Seafood Consumers Beware
The post below was made by the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) of North Carolina.
After decades of promising NC anglers more fish and then supporting every recreational harvest reduction that’s been proposed, over the last 25 years, it appears the CCA has shifted it’s focus to North Carolina’s seafood consumers. I guess they’ve taken all they can from the anglers who like to harvest a mess of fish but feel seafood consumers still have more to give. While their message seems innocent enough, expressing a love of seafood and concern for the stock, don’t be fooled!
For those who may not know, or may have forgotten, the CCA has, for decades, supported banning commercial fishing gears, the same gears commercial fishermen rely on to get seafood from the sea to the consumer, notice the reference to gill nets in their post. The CCA consistently blames gillnets for “overfishing” Southern Flounder but fails to mention that anglers kill more flounder than gillnetters.
The truth is, over the ten-year period from 2008-2017, gillnets have removed approximately 4,685,204 Southern Flounder from NC waters while hook and line anglers have removed an estimated 5,241,170 flounder.
Not much of a difference, is it?
Despite the short harvest seasons, adopted in 2019 through Amendment 2, to the Southern Flounder FMP, this trend has continued. In 2020 and 2021 the numbers of Southern Flounder removed in the hook and line fishery were significantly higher than gillnet removals, with a significant portion of those removals being dead discards, or waste, in the catch and release sector. I bet you won’t find that piece of data on the CCA’s website. I guess it doesn’t matter how many fish were killed, only who killed them and if they were consumed rather than wasted!
In addition to their war against commercial fishing gears, the CCA has also tried to make it illegal to commercially harvest some species of finfish by having them designated as gamefish. If they had been successful, Striped Bass, Red Drum and Speckled Trout would have no longer been on the menu for NC consumers. That’s right, the same group that, since it’s inception, has made every effort to take North Carolina seafood off of your plate is now trying to convince you that they’re working for your benefit.
Don’t you believe it!
The truth is, the CCA will not be satisfied until harvest, both commercial and recreational, of our wild marine stocks has been virtually eliminated.
In a lawsuit recently filed, against the State of NC, by the CCA, they claim that public, or recreational, fishing is a right protected by the constitution, and commercial fishing is merely a privilege. Their lawsuit claims that if cuts have to be made, they have to be made in the commercial sector, as in their view those who fish purely for fun are untouchable. While the CCA publicly claims that our marine resources belong to everyone, they continually work to destroy the one industry that most North Carolinians rely on for access to our fisheries, the commercial fishing industry.
As seafood consumers you need to be aware of the CCA’s true agenda and beware of any claim they make, especially when they claim to be working on your behalf.
Glenn Skinner
NCFA-Executive Director
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE:
PRIMARY ELECTION is Tuesday, May 17th. Here is a list of candidates for the General Assembly. Next week we’ll list the candidates for US Senate and US House of Representatives. We are listing only those candidates who represent coastal counties. If you want information on any other district, let us know.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY:
NC HOUSE:
District 1: Chowan, Currituck, Part of Dare, Perquimans, Tyrell, Washington
R: Ed Goodwin, incumbent, unopposed
District 3: Most of Craven
R: Steve Tyson, incumbent, unopposed
District 5: Camden, Gates, Hertford, Pasquotank
D: Howard Hunter, incumbent
R: Joe Pike and Bill Ward
District 13: Carteret and small part of Craven (Pat McElraft is not running)
R: Pete Benton, Celeste Cairns, Eden Gordon Hill
D: Katie Tomberlin
District 14: Part of Onslow
R: George Cleveland, incumbent
D: Ike Johnson and Eric Whitfield
District 15: Part of Onslow
R: Phil Shepard, incumbent
D: Christopher Schulte
District 16: Part of Onslow and Pender
R: Carson Smith, incumbent, unopposed
District 17: Part of Brunswick
R: Frank Iler, incumbent
D: Edward McKeithan and Eric Terashima
District 18: Part of New Hanover
D: Deb Butler, incumbent
R: John Hinnant
District 19: Part of New Hanover and part of Brunswick”
R: Charles Miller, incumbent, unopposed
District 20: Part of New Hanover
R: Ted Davis, incumbent
D: Amy Block DeLoach
District 79: Beaufort, part of Dare, Hyde and Pamlico
R: Keith Kidwell, incumbent, and Ed Hege
NC SENATE:
District 1: Carteret, Chowan, Dare, Hyde, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Washington
R: Norman Sanderson and Bob Steinburg (both incumbents: the May 17th primary will determine this race as these are the only candidates.
District 2: Beaufort, Craven, Lenoir
R: Jim Perry, incumbent; unopposed
District 3: Bertie, Camden, Currituck, Gates, Halifax, Hertford, Martin, Northampton, Tyrell Warren
D: Ernestine Bazemore, incumbent, and Valerie Jordan
R: Bobby Hanig (currently serving in the House)
District 6: Onslow
R: Michael Lazzara, incumbent; unopposed
District 7: Part of New Hanover
R: Michael Lee, incumbent
D: Jason Minnicozzi
District 8: Brunswick, Columbus, Part of New Hanover
R: Bill Rabon, incumbent; unopposed
District 9: Bladen, Duplin, Jones, Pender, part of Sampson
R: Brent Jackson, incumbent; unopposed
God bless,
Jerry
HELP SUPPORT SOUTHERN SHRIMP ALLIANCE WITH THE CONTINUATION OF THE ANTIDUMPING DUTIES
Shrimpers, consumers, wholesalers, and processors…if you would like to help Southern Shrimp Alliance keep antidumping duties in place for imported shrimp, please fill out the appropriate forms below and return via mail or email before April 30, 2022 to the addresses below. (See our website for appropriate forms.)(Weekly Update)
Nathan Rickard
Picard Kentz & Rowe LLP
1750 K St., NW
Suite 800
Washington, DC 20006
nrickard@pkrllp.com
