June 14, 2017 — Hundreds of commercial fishermen and their families, along with local government and agency leaders spent Wednesday walking the halls of the North Carolina Legislative Building in an effort to battle a bill they say could shut down the entire industry.
House Bill 867 would attempt to rewrite the Fisheries Reform Act, which is the body of statutes that provides the framework for fisheries management in North Carolina.
The event was organized by North Carolina Watermen United and the North Carolina Fisheries Association.
Those who came to support the bill were instructed by Jerry Schill, director of government affairs for the NCFA, to visit with as many legislators as possible to share their stories of how the measure would be detrimental to their livelihoods.
But just as opponents were arriving on Jones Street in Downtown Raleigh, many wearing white T-shirts and red buttons calling for a no vote, word trickled out that the legislation was being amended.
Rep. Beverly Boswell, R-Kill Devil Hills, told a gathering of local officials from Dare County and commercial fishing business leaders and advocates that legislators were working on possible changes to the bill until 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Boswell gave the group a list of legislators to talk with about the potential impact to not just the fishing industry, but Dare County and North Carolina as a whole.