Reeling in the Truth: NC's Fish Kings

SALT STRONG VIDEO - www.facebook.c...
NC CONSTITUTION ON FISHING - www.ncleg.gov/...
CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS!! - www.ncleg.gov/...
Please thank REP FRANK ILER and let him know it's even worse than he knows - [e-mail]
Letter from Rep Iler - ilerforhouse.c...
Press Release from Josh Stein - www.joshstein....

[@rbmclamb]

Keep pushing. Thanks again for what you are doing

[@SaltHoundHC]

Appreciate the effort and continued push, Steve.

[@FishingwithBrewski]

Thank you. Call your legislators! Once a week until they agree to take this problem seriously.

[@Big88Country]

Ski, really appreciate you keeping us informed on these issues. I have lived here on the coast since I joined the Marine Corps in 1983. This is one of the most CORRUPT industries I have ever seen. It has NEVER been about the resource and has always been about the commercial fisherman, just calling it like I see it. We need reform in all parts of this industry. Being able to rent your license out has always been about the fisherman and not the resource. I have a lifetime Sportsman license, why can't I rent that out if I am planning not to hunt this year? BECAUSE IT IS WRONG to be able to do it, just like it is wrong for the commercial guys to do it, but that's the way it has always been. REFORM, we need it now!!! This is corruption at the highest level.

[@johnnieyoung6497]

Appreciate the effort from you.

[@Ken-xm1rf]

Another good one, Steve. Thanks for taking the time to put this out there and thanks for the reminder to contact my reps again. They will hear from me again tomorrow.

[@FishingwithBrewski]

@Ken-xm1rf thank you. The voices of the people is what really matters.

[@paulmoss7940]

Wow. You are , in no small part , responsible for this exposure. Thank you Sir.

[@tideoneon6358]

I wouldn’t trust Josh Stein as far as I can throw him.

[@FishingwithBrewski]

@tideoneon6358 I wouldn't trust any of them, but I can tell you that Robinson has refused outright to speak publicly about his stance on fisheries. I've even supported his campaign. I've also received some threats from NCFA members about what's going to happen when he gets elected. I can't say he'll be bad for us for sure, but I can say for sure that the big comm folks sure seem to think he's going to be very good for them and there's no world in which that's good for us.

[@porchpicker56]

Thanks for your efforts to bring this to light. I live in the NC mountains and have purchased an annual CRFL for years as I used to go to the coast for vacation and fishing. No more. I am boycotting the NC coastal area until this gets repaired.

[@paulrudar9057]

Beware of Josh Stein . Cooper promised he would help either fisheries. Once in office he turned his back did nothing.

[@FishingwithBrewski]

He definitely didn't deliver as promised. I'm assuming because of the total Republican control, he had to sell us out to get support from some of the Republican coastal legislators for things he cared more about.

[@paulrudar9057]

I believe Mark Robinson would help the cause a lot more.

[@crash86ed]

What makes you believe that?

[@capefearcapt4679]

Veto proof majority in the NC General Assembly.

[@RobertCurtin-hi2cm]

It’s the same w Md Chesapeake bay and tributaries

[@FishingwithBrewski]

Did you hear they're opening the winter dredge fishery for blue crabs? Couldn't believe it

[@NcSojourner]

I was in the meeting in Morehead in 96', degrees in hand, spent 8yrs providing data,fish samples, Intel, to Duke marine lab,uncw, ncmf all for nothing.... Heard the head of fisheries say they'd never do away with inshore trawling ,gigging, and gill nets because if they did they'd have to admit that they failed to do their jobs as fisheries management..I stood up and said why not do it now ? We're the laughing face of all states surrounded by oceans,,, we should be the best & we're the worst.... Deaf ears, & sinful hardened hearts lead our politicians & management... the public should really see just how pathetic & wasteful the ncmf are....

[@FishingwithBrewski]

@NcSojourner always looking for people like you who have a lot of firsthand expereince that are willing to speak out. I know Dr. Daniel made statements very similar to that but is telling a very different story these days.

[@NcSojourner]

It's the sin of a 401k & the pride of life.... Not sure I can be of use, but I'll pray about it...

[@dirkswart8950]

It was promised that all that license money would be good to enhance habitat and to help the the recreational fisherman have more support and better resource management. Apparently it has not worked out just say our money has not been put to good use.

