By Jeannie Faris 



On a late-winter Sunday in 1989, 

 Billy Carl Tillett was warming up the 

 engines of his commercial fishing 

 boat to go trawling for trout. The 

 crew was standing ready. 



Then, he switched off the ignition 

 and stepped back onto the dock. 



In one impulsive gesture, the 

 eldest son of a leading Wanchese 

 fishing family ended his 30-year 

 career on the water. He handed the 

 keys over to his younger brother 

 Craig. 



"I was getting to where I was sick 

 and tired of fishing," Tillett says. 

 "The rules and regulations I was 

 seeing I couldn't put up with. I was 

 used to doing what I wanted to all my 

 life." 



The fishing trade was passed 

 down several generations to the 

 Tillett brothers, and now Billy Carl's 

 19-year-old son works for the family 

 business, Moon Tillett Fish Co. In the 

 three years since he gave up his boat, 

 Tillett has tended to the dockside 

 operations of the business. 



His story isn't altogether unique 

 these days. 



All along the coast, North 

 Carolinians with fishing in their blood 

 are souring on the business. They say 

 it's because rules and regulations 

 designed to protect the stocks are 

 being handed down by state and 

 federal agencies that have no appre- 

 ciation for their trade and precious 

 little input from the commercial 

 fishermen. 



Accustomed to living by their 

 wits, these fishermen claim they'll be 

 financially shipwrecked by restric- 

 tions on their gear, limits on bycatch 

 they're allowed to land and cordoned- 

 off fishing grounds. They can't even 

 buy new nets for their boats without 

 wondering if they'll be legal in six 

 months or a year. 



"It's gotten so you don't know 



Continued 



Are 



Fishermen 



Nearing 



Their 



Last 



Cast? 



COASTWATCH 15 



