i e I d notes 



Conflict or Consensus Between Anglers and Watermen? 



Conflicts are inevitable when 

 people compete to achieve or reach the 

 same end. In coastal North Carolina, 

 conflicts over using or harvesting re- 

 sources are heating up as more people 

 vie to catch the same fish, use the same 

 water or occupy the same beach. 



Nowhere are coastal conflicts more 

 visible or audible than in the arena of 

 commercial and recreational fishing. 

 The two groups are verbally tussling 

 over issues such as bycatch, the rights to 

 certain fishing grounds, catch limits/ 

 quotas and gear restrictions. 



Sometimes the disagreements are 

 quietly stated; other times, as in the case 

 of a recent dispute over fishing rights to 

 The Point at Hatteras Island, tempers 

 flare and the exchange becomes more 

 heated. 



Each group tries to wield political 

 power, and each boasts of its economic 

 importance to the coastal economy. 



Caught in the middle of these feud- 

 ing factions are management agencies 

 such as the N.C. Division of Marine 

 Fisheries and the South Atlantic Fishery 

 Management Council. They must allevi- 

 ate the pressures that sometimes build as 

 recreational and commercial fishermen 

 square off. 



But how do they resolve these con- 

 flicts? Are these strifes real or just per- 

 ceived? And how many of the disagree- 

 ments are based on misinformation and 

 rumor? 



To examine conflict between recre- 

 ational and commercial fishermen, Sea 

 Grant researchers David Griffith and 

 Jeff Johnson went straight to the source 

 — the fishermen themselves. These East 

 Carolina University social scientists 

 wanted to determine the basis for dis- 

 agreement between recreational and 

 commercial fishermen and what, if any, 

 common ground existed. 



The social scientists also wanted to 

 learn if there was consensus within each 

 group. Do all sport anglers and all com- 

 mercial watermen concur on what the 

 problems are? 



First, Griffith, Johnson and their 

 graduate students spent hours interview- 

 ing representative fishermen from both 

 groups, asking them about the major 

 resource problems along our coast. 

 Based on these interviews, the research 

 team chose 59 statements that repre- 

 sented recurring coastal problems men- 

 tioned during the interviews. 



The statements, written in the 

 fishermen's own words, were listed on a 

 survey form and sent to more than 230 

 anglers, resource managers and 

 watermen. The anglers were asked to 

 read each statement and indicate whether 

 they agreed or disagreed with it. 



The survey included statements 

 such as: 



• Fish populations have been declin- 

 ing since the 1960s. 



• Trawling should be limited to the 

 ocean only. 



• Regulations are forcing commer- 

 cial fishermen out of business. 



Between 50 percent and 60 percent 

 of the fishermen surveyed returned their 

 questionnaires; then Griffith and Johnson 

 analyzed the responses. 



They learned that no consensus 

 existed between commercial and recre- 

 ational fishermen, but within each group 

 consensus did occur. However, 

 sportfishermen tended to agree more 



with one another than did commercial 

 watermen. Johnson says that conflict 

 within the commercial fishing commu- 

 nity over gear use tends to make them 

 less homogeneous than their recreational 

 counterparts. 



Of the 59 statements presented, 

 commercial and recreational fishermen 

 disagreed on 32. There was, however, 

 common ground. The two groups did 

 agree on 12 statements. 



Generally, Griffith and Johnson 

 found that commercial fishermen assign 

 problems to natural cycles, tourists and 

 pollution. Sport anglers, on the other 

 hand, assign problems to commercial 

 harvest, although they also recognize 

 that water quality problems and natural 

 fluctuations have roles. 



Each group thinks the other is more 

 cohesive and powerful and receives 

 special attention from managers and 

 legislators. 



Much of the agreement between 

 watermen and anglers concerned man- 

 agement. Both factions agree on the 

 following: 



• There should be limits placed on 

 who can sell fish. 



• Everyone should contribute to the 

 cost of management. 



• Both groups have members who 

 abuse the resources. 



• Everyone should have access to 

 the resources. 



• Everyone should be regulated. 



• There should be some limitations 

 and restrictions on trawling. 



Griffith says the team's findings 

 should be helpful for resource managers. 



It will differentiate real conflicts 

 from perceived ones. Strife based on 

 perceptions can be resolved easily by 

 providing accurate information to oppos- 

 ing groups. The research will also show 

 how conflicts reflect political and social 

 alliances, thus identifying key groups of 

 people who need to be involved in solv- 

 ing frictions. 



Kathy Hart 



COASTWATCH 23 



