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Commercial Shellfishing Facing More Regulation

Posted on: Tuesday, 15 November 2005, 00:00 CST

By Patricia Smith, The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.

Nov. 13--MOREHEAD CITY -- Higher prices on oysters this year is feeding worries that the number of commercial oyster fishermen in the state could grow out of control, which could spark a stricter state licensing system for shellfishing.

"It needs to be addressed," said Paul Dunn, a member of the Shellfish Advisory Committee, who suggested the panel schedule a discussion of the issue at its next meeting in January.

North Carolina oysters have been in decline for a century, and state fisheries authorities place the blame on numerous factors including disease, poor water quality, loss of habitat and harmful fishing practices.

"We're tasked right now with keeping it from going extinct," Dunn said.

But authorities will not be able to do that if the regulations aren't tight enough to keep the commercial and recreational harvests in check, he said.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita shut down shellfish operations in the Gulf of Mexico of states that traditionally supply most of the nation's oysters. The subsequent shortage has caused oyster prices to spike in area markets and restaurants.

While hand harvest season, which began last month, was initially plagued by shellfish closures due to stormwater runoff, most of the waters have reopened now, said Wayne Mobley, director of the Shellfish Sanitation and Recreational Water Quality Section of the N.C. Division of Environmental Health.

Now, with mechanical harvest season opening Monday, the Division of Marine Fisheries is getting numerous calls from fishermen asking about oyster regulations, said Mike Marshall, division Central District manager.

"We do expect to see a lot of people entering into this fishery," Marshall told the Shellfish Committee last week.

To curtail possible problems, the division added some oyster dredging restrictions that weren't in effect last year.

"We're a little bit concerned about the high numbers that can be out there," Marshall said.

Though, he added that so far those fears have been unfounded. There has been no rush on shellfish licenses.

Unlike the commercial harvest of finfish, which requires a $200-per-year commercial fishing license available to a limited number of fishermen, any state resident can purchase a commercial shellfish license for $25 per year.

With a shellfish license and a commercial vessel registration, a fisherman is allowed to harvest commercial quantities of oysters, clams and bay scallops for himself or sell to an authorized seafood dealer.

Several members of the Shellfish Committee said they weren't aware the license allowed for the sale of shellfish without a standard commercial fishing license.

Marshall said the division originally asked the General Assembly to require a standard commercial fishing license for the sale of shellfish, but legislators wouldn't agree to it.

Additionally, recreational shellfish harvests were not included under the Saltwater Recreational Fishing License passed by the General Assembly this past year.

Marine Patrol Officer David Morris told the panel they might be surprised just how many do depend solely on shellfishing, particularly in the southern waters of the state.

"If you take that away from them, you've taken their livelihood," Morris said.

Committee member Elaine Davis, who lives in a Down East community of Carteret County, said clamming and oystering is a popular part-time job for teens in her area.

"A lot of them go to college with that money ...," Davis said.

However, Davis said she thought few of them pulled a dredge.

She suggested the committee consider addressing mechanical harvests allowed under the shellfish license, but not the hand harvests.

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Source: The Daily News

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