only 87 of the 

 original license 

 holders remained 

 in the fishery. 



"We 

 can deal with 

 Mother Nature's 

 capricious ways, 

 but not capricious 

 regulations," says 

 West. 



iters of 

 public trust 



Managing 

 the nation's marine 

 resources is bound 

 to be controversial, 

 because fish living 

 in public waters 

 are a common 

 property resource 



— a public trust 



— explains B.J. 

 Copeland. a MFC 

 member and 

 scientist. 



"It's a 

 public trust with 

 millions of owners 



— and every 

 j single one of them 

 I'. knows exactly 



how to manage 

 the resource," 

 Copeland 

 observes. "Yes, indeed, it 

 becomes very complicated. The 

 feds and state are faced with 

 tremendous pressure from dozens 

 of interest groups, not just folks in 

 commercial fishing." 



North Carolina's 1997 

 Fisheries Reform Act followed 

 a three-year moratorium on new 

 commercial fishing licenses 

 — and a comprehensive study of 

 the state's coastal resources and 

 commercial fishing industry. 



These were the first steps toward sustainable 

 fisheries in the state, says Copeland, former 

 director of North Carolina Sea Grant. The act 

 required overhauling the commercial licensing 

 process and streamUning the MFC, which 

 includes commercial and recreational fishers, 

 scientists and interested "at-large" citizens. 



The commission sets up stakeholder 

 advisory boards to help develop individual 

 fishery management plans (FMPs) meant to 

 ensure the long-term viability of the state's 

 commercially and recreationally significant 

 species or fisheries. 



Before FMPs. management was piecemeal, 

 says Copeland. Now, there are opportunities for 

 stakeholders to voice their concerns and opinions 

 in open forums. 



Jimmy Johnson, who chairs the 

 commission, explains that each plan must take 

 into account management goals and objectives, 

 current and projected status of fish stocks, habitat 

 and water quality considerations, user conflict 

 issues, and social and economic impacts of the 

 fishery on the state. 



Preston Pate. DMF director, says, "The 

 needs of the fishermen are always considered 

 in our management decisions and are 

 accommodated to the extent they can be without 

 compromising our primary responsibility." 



Often, decisions come down to allocation 

 issues within and between various fishing 

 sectors. Pate adds. 



disappearing infrastructure 



If it's true that "an ill wind blows some 

 good," then the collective network — including 

 fishers plying coastal waters, boat builders, net 

 makers, dealers packing the day's catch for 

 markets near and far, and all of their families 

 — is ready for "some good" to come their way. 



"It's not about a single fishery," says 

 Barbara Garrity-Blake. an anthropologist and 

 MFC member. 



Garrity-Blake and her husband Brian 

 Blake, a boat builder and musician, live in 

 Gloucester, a tight-knit, Carteret County 

 fishing community. Like Hatteras' Susan West, 

 Garrity-Blake became involved with the politics 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 19 



