Jerry Schill Archives - Saving Seafood

How Did North Carolina’s Commerical Fishing Industry Fare In Hurricane Florence?

October 10, 2018 — While cleanup crews are getting a good idea of how much the damage Hurricane Florence will cost, it’s not yet clear what the storm might have done to North Carolina’s fishing industry.

Farmers on land lost more than $1 billion worth of crops in the floodwaters from the hurricane. Jerry Schill of the North Carolina Fisheries Association says, in a way, commercial fishermen lost crops of their own.

“The fish stocks that they normally fish for in the fall, those fish stocks are displaced,” he said.

When a hurricane comes through, fish move to calmer waters – and it takes a while for them to come back – or they get caught in the storm surge and end up on dry land. One of the many images that went viral after Hurricane Florence was a photo of dead fish on Interstate 40 near Wilmington.

“A crop in the field, if it gets touched by floodwaters, it’s not usable. Well, our crop better be touched by water, or it’s not usable,” Schill said.

The exception to that rule is shellfish. Schill says commercial fishermen lost millions of oysters and clams because of too much exposure to fresh water from the floods.

Schill was speaking to a committee in the Legislature this week, one of many considering Hurricane Florence relief measures. The full House and Senate reconvene next week, and lawmakers are trying to sort through the damage estimates before then.

Those numbers help these committees come up with how much money they should ask for when the Legislature votes on a recovery package. But the commercial fishing industry doesn’t have the full picture yet.

Read the full story at WUNC

North Carolina Fisheries Association: Call to Equitable Fisheries Management

April 30, 2018 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:

Letters need to be sent to the governor.

NCFA recently sent a letter to Governor Cooper requesting that he replace all 9 members of the Marine Fisheries Commission.

NCFA letter to Governor Cooper

We are asking YOU to also send a letter to the Governor! We really need to let him know that the commercial fishing community is serious about GETTING THE MARINE FISHERIES COMMISSION FAIR AND EQUITABLE!

We can only do that with your help. If you click the link below you can print out a letter, then simply sign it and mail it. If you would rather do one in your own words, that’s even better, but keep it short and simple and ON MESSAGE!

If you have any questions, call Glenn Skinner at 252-646-7742 or Jerry Schill at 252-361-3015.

Letter to Governor Cooper for you to print, sign & send!

Here’s the address for mailing:

Governor Roy Cooper

20301 Mail Service Center

Raleigh, NC 27699-0301

Or by email: roy.cooper@nc.gov

North Carolina: Tighter requirements for commercial fishing licenses proposed

January 22, 2018 — A proposal to tighten the requirements to get a commercial fishing license in North Carolina is nearing review by the state Marine Fisheries Commission following recommendations from a committee last week.

But any changes to the rules for being able to carry what is known as the Standard Commercial License would require the final approval of the N.C. General Assembly.

The panel, which was made up of commission Chairman Sammy Corbett, a commercial fisherman and dealer, recreation member Chuck Laughridge and scientist Mike Wickre, has submitted a list of five requirements. They will be subject to public comment before their presentation to the full commission at its February meeting in Wrightsville Beach.

Corbett noted in a press release from the Division of Marine Fisheries following the Jan. 11 meeting that the committee’s proposals “are not etched in stone.”

While the group’s meeting last week in Morehead City was open to the public, concerns have been raised over how they came about the proposal.

Because the committee was composed of just three commissioners, work on the plan took place in a less-than -open environment, according to some commercial industry advocates.

The meeting lasted just 30 minutes before the options were read into a motion, causing many to feel that the decisions were made outside the public’s eye.

Supporters of making changes to the rules, including Corbett, say that a number of recreational fishermen buy the $400 commercial license simply to get around catch limits, and then never sell what they catch.

“And if that in fact is happening, then it is an enforcement issue,” said Outer Banks Catch Chairperson Sandy Semans Ross. “Commercial fishing vessels must have a registration number on the vessel so they are easily spotted.”

“If a boat docks with a large catch and there is any question, Marine Patrol can ask who they are selling to and request a copy of the Trip Ticket when sold,” said Ross, who heads a group that promotes selling and serving locally-sourced seafood in stores and restaurants.

Read the full story at the Outer Banks Voice

NORTH CAROLINA: Tale of two sides: Opponents, backers of shrimp trawling petition weigh in

February 23, 2017 — NEW BERN, N.C. — A fishing industry advocacy group said the proposed state regulations in a recently approved petition could sink shrimp trawling in North Carolina, but a recreational fishermen’s environmental nonprofit thinks shrimping will just need to change.

Representatives from the N.C. Fisheries Association, a nonprofit industry group that advocates for the state seafood industry, and the North Carolina branch of the Coastal Conservation Association, an interstate nonprofit dedicated to protecting the coastal environment, spoke Tuesday to a crowd of about 84 people at the regular meeting of the Coastal Carolina Taxpayer’s Association at the Stanly Hall Ballroom. The association invited them to provide their opinions on the petition for rulemaking approved Thursday by the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission.

Jerry Schill, NCFA executive director, said the association thinks the proposed special secondary nursery areas are the biggest problem with the petition’s proposed rules.

