Association Wayne Dunbar Hwd0123@gmail.com 252-670-7467 Oz Hudgins Home: 252-745-7424 Mobile: 252-571-2002 Carteret County Fisherman’s Association Bradley Styron qualityseafood@clis.com Office: 252-225-0073 Mobile: 252-342-8821 Brunswick County Fishermen’s Association Randy Robinson fishmancsx@gmail.com 910-209-3463 Ocracoke Working Waterman’s Association Hardy Plyler hplyler@gmail.com 252-588-0512

36

www.ncfish.org

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council News Release

Federal Fishery Managers Approve Measures for Red Snapper, Mackerel, Blueline Tilefish Council addresses red snapper season requirements, mackerel trip limits, tilefish catch limit increase December 6, 2019 Members of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Coun-

cil met this week in Wilmington, North Carolina and approved management measures, that if approved by the Secretary of Commerce, will provide flexibility for red snapper seasons, increase trip limits for the commercial king mackerel fishery, and allow additional harvest of blueline tilefish.

Each year, NOAA Fisheries determines if a season for red snapper can occur in federal waters in the South Atlantic. Under current regulations, if the number of days is less than three, the fishery will not open. This applies to both recreational and commercial sectors. The Council approved Regulatory Amendment 33 to the Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan for formal review by the Secretary of Commerce that would eliminate that requirement, providing more flexibility should a shortened season be allowed. After much discussion, the Council decided not to move forward with an action to change the opening date of the commercial red snapper season within the regulatory amendment.

While Council members are well-aware that fishermen are anxious to have additional days added to the red snapper season as the stock continues to rebuild, the Council must abide by annual catch limits until a stock assessment is completed.

The Council has approved measures that will help shorten the time required for a new red snapper stock assessment through the Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) stock assessment program. The new assessment is scheduled to begin in 2021

Mackerel The Council also approved measures to increase the commercial king mackerel trip limit in the Atlantic Southern Zone, south of the Flagler/Volusia County line in Florida during season two. Framework Amendment 8 to the Coastal Migratory Pelagic Fishery Management Plan would set the trip limit at 100 fish throughout season two, with no step-up during the month of February. Earlier this year, the Council requested NOAA Fisheries increase the trip limit from 50-fish to 75-fish after hearing concerns from fishermen that they were not able to harvest the full commercial annual catch limit due to the more restrictive trip limits. The 75-fish increase was approved

by NOAA Fisheries through emergency rule for the 2019/2020 season beginning October 1st. The Council’s intent is to have the new regulations in place for the 2020/2021 season.

Measures for the Spanish mackerel commercial fishery were also discussed. The Council is considering reducing the current trip limit of 3,500 pounds in the Northern Zone (NC/SC line through NY) to help extend the season, with alternatives ranging from 1,500 to 2,500 pounds and a preferred trip limit of 2,000 pounds. Public hearings will be held via webinar in late January or early February.

Blueline Tilefish The most recent stock assessment for blueline tilefish was conducted in 2017 as a joint assessment between the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The deep water fishery primarily occurs in the South Atlantic, but landings have increased north of North Carolina. Following the stock assessment, the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee provided recommendations for catch level increases. The Council considered options for implementing the increases and moved forward with final approval of Abbreviated Framework Amendment 3 during its meeting this week. If approved by the Secretary of Commerce, the amendment will increase the annual catch limit for blueline tilefish from 174,798 pounds (whole weight) to 233,968 pounds (whole weight).

Additional information about the December Council meeting, including an interactive story map, committee reports, and summary motions is available from the Council’s website at: https://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/council-meetings/. The next meeting of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is scheduled for March 2-6, 2020 in Jekyll Island, GA. Media Contact:

Kim Iverson Public Information Officer 843-571-4366 kim.iverson@safmc.net

north carolina fisheries association 37

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“ ĚĚŝĞ Ž” tŚĞĂƚůLJ͕ WĂƌƚŶĞƌ ϮϱϮͲϳϮϵͲϮϵϮϭ E Ϯϴϱϭϲ

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ϮϱϮͲϳϮϵͲϮϵϮϭ ϳϲϬ ,ǁLJ ϳϬ ͕ KƚǁĂLJ ĞĂƵĨŽƌƚ͕ ϳϲϬ ,ǁLJ ϳϬ ͕ KƚǁĂLJ ĞĂƵĨŽƌƚ͕ ĚĚŝĞ tŚĞĂƚůLJ͕ WĂƌƚŶĞƌ ϮϱϮͲϳϮϵͲϮϭϵϭ

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ϮϱϮͲϳϮϵͲϮϭϵϭ

:ƵƐƚ ŐŝǀĞ ƵƐ Ă ĐĂůů͊

38

www.ncfish.org

EŽ ƋƵĂŶƚŝƚLJ ƚŽ Ž /' Žƌ ƚŽŽ ^D >>͕

:ƵƐƚ ŐŝǀĞ ƵƐ Ă ĐĂůů͊

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NORTH CAROLINA FISHERIES ASSOCIATION, INC. P.O. Box 86 101 N. 5th Street, Morehead City, NC 28557 www.ncfish.org 252.726.NCFA (6232)

E & D D Z^,/W WW>/ d/KE

If you enjoy fresh North Carolina seafood and you support the hardworking fishing families that put it on the plate, become a member today!

D D Z /E&KZD d/KE Name: Mailing Address: City, State, Zip: Email: Primary Phone: Other Phone: Website:

KDD Z / > D D Z^,/W d 'KZ/ ^ Commercial Fisherman Dealers, Packers & Processors

Receive Tradewinds and Weekly Updates with your membership.

$25

a. $1,0000,000 or more

$1250

b. $500,000 - $999,999

$750

c. Up to $499,999

$500

Half Percent Contributor - ½ % of Gross Stock of Catch

☐

Half-percent contributors pay dues based on gross stock of their catch allowing fishermen to pay dues based on a small percentage of their profit. For example, for $1,000 in stock you would pay $5. Participating fish houses deduct the ½%, match it and send it to NCFA. Fishermen and boat owners may contribute a ½% dues without a matching contribution and fish houses may contribute with only a few fishermen.

^^K / d D D Z^,/W d 'KZ/ ^ Individual

Receive Tradewinds with your membership and Weekly Updates via email.

$25

Business Sponsor

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Thank you for joining the North Carolina Fisheries Association! north carolina fisheries association 39