Outer Banks shrimpers anxiously await fate of trawling ban in NC House
Outer Banks commercial shrimpers will be waiting until next week to learn the fate of a bill in the North Carolina House of Representatives that could potentially destroy their business. An amendment inserted unexpectedly into HB 442 last week set off a firestorm in coastal communities that harvest the majority of the state’s wild-caught shrimp. The new language, added to what was originally a bill focused on expanding recreational fishing access to flounder and red snapper, calls for a ban on shrimp trawling in all of North Carolina’s inland waters and within a half mile of the Atlantic Ocean shoreline. “You’d be wiping out almost a whole industry,” said Steve House, chairman of the Dare County Commission for Working Watermen, which met in a special meeting on Thursday June 19 to discuss the bill. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:02
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