“The people who created this petition, they don’t understand the history of the (shrimp trawl bycatch) issue,” he said. “The fishing industry created nursery areas in the 1970s. In the 1980s, the term ‘bycatch’ came up. Now we have turtle excluder devices in shrimp trawls and sea turtles have rebounded. Finfish bycatch is still an issue, but bycatch reduction devices are being used.”

Read the full story at the Carteret County News-Times

NORTH CAROLINA: Questions surround funding for flounder fishery observers

January 17, 2017 — Watermen want to know what happened to commercial license fees that were collected to fund observers required by law for flounder fishing when sea turtles are spotted in area waters.

Few answers were provided at a meeting of the North Carolina Commercial Fishing Resource Funding Committee on Jan. 4.

Records show that $1.3 million was allocated for the observers in the 2015-2016 fiscal year, but only $608,065 was spent.

Dewey Hemilright, who attended the meeting, asked how so much could have been spent on the Section 10 permit program when the flounder fishery was closed much of the season.

“Expenses need more accountability,” said Hemilright, a long-line fisherman. “This doesn’t affect me, but I’m willing to pay the extra money if it allows others to fish. But if there’s more being paid in than is needed, then it should be returned to the fishermen.”

An additional license fee was imposed after a state appropriation to cover the cost of complying with the federal permit’s conditions was eliminated. One condition requires the observers, who monitor interactions with endangered sea turtles and sturgeon.

The fishery can be shut down if turtles and sturgeon are found in the management area.

Section 10 observers are a part of the DMF Observer Program, also called the Resource Protection unit, which has much broader responsibilities, The unit develops fishery management plans, assesses stocks and collects at-sea information about commercial and recreational catches.

After the loss of revenue to pay for the permit program, the North Carolina Fisheries Association brokered a deal in which fishermen agreed to pay substantially higher license fees to fund the Section 10 permit observers.

“It was the only way they could continue to fish,” said Jerry Schill, NCFA director.

Read the full story at The Outer Banks Voice

NORTH CAROLINA: Public comment to be taken on petition impacting shrimp trawling

January 16, 2017 — A meeting set for this week will put the issue of resource protection versus gear restrictions on the shrimping industry up for debate.

The five advisory committees to the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission will meet jointly on Jan. 17 at the New Bern Riverfront Convention Center to receive public comment on a petition for rulemaking that would, if adopted, impact shrimp trawl fishing in most North Carolina waters.

The North Carolina Wildlife Federation submitted the petition on Nov. 2, and the commission has 120 days from that date to grant or deny the request that calls for stricter regulations for shrimp trawling and the shrimp season as a means to better protect habitat for juvenile finfish.

The petition asks the commission to designate all coastal fishing waters not already designated as nursery areas as special secondary nursery areas, including the ocean out to three miles. It also calls for establishing clear criteria for the opening of shrimp season and defining the type of gear and how and when gear may be used in special secondary nursery areas (SSNAs) during shrimp season.

Jerry Schill, president of the North Carolina Fisheries Association, a nonprofit organization for the state’s commercial fishing industry, said the restrictions sought through the petition would have severe impacts on the state’s shrimping industry.

NCFA: Workshop Meets to Address Bycatch in North Carolina Shrimp Trawl Fishery

January 13, 2017 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:

A workgroup formed by the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission in 2015 to investigate ways to further reduce bycatch in shrimp trawls met recently in New Bern. The industry work group is a collaborative effort that consists of staff from the Division of Marine Fisheries, N.C. Sea Grant, fishing vessel owners, net makers and a biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The meeting recently held at the Riverfront Convention Center in New Bern follows the second year of a three year project, and is showing some very promising results.

The goal set by the Marine Fisheries Commission for the workgroup was set at 40% reduction in finfish bycatch.

Of the devices that were tested, the device achieving the highest reduction in the previous year was further modified for year two, resulting in a 54.5% reduction of finfish bycatch and a 52.2% reduction in bycatch of all types.

It was noted that none of the sampling for the project was done by extrapolation, but by sampling the entire contents of over 180 tows.

The meeting was held while a Petition for Rulemaking, filed by the North Carolina Wildlife Federation and the Southern Environmental Law Center, is being considered by the Marine Fisheries Commission. If the proposed regulations were enacted as proposed by the petitioners, there would be severe restrictions to shrimping in North Carolina.

“In the many years that I’ve been involved with representing the state’s commercial fishermen, there is no one issue that we’ve spent more time on than reducing bycatch in the shrimp trawl fishery”, said Jerry Schill, President of the North Carolina Fisheries Association. “Further, there is no one issue where we’ve had more success than reducing that bycatch. However, with their goal of eliminating shrimp trawling in our state, the onslaught continues. It will not abate until they’re successful”.

The public meeting to address the petition will be held on Tuesday, January 17, 2017 at the Riverfront Convention Center in New Bern, NC, beginning at 12:30pm.

NORTH CAROLINA: Petition’s aim: Gear bans or resource protection?

