September 25, 2012 — After decades of proud service, these fish houses are now facing decline, losing ground to an out-of-control economy, changing real-estate market and fuel prices that have risen out of control. Add to that the other issues that confront fish house operators and the fishermen upon which they depend — including the burgeoning numbers of rules and regulations they must meet in order to conduct business — and it’s easy to see why operating a fish house is becoming less and less viable.
And that’s a shame. Fish houses meet a real need. They give fishermen a viable way to sell their catches while providing fresh seafood to restaurants, businesses and, in some cases, individuals. Although difficult and demanding work, fish houses that line the area’s coast usually remain in the same hands for generation after generation, serving the customers they’ve had for many years and adding to the historical charm of their home counties.
But as the government pushes more and more regulations both on small businesses and the business of fishing onto fish houses and their owners, fewer remain. According to at least one report, at the end of 2011, there were only 83 fish houses catering primarily to wholesale distribution remaining on the Tar Heel coast, a number that reflects a net loss of 43 fish houses over the previous 10-year period.
Government has overdosed small business with increasing amounts of new and more complicated regulations. As a result, fish house proprietors find themselves squeezed by the high cost of operating their businesses and the continually shifting demands of the laws that affect and regulate them. Fish houses and the fishermen who depend on them for their sales are as much a part of Eastern North Carolina life as Carolina blue skies and loblolly pines.
To lose them because they can’t fight both increasing bureaucracy and rising costs would be both a shame and a sad shifting of life as it has always been.
Read the full story at the Jacksonville Daily News