[@big-action]

just wrote to greg murphy my congressman thank you for leading this fight

[@FishingwithBrewski]

@big-action thank you! Greg Murphy is federal, so he doesn't have anything to do with NC fisheries management. If you Google (nc find your legislators) and enter your address, you'll get a list of reps. NC house and NC Senate are the ones you'll want to contact. NCWF has made it really easy to reach out with this link. ncwf.org/save-our-sounds/

[@Grouper64]

The quota is still the same no matter how many licenses are active. What you are suggesting now are that each participant gets a certain quota no matter how many licenses they hold which is catch shares which does in fact make fish kings that just pull in money by holding multiple licenses. The large corporations want catch shares and the small artisanal fishermen do not. the CCA would love to implement catch shares in the atlantic like they helped to do in the gulf and that is a bad thing for commercial and recreational alike. It is a gated access where only a select few of wealthy individuals make all the money and have all the quota. Anyone that has been close to the commercial fisheries has fought tooth and nail successfully the last 15-20 years to keep that from happening in the atlantic. There are many things that need to be fixed in our fishery but the data and science must come first to make the allocations more fair before concentrating efforts on loopholes in the system.

[@FishingwithBrewski]

This is only one part of 3 primary changes we are calling for. WRC taking over MFC will solve a lot of problems including allocation. An outright ban on inshore trawling is the 2nd item, and license reform is the 3rd. I'm not suggesting catch shares at all. I'm suggesting that comm licenses should not be able to be used as a commodity to make money or as a way for a rec fishermen who does not sell their catch to avoid the limits that everyone else must abide by. I totally agree that catch shares is the worst possible scenario for creating fish royalty.

[@DavidSneed-u1j]

Sorry, but this is incorrect. CCA has never supported catch shares on any level.

[@ex1494]

We need a different party in charge of our state government, then the new Governor can insert his own NCDMF staff. Then we can change any rule we want. Bottom line.

[@FishingwithBrewski]

The big push right now, just so that we have a somewhat unified voice, is to dissolve the MFC and give WRC authority over all the waters.

[@kylevanalthuis8121]

How much of the offshore commercial flounder netting is taking Southern Flounder from off the NC coast? I've seen statements on forums that most of the commercial landings reported in NC that are counted as Southern Flounder are actually not Southern Flounder and are instead flounder from off the shores of states like NJ, just brought back to NC ports?

[@FishingwithBrewski]

If you watch the last video I made covering trawl bycatch numbers, you can see that the tracking of both species is separated and we have a pretty good handle on how many southern flounder are dying in that fishery while not being counted against the comm quota in the same way that rec discards are counted. In fact, the trawls discard almost exactly the same weight as the total rec allocation!!

[@DavidSneed-u1j]

The flounder caught up north and landed in NC are summer flounder. NC commercial fishermen have an over 3 million pound summer flounder quota that is caught up north and landed in NC. Keep in mind that NC anglers are not allowed to harvest summer or Gulf flounder either. So over 93% of the flounder harvest landed in NC is by for-profit commercial fishermen.

[@secretjourney4815]

Beware…. Don’t let them “Boeing” you . Your getting too close to

[@FishingwithBrewski]

@@secretjourney4815 huh?

[@pdoutdoors7272]

Hey Brewski, was wandering if you have seen or read the article about this issue in this week's issue of The County Compass, one of the local newspapers in Pamlico County. If not, I'd be glad to get you at least a photo of the article. Might be good to keep up with the propaganda being distributed throughout the area on this issue.

[@FishingwithBrewski]

@pdoutdoors7272 Thanks. Doug Cross wrote that article. If you haven't seen the "Cross manifesto" about his ideas for how to split speckled trout, it will shine some light for anybody who thinks they can believe anything he says.

[@bassomatic1871]

Much admiration for you speaking out. Curious, have you been threatened yet to shut up? I would not put it past the darker side of the industry to attempt that.

[@FishingwithBrewski]

Once or twice. A lot of the commercial guys actually agree with me but are generally afraid to say so in public. Almost nobody supports the big trawls being inside, and all the little guys know the fish houses fix prices and screw over the little guy.

[@claymcarthur8586]

Apparently you like eating seafood from an asian country.

[@danielvote9097]

Apparently you are not paying attention. If I want flounder I am having to purchase it. I don't know where it comes from. I would rather harvest it myself. That way I am certain where it comes from and how it is handled. That should be my right.

[@FishingwithBrewski]

I'd appreciate it if you'd actually watch the video before leaving a comment.

[@alltree78]

@clay, it seems you like to comment on these issues with absolutly no clue of what facts are. This is the problem with most commercial fisherman, they are stuck in the old ways and only believe what there rich buddies are telling them when in fact they are laughing at you behind your back while they continue to fill there pockets. Do your research, facts are facts!

[@RobertCurtin-hi2cm]

Thank you for this example of republicans putting shout term profit over sustainable practice to preserve environment and natural resources ❤

[@FishingwithBrewski]

This issue doesn't really follow party lines. Gov Cooper assigns every MFC member so we wouldn't be in this mess if he had been fair to the public with his selections.