schools behind, knowing it would 

 help the stocks. 



The Wanchese fisherman's 

 unselfish attitude is rare in such a 

 competitive business like commer- 

 cial fishing. 



"A lot of fishermen don't have the 

 attitude I do," Etheridge says. 

 "You'll find that (competitiveness) 

 wherever you go. I never cared 

 much for that. It's OK in a ballgame, 

 but when you're out there making 

 a living I don't think it should 

 matter. 



"We were always of the attitude 

 to help somebody," he says. "If 

 somebody's boat got burned, the 

 fishermen would pass the hat, then 

 help him build another boat. 



"This attitude is kind of changing 



with development," Etheridge 

 laments. "People have more money, 

 are doing things for themselves, 

 buying things for themselves." 



Despite the worries of other fish- 

 ermen, Etheridge remains optimis- 

 tic about the future of commercial 

 fishing. 



"Fishermen are getting along 

 better than they ever have in my 

 lifetime," Etheridge says. "They're 

 working more. They're more con- 

 cerned about profit." 



Consumers are eating more fish, 

 so the demand is there. 



And so are the fish, Etheridge 

 says. Untapped resources like deep 

 ocean waters miles offshore will 

 provide enough fish for 50 to 100 

 years, he says. 



Etheridge just wants to make 

 sure the fishermen from his area 

 can get to them. He's been cam- 

 paigning locally and at the state and 

 national levels to have Oregon In- 

 let stabilized. A mile-long jetty 

 would help keep the pathway to the 

 open seas clear, he says. And it 

 would help make his region a "na- 

 tional fish haven." 



"The fish are there," he says. "You 

 learn they're there." 



Etheridge likens himself to Peter 

 in the Bible by saying many times 

 he'd fish on one side of the boat and 

 not catch a thing. Then he'd try the 

 other and catch netloads of fish. 



His persistence paid. 



"I always made money," he says. 

 "I always caught fish." 



David Owens 



coastal caretaker 



BY KATHY HART 



Twenty years ago, David Owens 

 and some Elizabeth City high 

 school buddies drove to the Cur- 

 rituck beaches for a day of fishing, 

 swimming and fun. 



Not long after the group spread 

 their blankets and rigged their 

 lines, a man approached. He told the 

 teenagers they were on private 

 property. They would have to leave. 



They did. 



But 18-year-old Owens thought 

 the request was unreasonable. 



"It didn't seem right even then for 

 someone to force you away from the 

 beach," he says. 



It wasn't an incident Owens 

 forgot. 



In fact, it shaped his career. To- 

 day, beach access and the public's 

 right to use the beach are important 

 parts of Owen's job as director of the 

 Division of Coastal Management. 



But 13 years ago, beach access 

 was just a vague notion to Owens. 

 He was earning a combined degree 



in law and regional planning from 

 the University of North Carolina at 

 Chapel Hill when professor David 

 Brower approached him to work on 

 a Sea Grant project— one that in- 

 volved research on the legal and 

 planning aspects of beach owner- 

 ship and access. 



Owens agreed. He had seen the 

 problem firsthand, and he was will- 

 ing to do a year's worth of research 

 and writing. 



In 1981, the effort paid big 

 dividends. 



Using Brower and Owens' work, 

 state Rep. Al Adams of Wake Coun- 

 ty and a passel of coastal legislators 

 spurred the N.C. General Assembly 

 to expand the Coastal Area Man- 

 agement Act to include a beach ac- 

 cess program. The legislative team 

 also passed a $1 million beach access 

 appropriation bill. 



Working with the legislators 

 every step of the way was the young 

 assistant director of the Division of 

 Coastal Management— David 

 Owens. 



Today, North Carolina proudly 

 boasts one of the best beach access 

 programs in the nation— 13 regional 



accessways (includes parking, 

 restrooms and showers), 40 to 50 

 parking areas and hundreds of 

 walkways. 



Owens calls beach access a "fun" 

 project, one that brought the divi- 

 sion and the Coastal Resources 

 Commission new respect. 



Since the passage of the Coastal 

 Area Management Act in 1974, the 

 commission and the division had 

 battled resistance from coastal of- 

 ficials and residents. Coastal folks 

 didn't like the idea of a state com- 

 mission and agency telling them 

 what could and couldn't be done 

 along their salty shores. 



But the beach access program 

 changed people's perceptions. They 

 began to realize that coastal man- 

 agement could be beneficial and 

 protect the resources they valued. 



For Owens, beach access was a 

 success story with a personal note 

 of satisfaction. But there have been 

 others. 



He steered an innovative ocean- 

 front management program 

 through the CRC. The program, 

 which was unpopular at the coast, 



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