November 28, 2016 — MOREHEAD CITY, N.C.– A conservation organization’s request that the state adopt stricter rules for shrimping and recreational spot and croaker isn’t sitting well with a local seafood industry advocacy group.

Jerry Schill, president of the N.C. Fisheries Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the state fishing industry, says the association thinks the petition for rulemaking from the N.C. Wildlife Federation, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the state’s natural resources, will lead to gear bans that could put shrimping in North Carolina in jeopardy.

However, David Knight, NCWF policy consultant, said the petition is meant to protect fish and their habitat and actually assist fishing communities by doing so.

The Southern Environmental Law Center presented a petition for rulemaking, on behalf of the NCWF, to the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission Nov. 17 in Kitty Hawk at the commission’s regular meeting.

The petition requests several changes to shrimping regulations, special secondary nursery area (SSNA) designation for all coastal fishing waters not already designated nursery areas and additional regulations for recreational spot and croaker fishing. The petition is under review for completeness by the MFC chairman, Sammy Corbett, and the commission’s legal counsel, Phillip Reynolds of the N.C. Department of Justice, after which it will go out for public comment.

Patricia Smith, N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries public information officer, said Mr. Corbett and Mr. Reynolds are still reviewing the petition as of Tuesday. According to a press release from the DMF, the state agency which enforces the regulations created by the MFC, the commission has 120 days from the date of the petition’s submission, Nov. 2, to take action granting or denying the request for rulemaking.

Read the full story at the Carteret County News-Times

NORTH CAROLINA: 3 Marine Fisheries Commission members reappointed, one new member appointed

November 9th, 2016 — Gov. Pat McCrory has reappointed three members of the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission, but it was his fourth appointment of Nov. 2 that has commercial-fishing interests seething and recreational fishing interests cheering what appears to be a super-majority on the nine-member board for recreationals.

Six days before the election, McCrory re-appointed commissioners Allison Willis, Mark Gorges and Chuck Laughridge, Willis to a commercial seat. Gorges and Laughridge swapped chairs, with Gorges now in a recreational seat and Laughridge in an at-large seat. The fourth appointment, to an at-large seat vacant since the resignation of Wilmington restaurant owner Keith Rhodes last November, went to Brad Koury of Burlington.

The appointment of Koury, described as a “businessman, sportsman and conservationist” certainly didn’t sit well with the commercial fishing industry.

“The appointments announced by Governor McCrory on Nov. 2 are astounding,” said Jerry Schill, president of the N.C. Fisheries Association, a trade group representing commercial fishermen. “The two at-large seats were filled by recreational fishermen, meaning that the (Commission) will now be three from the commercial perspective, five recreational and one scientist. Rather than fill the at-large seats with individuals from a different viewpoint, such as a restaurant owner or seafood consumer, the governor assures the continuing decimation of commercial fishing communities along our coast.”

Schill was also unhappy with the reappointment of Gorges and Laughridge. A lawsuit filed earlier this fall to which the NCFA was a party, alleged that several Commission members violated the N.C. Open Meetings Law, and Schill questioned whether commissioners named in the lawsuit should have kept their seats on the board.

Sammy Corbett, chairman of the nine-member Commission, echoed Schill’s comments about Koury’s appointment, but had no problems with the reappointments.

“I’m disappointed with the appointments. I really was hoping for more balance on the Commission. I expected Alison, Chuck and Mark to be reappointed. That’s good. We have worked with them and have a good relationship,” Corbett said. “I just didn’t think we needed another CCA guy on the Commission.

Read the full story at North Carolina Sportsman

North Carolina Fisheries Association files legal complaint over southern flounder rule process

September 30, 2016 — For the second time in recent years, entities representing commercial fishermen have taken to the courts to fight fisheries regulations.

The North Carolina Fisheries Association, a New Bern-based trade association representing commercial fishermen, announced that commercial fishermen have joined with several coastal counties in filing a legal complaint against the state over the process used in adopting new regulations for the southern flounder fishery.

The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission adopted stricter management measures for the fishery in November as a supplement to the state’s Southern Flounder Management Plan.

While the practical effect of the lawsuit would stop the closure of recreational and commercial flounder fisheries to take effect this fall, the concern raised by the NCFA has been over the use of the supplement process rather than the amendment process, which is a longer, more-involved process that allows for greater public input.

“Filing a lawsuit is the last resort for us,” said Brent Fulcher, chairman of the NCFA board of directors, via a news release announcing the litigation. “We testified many times last year before the Marine Fisheries Commission that using the supplement is the wrong approach and should be managed by a full-blown amendment that allows full public participation. Our advice was totally ignored.”

In a June 2015 report by The Daily News, NCFA President Jerry Schill called the supplement process used “quick and dirty.”

Schill said at the time that the amendment process includes a review by a committee of various stakeholders who make recommendations to the MFC on a management strategy. The process can take a year or so but allows for more scrutiny.

Supporters of the new rules, many recreational fishermen, however, cited stock status reports and said the southern flounder fishery is depleted and action was needed.

It’s not the first time the NCFA has felt the need in recent years to take legal action over fishery regulations.

Read the full story from Jacksonville Daily News