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Commentary:  The good old days of skinny dipping on the seashore are over

Skinny dipping has a long history on the Outer Banks.  Dewey Parr writes that he doesn’t really understand what the allure is to walk the beach or swim naked, but to many it has been a long-time tradition. In fact, he confesses he has done it.  But he says, our skinny dipping days are over on Hatteras and Ocracoke.   Read more




Commentary: NPS refusal to drain stormwater is a point of contention for islanders and visitors

Stormwater from Hurricane Irene and heavy rains on Hatteras in September have led to serious flooding in areas of the seashore, especially near Ramps 43 and 44 and in the Cape Point campground.  Hatteras Island blogger Jeffrey “Wheat” Golding takes on the Park Service and its refusal to deal with a problem that has been around since Hurricane Isabel in 2003. He says it degrades the seashore and is a serious health issue.   Read more




Commentary: A young Hatteras waterman weighs in on the absurdity of catch shares

Hatteras waterman Patrick Caton, 26, writes that catch shares are not about conservation, and they are definitely not about fishermen.  Their implementation, he writes, would have devastating consequences for all fishermen in the South Atlantic and would effectively ruin North Carolina’s small fishing communities.  Read more


Here come catch shares: How NOAA and the Environmental Defense Fund plan to destroy North Carolina’s working watermen

Catch shares are here.  They are, as you read this, being implemented by NOAA through the National Marine Fisheries Service. The goal is to reduce the number of working watermen in the United States by more than 60 percent.  The propaganda put out by the Environmental Defense Fund, which has endorsed and pushed the program, “informs” fishermen that the ones left standing, after their neighbors are economically destroyed, will be able to get rich and somehow fishing towns and villages will then “be vibrant.”

First, commercial fishermen were introduced to catch shares.  Charter boats and headboats are being targeted now, and it won’t be long before it will affect recreational fishermen who don’t fish on charter boats.

If we want to see coastal heritage and traditions vanish, we should simply do nothing.  If we believe that the right to fish should be the exclusive right of those who have the deepest pockets, we should simply do nothing.  If we believe that reducing the ability of coastal citizens to generate income and pay more taxes is good for our state’s economy, we should simply do nothing. 

Or we need to let our representatives in Congress know that we want no part of this program. Read more

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