North
Carolina Watermen United brought together Dare County leaders for a
“State of the County” discussion at Basnight’s Lone
Cedar Café last week.
“The current economic downturn has made all of us vitally aware
of every dollar that’s lost in Dare County,” said Britton
Shackelford, president of North Carolina Watermen United (NCWU), an
advocacy group for charter-boat captains and commercial fishermen, in
his opening comments at the meeting.
Shackelford, a Manteo charter-boat captain, said the issues that impact
watermen ultimately impact the economic and social well-being of Dare
County.
“The county’s future depends on our ability to work
together to chart a course for the future, rather than letting people
outside of our community chart a course for us,” he said.
About 37 individuals representing county and town governments, trade groups, and advocacy associations, attended the meeting.
The informal discussion uncovered common ground and common concerns.
Katherine Hopkins, wife of Manteo commercial fisherman Glenn Hopkins,
shared the story of moving to Dare County in 1987 when her husband
decided to buy a fishing boat and become a fisherman.
“My husband loves his work as a commercial fisherman, but he has
hated the battles over regulations that have put us out of business in
various ways. Still, we love living here and have never regretted
the decision we made in 1987,” she said.
Describing the work of the Outer Banks Home Builders Association,
association president Duke Geraghty said, “We want to see
science, not emotion,” an opinion likely shared by Hopkins’
husband and other watermen, such as Dewey Hemilright.
Hemilright described an uphill battle to have federal waters opened to
striped bass fishing and to fend off an effort to have striped bass
declared gamefish, a designation that prohibits commercial harvest.
Commenting on initiatives like gamefish status and net bans, Hatteras
charter-boat captain Rom Whitaker said, “I’d hope
legislators would think very hard before they’d consider putting
any working man out of business in this economic climate.”
Ben Sproul of the Dare County Restaurant Association said many
“mom-and-pop” restaurants are facing hardships similar to
those faced by family fishing businesses.
Dare County commissioner Mike Johnson noted that the county Commission
for Working Watermen is exploring ways to promote local seafood.
“We are going to move forward very energetically on that
issue. Our plan is to hook people in Dare County on our fish and
shellfish first,” said Johnson, who serves as chairman of the
watermen commission.
Johnson said the Commission for Working Watermen is looking for volunteers to work on a local seafood promotion campaign.
Volunteers needed to promote Dare County seafood
The Dare County Commission for Working Watermen needs volunteers to help launch a project promoting Dare County seafood.
The project will be patterned after the successful Carteret Catch:
Select North Carolina Seafood from the Fishermen of Carteret County
(www.carteretcatch.org), but tailored to fit Dare County.
Carteret Catch has flourished due to a strong network of support in
that county. Community members have created a market identity and
promotional activities for fish and shellfish landed by Carteret County
fishermen.
The Dare County Commission for Working Watermen believes a Dare County
program similar to Carteret Catch would benefit from a broad range of
knowledge and experience in fields such as business and advertising,
finance, restaurant management, cooking, health, education, marine
biology, resource management, graphic arts, as well as commercial
fishing, and seafood wholesaling and retailing.
Individuals interested in the project should call Jamie Reibel,
vice-chairman of the Commission for Working Watermen, at 252-473-2901.
