Letters To The Editor – What’s The Gamefish Status
Dear Editor,
North Carolina finally has a chance to parallel with other states in regards to bringing about responsible management of our marine resources. Several events within the last number of months have culminated into a perfect storm of demand for reform of the way we manage our fisheries. From two massive striped bass kills at the hands of commercial trawlers, to a willful negligence to follow state law in the MFC asking for an exemption of spotted sea trout from a law passed last year to end overfishing and ensure sustainability, to the closure of harvest for spotted sea trout for recreational fishermen while allowing commercials to continue harvesting, these instances have broken a previous trend of indifference and apathy, and awakened a sleeping giant.
With the introduction of the gamefish bill in the NC General Assembly (H-353), we finally have a chance to make these species a viable recreational fishery, as well as give the coastal communities an economic stimulus in developing tourism around a world class fishery.
Proper management for these three primarily recreational species begins when you take the bounty off of their heads. Two of these species (red drum and spotted sea trout) are supposed to be “profit by accident,” meaning bycatch. According to DMF statistics, all three of these fish make up less than 2% of the total harvested seafood in NC. There is a compensation measure in this bill to help commercial fishermen for three years, if they can prove losses in income.
One misconception is that recreational fishermen, who either fish on piers or hire a guide, won’t be able to keep legal recreational creel limits of gamefish. This is not true. Every spring, recreational fishermen flock to the Roanoke River near Weldon, and many hire guides to take them fishing for striped bass, which happens to already have gamefish status in inland waters. These fishermen can keep legal creel limits of striped bass until the harvest is closed for everyone at the end of April for spawning.
It’s time for North Carolina to begin conserving our marine resources. We cannot continue to sell these three species to other states for pennies on the dollar, while they protect their own. We can and must do better. Gamefish designation is the way to go in accomplishing this. The next battle will be to eliminate redundancy and jurisdictional blurs by eliminating the MFC by merging its responsibilities under the Wildlife Resources Commission. Like other states, NC needs all wildlife management under one central agency.
Alton Raynor
President
Cape Fear Chapter of CCA-NC
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