Ahab's Journal

A high stakes game is underway to allot fisheries resources

The truth is that the recreational fishermen harvest three times more red drum and speckled trout than the commercial fishermen each year, but the argument is that these species are worth more money in the recreational fishing economy than they are in the commercial economy.

So, if I understand this correctly, it is better for recreation fishermen to kill these species than commercial fishermen because the recreational industry can make more money from killing the fish.

Yeah. That makes good sense.

Let’s prevent the commercial fishermen from doing their job so that we can make more money for ourselves.

This is one greedy form of thinking and this is coming from a person who makes his entire living from recreational fishing.  Go figure.

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NC Sportsman Magazine Op-ed on Gill Nets

In short, nothing changes when it comes to state-managed saltwater resources. So the next step is, logically, federal intervention.

And that’s what the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center plans to do. It will sue DMF and MFC in federal court if, by Dec. 18, 2009, DMF doesn’t remove gill nets from N.C. waters . The last time a 4th District Court judge got involved in such an issue, surf anglers were banned from driving ORVs at OBX beaches because of six birds.

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Protecting a coastal way of life

RALEIGH - "This isn't over, not by a long shot."

With those words, Joe Albea left the room where a state House committee had just met. It was May, and the committee failed to take a vote on legislation that the Greenville resident and other recreational fishermen were pushing to put two species of fish -- speckled trout and red drum -- off limits to commercial fishermen.

Read "Protecting a coastal way of life"

Labor déjà vu? Net ban teaches history lesson

When the Supreme Court provides an opinion on the validity of a ballot initiative, its analysis is limited to two legal issues: whether the proposed amendment’s title and summary are “printed in clear and unambiguous language,” and whether the proposed amendment addresses a single subject.  The court will not consider or rule on the merits of a proposed amendment.

Arguably, the use of the word “limiting” in Limiting Marine Net Fishing was ambiguous “political rhetoric” that did not pass the first part of the test.

It suggested marine net fishing in Florida’s coastal waters was “unlimited.” In actuality, net use was already heavily regulated. The Florida Marine Fisheries Commission had full statutory authority to promulgate rules to protect and recover marine resources in furtherance of state public policy.  

Additionally, opponents could have argued that the amendment addressed more than a single subject. The amendment asked voters to prohibit the use of gill nets, entanglement nets and other nets exceeding 500 square feet. Furthermore, one of the initiative’s purposes was to protect both finfish and shellfish.

The voter desiring to protect only the finfish would have no choice but to protect the shellfish as well. But none of these arguments were made and, without opposition, the initiative was cleared to be on the 1994 ballot by the Supreme Court.  

Read "Labor déjà vu? Net ban teaches history lesson"

Untangling the truth about North Carolina's gill nets

"Tilman Gray, age 50, has been a commercial fisherman for 38 years. He owns four commercial boats and personally fishes a 25-footer and a 42-footer. His son runs another boat; a friend runs Tilman's fourth boat. He said his family has fished the local waters for more than 200 years.

"I fish gill nets, pound nets, long lines and Bandit reels," he said. "From the sound (Pamlico Sound) and the ocean, we catch 24 different species of fish. Gill netting is the most effective type of fishing. But, like an automobile in the hands of the wrong person, a gill net can also be the deadliest thing on earth." "

Read "Untangling the truth about North Carolina's gill nets"

CCA Apparently Out to Deceive NC Voters

"The CCA is apparently out to deceive North Carolina Voters. FFF Proved that the CCA lied to Florida Voters ... And continued to lie to the FWC about Redfish... That is until we exposed their lies with irrefutable facts."

Read "CCA Apparently Out to Deceive NC Voters"

Response to "Conflict heightens over fishing rules"

"Dear Mr. Mooneyham,

This letter is in reference to a recent column that appeared in the "Coastland Times" regarding one of the latest efforts to eliminate commercial fishing in this state by a Mr. Hislop and friends.

I operate the Albatross Fleet charter service out of Hatteras (a business started by my late father in 1937).  And, having fished every charter season since 1958, I perhaps have as good a sense of "why people recreational fish" as does Mr. Hislop.

I also grew up in a "fishing community" populated by fishermen who earned their living by producing food from the sea for consumers.  Most of the people I knew as a youngster fished both charter and commercial and produced something other than just a "personal good time" when they went fishing.

