RALEIGH — The General Assembly is moving forward with a proposal by the Coastal Conservation Association that would make red drum, spotted sea trout, and striped bass off-limits to commercial fisherman and thus, fisherman say, the majority of the public.
By designating the three species “game fish,” they only could be caught recreationally, by hook and line, making them unavailable to the 97 percent of North Carolinians who do not fish for themselves.
Commercial fishermen say these are not the first fish to be taken off the market and they won’t be the last. If the CCA has its way, they say, commercial fishing would cease to exist in North Carolina and in most of the United States.
House Bill 353 — the Game Fish Bill — appeared to be dead in the water last summer, but it resurfaced last week in a new study committee called the Marine Fisheries Committee. Rep. Darrell McCormick, R-Yadkin, heads the study committee. Among other things, the committee is charged with assessing the economic impact of redesignating the three fish as game fish.
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