Past, Present and Future 



by Travis Adams 



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commercial fishing has always been the life blood of the Down East 

 communities of Sea Level, Atlantic, Stacy and Cedar Island. It has been the 

 communities' singular industry since the beginning. This tradition runs deep 

 in the blood of us all. 



Sadly though, this industry is dying. For one reason or another it is 

 becoming harder and harder to harvest these essential products. Basically 

 even though commercial fishing is second nature to most people, it is 

 becoming nearly impossible to live as a commercial fisherman. 



My Creat-Grandfather was a fisherman and boatbuilder for some time. 

 Pictures I have seen of him show him with great catches. This was no more 

 than fifty years ago. I have heard stories from my dad of nets so full of shrimp 

 that the wench strained to haul them in. Personally, I have seen skiffs with 

 so many fish in them, it was impossible to walk without finding yourself 

 crushing one. This couldn't have been more than ten years ago. 



Now, though, people struggle to make a living. Shrimp tickets from 2002 

 show my Dad rarely caught over 1 00 pounds of shrimp a night. With prices 

 dropping sometimes as low as 75 cents a pound, it was difficult to survive. 

 Fifteen years ago an average night would have blown that out of the water. 



Most people have had to move into new lines of work. My Dad was 

 hired by the National Park Service shortly after Hurricane Isabel to help with 

 clean up and reconstruction. This is lucky for us, because unlike so many 

 others, my Dad found a job in an area in which he was qualified. For many, 

 though, fishing is all they know how to do. Though intelligent, they never 

 attended any sort of college, and many skipped high school, so it would be 

 difficult for them to find new lines of work. 



Another problem facing the fishermen is competition. Tourism is 

 probably our second biggest industry, and when tourists arrive, they come 

 with expectations of local and fresh seafood. However, most restaurants and 

 stores sell seafood from other countries or from other parts of this country. 



Tourists know no better, so they eat it, and go home 

 happy and content in the fact that they ate some fresh 

 seafood from the coast of North Carolina. While this is 

 good for the tourism industry, it hurts the commercial 

 fishing industry tremendously. Hopefully in the future, 

 it will become more evident as to what seafood is 

 harvested in Carteret County and what is not. 



Throughout the entire paper, I've said how 

 the fishing industry is becoming unsuitable for 

 making a living, but many people still do it, and 

 do it passionately. These people will probably be 

 fishermen til the end of their days. To me, there is 

 little better than spending time on the water. One 

 day perhaps the industry will become revitatlized, 

 perhaps the waters of Core Sound have just been 

 overfished, and one day sea life will again flourish at 

 it once did 50 years ago. 



Written by Travis Adams while he was in the 

 eighth grade at Atlantic School. He is now a freshman 

 at East Carteret High School. 



COASTWATCH 



community," says Morris, educator at the Core 

 Sound Waterfowl Museum in Harkers Island. 



As part of the initiative, RCCI volunteers 

 met with county restaurant owners to discuss 

 quality standards for seafood. 



"My customers see boats outside 

 the restaurant and want local catch," says 

 Dan Hatch, chef of Key West Seafood Co. 

 restaurant in Morehead City. "There is so much 

 local seafood — from tuna and sea bass to red 

 snapper and mahi mahi." 



In addition to promoting local seafood, 

 the group is trying to educate consumers about 

 environmental rules and food safety regulations 

 affecting the seafood industry. 



In developing niche markets for Carteret 

 County seafood, O' Sullivan says that seafood 

 processors might have to adopt new small-scale 

 technology and develop sound business plans. 



"Our long-term goal is for the fishing 

 communities to develop a plan that is 

 market-driven and focuses on high quality, 

 local-branded seafood," he says. "We want to 

 deliver products that emphasize the region's 

 core values to customers in the county and in 

 commercial outlets in the state's metropolitan 

 areas." □ 



To find out more about the Carteret Catch 

 project, visit the Web: www.carteretcatch.com. 



