Local restaurant owners upset about North Carolina Wildlife Federation shrimping petition
The North Carolina Wildlife Federation brought forward a petition to protect juvenile fish, but many are arguing it puts their livelihood at risk. The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission voted to approve a petition that would regulate where, how and when shrimpers could work. The final verdict has made a lot of people in the business upset. Fulcher Seafood in Oriental employees more than 200 people. Christina Fulcher-Cahoon said the new restrictions would jeopardize their large employee base and the seafood industry completely. While the petition was approved, this is merely the first approval. It must go through several steps before it is actually enforced. There is a chance the petition will not make it through all of these steps and will never go into affect. Video, read the rest here 14:11
“Hundreds of millions of Finfish Killed, what a lie.”……..
This may have happened nationwide back up until the TEDS, and Fish Excluder’s were implemented. The drags are so clean now that it’s unreal to me. They pick out a few fish, and I mean just a few fish and shovel up the catch. Before the Turtle and Fish excluder’s we used to catch a lot of trash fish. Hardly any trout, hardly any bass, some Flounder, some Whiting, a few Mullet, a lot of Spots, and Croaker.
Please leave these people alone, they have been to hell and back trying to make a living over the last 25 years, and they are just beginning to be able to make a profit and keep their boats up.
They have complied with regulations requiring the alterations to their gear to minimize the impacts upon the ecosystem. They have suffered the pitfalls associated with the implementation of the mandated gear. They have tuned and modified the gear with the approval of the NMFS, so that they can improve production while still eliminating by-catch.
They have suffered massive reductions in the price that they can get for their catch, because of unregulated imported shrimp from some of the most horrific shrimp farms abroad. Many have been forced into financial ruin as a result of the negative economic impacts on their industry. After all that they have been through, you want to restrict their ability to have access to the fishing grounds that provide the means for their lively hood.
To be a Commercial Fisherman takes a special breed of human being, it is a lifestyle. It is an occupation that a man can love for his whole life. It’s not a job that these guys do just because they like the money. It can be lucrative at times, and it can be the most miserable job on earth. The long and short of it is, there are simply better ways to make a living. That being said, I think that every person is born to be something in their life, something that they can enjoy doing while providing a means for their existence.
Please do the right thing and leave these people alone, locking them out of their fishing grounds is not going to make any change in the ecosystem. The only thing that the government is going to accomplish here is to hurt a lot of good people.
Written by a Former Commercial Fisherman.
Former Tug Boat Captain.