that limits the catch to an amount that 

 will allow the fishery to sustain itself. 



Wallace says the quota system has 

 lessened the industry's problems and 

 placed control of the fishery back into 

 the hands of the surf clammers. Before 

 the limitations were enacted, the clam 

 fishery was controlled by processors 

 hungry to buy the clams for soups and 

 chowders. 



Many people were concerned that 

 processors would buy a large 

 portion of the individual quotas 

 and control the fishery, Wallace 

 says. One company tried it and 

 lost $200 million. 



"Big companies don't have 

 enough flexibility for the fishing 

 business," Wallace says. "And 

 they want too high a return — 

 20 to 30 percent — on their 

 investment." 



Is limited entry in North 

 Carolina's future? 



Probably so, says Bob Lucas, 

 chairman of the N.C. Marine 

 Fisheries Commission. Lucas 

 says it's time for commercial 

 fishermen to be treated as 

 professionals. 



"The idea is to put commer- 

 cial gear in the hands of true 

 commercial fishermen," he says. 



He wants a commercial 

 fishing license to carry a mon- 

 etary and intrinsic value that 

 provides fishermen a stake in the 

 future. 



"One of my goals — and it may 

 seem a small one to some people — is 

 that when someone asks me if his or her 

 son should stay out of commercial 

 fishing, I want to be able to say, 'No, 

 tell him to get in it,'" Lucas says. "And 

 I'm not going to be able to say that 

 unless we get away from what we've 

 been doing." 



SPEAKING OUT ON 

 LIMITED ENTRY 



In a wrap-up to the Limited Entry 

 Conference, a panel was assembled to 

 discuss the possibilities of the manage- 

 ment strategy in North Carolina. 



Panelists included Jodie Gay, a 

 commercial fisherman from Hamp- 

 stead and a member of the N.C. Marine 



Fisheries Commission; Robin Doxey of 

 the N.C. Crabbers' League of Aware 

 Watermen (CLAW); Dick Brame, 

 executive director of the state chapter 

 of the Atlantic Coast Conservation 

 Association; Bruce Freeman, director 

 of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisher- 

 ies; and Jerry Schill, executive director 

 of the N.C. Fisheries Association. 



Gay says Tar Heel watermen are 

 frightened by the concept of limited 



Sarah Friday Peters 



entry because they don't know how it 

 will affect them, their families and their 

 method of doing business. 



"This is a group of people who 

 sleep offshore in boats, in thunder- 

 storms, with 900-foot ships running 

 them down," Gay says. "And ITQs 

 scare them to death. 



"We can deal with it," Gay adds. 

 "It's probably the management of the 

 future. But it's my feeling that if we do 

 it, we need to decide who is a commer- 

 cial fisherman and let him fish." 



Gay also stressed the need for 

 flexibility in any limited entry manage- 

 ment system developed by the state. 

 Tar Heel watermen fish a variety of 

 species, switching from fishery to 

 fishery based on seasonal availability. 



A limited entry system would need 

 to accommodate fishing versatility, 

 Gay says. 



"The only thing constant in fishing 

 is change," he says. 



Doxey echoes Gay's concerns, but 

 says "something has to be done." She 

 calls for a more definitive definition of 

 commercial fishing, adding that "for 

 some, fishing is a livelihood." 



Speaking for recreational anglers, 

 Brame says his organization 

 endorses commercial limitations 

 for the sake of stock recovery and 

 conservation. 



"There is too much gear and 

 too many people in the water," 

 Brame says. "We've said for five 

 years that we need to take commer- 

 cial gear out of the hands of 

 recreational anglers and put it in 

 the hands of commercial fisher- 

 men. We need to professionalize 

 this fishery." 



Brame recognizes that recre- 

 ational anglers share the blame for 

 declines in some fisheries and 

 appeals to resource managers to 

 make sportsmen part of the process 

 for solving the problem. 



Freeman says the need for 

 limitations is imperative given the 

 rate of population growth in the 

 state, especially in the coastal 

 region. 



Although the N.C. Fisheries 

 Association hasn't developed a 

 position on limited entry, Schill 

 says it will be important for all commer- 

 cial fishermen to be involved in devel- 

 oping a new management strategy. 



PROVIDING INPUT 



Fishermen who want to discuss 

 limited entry options in North Carolina 

 can take part in a series of workshops 

 being conducted by researchers Mike 

 Orbach of Duke University and Jeff 

 Johnson of East Carolina University. 

 Based on a grant from the N.C. Fisher- 

 ies Moratorium Steering Committee, 

 the researchers are asking workshop 

 participants to discuss which forms 

 of limited entry might work in North 

 Carolina. 



For workshop dates and times, 

 contact Orbach at 919/504-7606. E 



COASTWATCH 1 7 



