decides how many fish can be caught 

 in a region that includes North 

 Carolina. The council is appointed by 

 the U.S. Secretary of Commerce on 

 recommendation from the governor of 

 each member state, and it crafts 

 federal law using NMFS recommen- 

 dations. 



The fishermen need more front- 

 end involvement before a regulation is 

 put into place, Tillett says. Keeping 

 the lines of communication open and 

 staying in good graces with the 

 regulators is important. But finding 

 the time on a fisherman's schedule 

 isn't easy. 



"There's so much traveling, so 

 many meetings, that you couldn't fish 

 and tend to it," says Tillett, who is on 

 the board of directors for the N.C. 

 Fisheries Association. "There's no 

 way you could fish and make a living 

 with all we're going through and tend 

 to all that stuff." 



Tillett, however, is among the 

 more optimistic of North Carolina 

 fishermen. It's darkest just before 

 dawn, he says, and commercial 

 fishermen just may get the message 

 and organize. If they don't, the future 

 doesn't look bright. 



Eventually, some fishermen 

 predict, the commercial fishery may 

 lose the diversity of its members. Only 

 the large, well-heeled operations will 

 survive. 



"If it keeps going the way it is 

 today, with us having no more voice 

 than we've got and we don't get 

 together just a little bit better than we 

 are, I see it being mighty difficult to 

 make a living," Tillett says. "And 

 you're going to see a lot of people go 

 out." 



Bahen speculates there will always 

 be a commercial fishing industry in 

 North Carolina. But the extent of it, 

 and the number of people it will 

 support, is unclear. 



Versatility will be crucial, and 

 anybody who can't afford the gear to 



Commercial trawlers at rest in Oriental. 



switch his catch may be squeezed out, 

 he says. 



"The guy who makes a good living 

 at it, who works full time and treats it 

 as a business, with capital to diversify 

 — he will do better," Bahen says. "If 

 there's a good market for shark, 

 dogfish, he can shift gears and go 

 fishing for that. They're all going to be 

 affected by changing laws and regula- 

 tions and how they manage this 

 renewable resource. But this guy will 

 probably survive." 



The Wanchese Fish Co. has done 

 this. Moored in a Wanchese harbor is a 

 185-foot ship that is being renovated 

 by the Daniels family for scalloping 

 expeditions in Alaska. 



Down the coast, Willis simply 

 takes comfort in the fact that his home- 

 made boat is paid for. But he wonders 

 about the small fishermen like himself 

 who don't own their boats outright. 



Still, fishing is a way of life that 

 most of them won't surrender, even 

 under the worst of circumstances. 



Smith learned the trade from his 

 uncle when he was 6, and he's seen six 

 generations of his family enter the 

 business. Willis learned it from his 



Scott D- Taylor 



father and grandfather. Tillett began his 

 career at age 7 when he helped his 

 father run charter boats in the summer. 

 And Daniels has grown up in the 

 business, but never quite took to the 

 water like some of his brothers. 



"I certainly don't do it for the 

 money," says Willis. "You're your own 

 person. It's the last bastion of free 

 enterprise. If you got the equipment, 

 and you're willing to do it, you can earn 

 what you want to." 



Fishing has traditionally provided a 

 good living for young men who quit 

 school to join their fathers on the boat, 

 Smith says. Gear, boats and knowledge 

 were handed down from father to son. 



"That's the greatest life in the 

 world, out on the water," he says. 



Tillett holds out hope that his son 

 will make a good living in the well- 

 established family business. 



But Daniels says he's trying to steer 

 his 20-year-old son away from the 

 family's East Coast fishing empire. 



"I believe fishermen are on the 

 endangered species list," he says. 

 "They're not going to get any thicker. 

 They're going down. The numbers are 

 going to grow smaller and smaller." □ 



COASTWATCH 19 



