Recreational license gets backing from committee

April 8, 2004

 

By Patricia Smith, Jacksonville Daily News

 

Jacksonville, North Carolina

 

psmith@jdnews.com or 252-808-2275

New Bern Sun Journal

 

New Bern, North Carolina

 

http://www.newbernsunjournal.com

 

To submit a Letter to the Editor: peter_williams@link.freedom.com (New Bern) and editor@jdnews.com (Jacksonville)

Raleigh, North Carolina - A proposal to create a recreational shellfish license got a nod Wednesday from the N.C. Joint Legislative Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture.

Under the plan, those who are allowed to harvest limited amounts of oysters, scallops, clams, conchs and mussels without a license would have to purchase a $10-per-year license beginning July 1, 2005.

"The intent is not to stop them; the intent is to gather data," said Mike Marshall, central district manager for the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries.

The Oyster and Hard Clam Fisheries Management Plan, adopted by the Marine Fisheries Commission in 2001, recommended developing a way to track recreational shellfish harvests, said fisheries director Preston Pate.

"We have no clue to how extensive the harvest is in relation to the commercial license," Pate said.

The chairs of the commission will introduce the legislation to create the new license in the upcoming session of the General Assembly.

No license is required for people who collect no more than a bushel of oysters, a half bushel of scallops, 100 clams, 10 conchs or 100 mussels.

 

People who harvest more than those amounts must have a commercial license.

 

Fishermen must have the commercial license to sell the shellfish they collect.

Daily catch limits and a no-sale rule would apply with the recreational shellfish license.

$25 fee struck down

The commission struck down a portion of the proposal that would have set the recreational license fee at $25 for out-of-state residents after Rep. Bonner Stiller, R-Southport, said that the tourism industry might not like the fee.

Sen. Charlie Albertson, D-Beulaville, agreed that the fee seemed unfair to the visitors.

"We're treating one person differently from another," said Albertson, co-chairman of the commission.

Stiller also suggested that the license be easy to obtain at local tackle shops.

Pate said the shellfish license, like the recreational commercial gear license, would be available anywhere N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission fishing and hunting licenses are sold.

At an additional recommendation from Stiller, the commission established a July 1, 2008, sunset provision for the license.

Stiller, an avid supporter of a coastal recreational fishing license, said the shellfish license is needed so that fisheries authorities can collect catch data, but an overall recreational fishing license would include shellfish harvests.

"That gives them time to collect the data, and it shouldn't exist after that unless there is a recreational saltwater fishing license," Stiller said.

Commission member Jerry Schill, president of the N.C. Fisheries Association, said the organization has historically opposed a recreational fishing license and opposes a recreational shellfish license, as well.

However, Schill did not vote against the measure Wednesday. After the meeting, he said he knew the proposal would pass, regardless of his vote.

Schill added that there is an important difference between the recreational shellfish license proposal and past coastal recreational fishing license proposals, which called for receipts to go into a special fund and be allocated by a board of recreational fishermen.

"This money is not going to be used for a special fund and that's been our hang-up all along," Schill said.

Copyright 2004 by Freedom ENC Communications