Buoys, bait, boats — big business 



Charter boats add thousands of dollars to the state's economy 



To most people, big business in 

 North Carolina means textiles, 

 tobacco and three-piece suits. But 

 to others, it's fishing poles and 

 waders that are making the 

 economy's wallet bulge. The state 

 reeled in about $193 million from 

 recreational fishing in 1980, says 

 the U.S. Department of Interior. 

 And few doubt the sport will 

 prosper in the years to come. 



Thousands of anglers travel to 

 the Carolina coast each year to 

 take advantage of the huge inven- 

 tory of fish. They come equipped 

 with boats and tackle, but often 

 need food, fuel, other supplies and 

 a place to stay. The spending 

 quickly adds up for towns like 

 Manteo and Hatteras and keeps 

 North Carolina one of the nation's 

 leading saltwater fishing states. 



Despite the widespread eco- 

 nomic impact of recreational 

 fishing, statistics on saltwater 

 anglers in North Carolina are 

 sparse. The diversity and mobility 

 make it difficult to compile reliable 

 data. 



Most of what we know comes 

 from experts in the business. 

 Research provides the rest. Such 

 information would benefit the 

 fisheries, new businesses and 

 coastal management, says UNC 

 Sea Grant researcher Jeff Johnson, 

 an anthropologist at East Carolina 

 University. Knowing how anglers 

 spend their money could give 

 merchants an idea of what to 

 stock. And knowledge of incomes 

 may help the policymaker decide if 

 a proposed saltwater fishing license 

 is affordable. 



One widely known fact is that 

 North Carolina shares its waters 

 with fishermen from all directions. 

 The majority of them are North 

 Carolinians, but others come from 

 Virginia, Florida, Ohio, 

 Pennsylvania, Maryland and other 

 Eastern states. 



The reasons they fish here are 

 many, says Joel Arrington, out- 

 door editor of the N.C. Division of 



Travel and Tourism. They're lured 

 here year-round by the Outer 

 Banks, the closeness to the Gulf 

 Stream and an extensive system of 

 estuaries and sounds. 



Just as the state's location en- 

 tices fishermen from different 

 areas, it attracts both Northern 

 and Southern species of fish, says 

 Arrington. In the winter, saltwater 

 anglers put out their hooks and 

 lines for striped bass and gray 

 trout. During the summer, they 

 fish for larger species like tarpon, 

 pompano and Spanish mackerel. 

 Flounder, perch and bass are pop- 

 ular game in the sounds. 



To catch these fish, most fisher- 

 men in the state use small boats or 



fish from banks, piers and bridges, 

 says Charles Manooch of the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service 

 in Beaufort. But the big money 

 rides on the waves of the wealthy 

 offshore fishermen. 



It comes in on boats of different 

 sizes, too, according to Jim Bahen, 

 a Sea Grant marine advisory agent 

 in the Wilmington area. More 

 specifically, three types of anglers 

 fish off our coast, he says. 



The first group owns the boats 

 you gawk at in marinas — the 30- to 

 60-foot ones that cost from $30,000 

 to $1 million. "Somebody that 

 could afford a boat such as that is 

 in his late 30s or 40s, has a good in- 

 come and is established," says 



