April 25, 2016 — WILMINGTON, NC — When he took the podium at an N.C. Recreational Fishing Alliance meeting last week in Wilmington, Rep. Jimmy Dixon, R-Duplin, was about the only person in a suit and tie. Outfitted in baseball caps and T-shirts emblazoned with leaping marlins and big-mouth bass, some in the audience, Dixon suspected, might be in unfamiliar waters.
“Some of you in here don’t even know the definition of politics, and here you are trying to get involved in politics,” he said. Before diving into a speech on fisheries, Dixon broke down that definition.
“‘Poli,’ which means many,” he explained. “‘Ticks’: blood-sucking parasites.”
The crowd roared with laughter, and after the past year in North Carolina fisheries management you’d be hard-pressed to find a fisherman in the room who disagreed. A fight over flounder catch restrictions pitted commercial and recreational fishermen against each other and pulled state legislators into the fray; state cuts to cobia catch roiled sports-fishermen again; and in February Division of Marine Fisheries Director Louis Daniel abruptly resigned and moved to shellfish sanitation.
Just last week, the state Department of Environmental Quality gave coastal management director Braxton Davis control of marine fisheries. A news release states the divisions will stay separate, but officials will “examine ways in which the two divisions can achieve efficiencies in operations.”
Months of turmoil have left local anglers concerned the state is ignoring possible overfishing of some species, especially in North Carolina’s delicate estuaries. At the RFA meeting, Dixon was joined by other leaders — Rep. Ted Davis Jr., R-New Hanover; Rep. John Bell, R-Craven; Rep. Billy Richardson, D-Cumberland; and aides to Congressman David Rouzer — who told fishermen that they’re listening.