I found your article very troubling.  It was troubling not because of the reporting which I believe to be accurate.  Rather, it was troubling because it conveyed, to people all over this state, a false premise.  A premise that, repeated often enough, becomes "accepted knowledge", a "real fact" and ultimately, a "literal truth" that will form the basis for legislators to take legislative action, action taken in good faith but, sadly, based on a false assumption.  Your article in complicit in spreading "the false assumption"

Response to "A Rising Tide"

(Note: The Mooneyham column called 'A Rising Tide' ran under various titles in different state newspapers, including 'Conflicts heighten over fish rules,' posted below.)

"In response to Scott Mooneyhams’ PUBLIC RELATIONS press release (3-1-09 article in The Coastland Times, A Rising Tide) on CONFLICTS between commercial and recreational fishermen in North Carolina, I must again try to wade through the deceit and negative PR coming from my hometown of RALEIGH. 

Conflicts Heighten Over Fishing Rules

"Since at least the mid-1990s, calls for an end to the commercial netting of fish in inshore waters, as several other states have done, have risen and ebbed.

That tide appears to be rising again.

John Hislop, a Swansboro retiree and recreational fisherman, has enlisted friends and supporters to begin a new campaign to ban gill nets, which are staked out mainly in tidal creeks to await any fish that swim through the area. Hislop has rented billboards on Interstate 40 near Benson and U.S. 70 in Kinston to proclaim the evils of gill netting."

Read "Conflicts Heighten Over Fishing Rules"
 

Ban on pound nets being considered

"Virginia Beach residents, environmentalists and scientists are urging state regulators Tuesday to reject plans from commercial fishermen to string four, long pound nets into the Chesapeake Bay."  

Read "Ban on pound nets being considered"

Legislature approves gill net bill

The (Alabama) state Legislature approved a bill Thursday evening that would allow fishermen to voluntarily retire commercial gill nets in exchange for a financial settlement. Continue reading "Legislature approves gill net ban"

Gill Net Fishing Ban

The Alabama Legislature has given final passage to a bill that will eventually end all commercial gill net fishing off the Alabama coast. Continue reading "Gill Net Fishing Ban"

Alabama Senate passes net ban legislation

The gill net bill, sponsored by state Sen. Pat Lindsey, D-Butler, would ban the use of commercial gill nets in Alabama sea waters. Senators appeared ready to kill the measure Wednesday night because of objections to the inclusion of mandatory buyouts for gill netters. But after negotiations, the bill was revived on Thursday with mandatory buyouts still in it. Read the full story in the Press-Register.

House panel OKs ban on gill nets

MONTGOMERY, AL. A House committee Tuesday approved a ban on commercial gill nets in the state's salt and brackish waters, but opponents warned of a floor fight in the full House. Continue reading "House panel OKs ban on gill nets"

Commercial gill net fishermen in eye of storm again

Inland, in Montgomery, Alabama’s commercial gill net fishermen are facing yet another legislative attempt to ban commercial gill nets. On a Baldwin County beach, however, two recent boating accidents have underscored the physical dangers commercial gill net fishermen say they are facing as their livelihood is increasingly hedged in by mounting restrictions. Continue reading "Commercial gill net fishermen in eye of storm again"

Recreational fishing group seeks net ban

BY SUSAN WEST, OUTER BANKS SENTINEL | The state chapter of the Recreational Fishing Alliance is calling for a ban on fishing nets in what the group describes as "non-coastal waters." "By non-coastal waters, we mean all waters inside the inlets," said Tim Barefoot, co-chairman of the Recreational Fishing Alliance-North Carolina (RFA-NC) and owner of Barefoot Fishing Gear in Wilmington.

RFA Calls for Net Ban in NC

The newly formed NC Chapter of the Recreational Fishing Alliance is calling for a net ban in all bays, estuaries and creeks.

Cedar Key

Cedar Key, Florida is sometimes called "the town that mullet built." After the net ban amendment to the state constitution went into effect in 1995, some former net fishermen turned to clam farming. Photo by Susan West, January 2008. (Click on photo to view a larger version.)

Town can't ban nets

A complaint on gillnet fishing in waters within Cape Carteret's jurisdiction will soon be directed to the NC Division of Marine Fisheries. Continue reading "Town can't ban nets"