The wives, sisters, mothers 



and others related to commercial fishermen have 

 banded together in organized advocacy groups. 

 The organizations, some say, have given commercial 

 fishermen an effective and 

 unified voice in the political 

 decision-making process 

 for the first time. 



noted for its letter-writing campaigns. 



The auxiliaries have brought 

 fishing communities closer together, 

 Zagzebski says, and have provided 

 fishermen and their families a chance 

 to vent frustrations in a familiar place 

 among familiar faces. 



They've worked at improving the 

 public image of commercial fishing. 

 And they've become important infor- 

 mation networks within their commu- 

 nities and information sources for 

 policy-makers and the public on 

 complicated issues. They have also, in 

 many instances, become interpreters 

 between decision-makers and fishermen. 



"They translate fishing jargon into 

 political jargon and vice versa," 

 Zagzebski says. "It's a completely 

 different language that each speaks." 



Their presence in the political 

 process seems firmly established. Auxil- 

 iary presidents sit on the board of the 

 fisheries association. The auxiliaries 

 have brought a surge of new members 

 and financial stability to their parent 

 organization. 



Some members are citizen advisors 

 to the state Marine Fisheries Division; 

 others are on significant committees, 

 such as the one guiding research on the 

 current commercial fishing license 

 moratorium. Rules governing the state 

 Marine Fisheries Commission have 

 been rewritten to allow seats designated 

 for commercial fishermen to be filled 

 by spouses. 



And decision-makers listen to them. 



"The auxiliaries have become the 

 groups that I truly rely on for accurate 

 information and absolute positions on 

 issues," says state Sen. Beverly Perdue 

 of New Bern. "They are at the top of the 

 list when I have something involving 



Darleene Carawan 



fisheries that I need advice and direc- 

 tion on. They're available, they're 

 well-schooled and they're very honest. 



"Sometimes they make choices 

 and articulate positions that are not for 

 the good of their own families but for 

 the good of the fisheries, and I admire 

 them for that," Perdue says. 



Fishermen themselves have been 

 impressed. 



"We wouldn't know half what's 

 going on," if the Carteret auxiliary 

 didn't exist, says Clinton Willis, a 

 Marshallberg fisherman. "We wouldn't 

 have anybody representing us." Willis 

 is particularly appreciative of the time 

 and patience the regulatory meetings 

 demand. He once led the Carteret 

 County Waterman's Association. 



"It takes you being there and 

 people getting used to you," he says. 

 "If you're honest and truthful with 

 them, they'll put a little more credibil- 

 ity on you." 



That the speakers are women has a 

 pronounced impact. 



"If a fisherman gets up at a meet- 

 ing and talks, the regulation is just 

 affecting a single individual, a single 

 businessman," says Zagzebski. "But if 

 his wife gets up at a meeting and 



testifies, it really shows the policy- 

 makers and people there that they're not 

 only affecting an individual, they're 

 affecting an entire family, an entire 

 community, an entire way of life." 



That is a difficult image to 

 counter, says Dick Brame, executive 

 director of the Atlantic Coast Conserva- 

 tion Association. The organization of 

 recreational saltwater fishermen is 

 frequently on the opposite side of 

 commercial watermen in regulatory 

 tussles. 



"One of the problems you have in 

 all these fisheries arguments is you've 

 got numbers and you've got faces," 

 Brame says. "They've got faces. It's 

 emotional. They've got kids. 'My 

 husband can't be here, and I'm here, 

 and you're taking money out of his 

 pocket.' That kind of stuff. That will 

 always win over any data in a public 

 meeting, regulatory type of thing." 



Brame has brought on the ire of the 

 auxiliaries with his stand that commer- 

 cial fishing is a business, not a way of 

 life, and it should be treated as such in 

 resource allocation discussions. 



The clash has become so heated, he 

 says, he has declined to speak at public 

 hearings where the auxiliaries are 



18 MAY i 'JUNE 1995 



