May 2014 Newsletter. To join, click here and submit your application online.

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1 May 2014 Newsletter 2014 Membership Renewal By Kathy Sparrow Membership Coordinator In the second half of 2013, NCWU started a real push to re-energize its Membership after dedicating much time and resources to push back the Game Fish Bill HB against special interest groups. By the end of 2013, we had resurged Membership numbers and the interest of our fishing communities, and had our highest Membership numbers since NCWU needs the support of fishermen ALL watermen recreational, charter & headboat captains and commercial fishermen - and the businesses that rely on fishermen. To join, click here and submit your application online. Or give me a call and I ll send you an application...kathy at Ladies and Gentlemen of the NCWU, Letter from the President It looks like spring has finally sprung, and it seems like it has been a long time coming. We have had more than our fair share of wind, ice, snow and fog. Maybe we got all the bad weather out of the way, and we can get down to going to work, or enjoying ourselves in some pretty weather. Either way, we can t do anything about the weather, so we deal with it, and go on. That is part of a fisherman s mentality. The silver lining in the bad weather is that we have some time to devote to Legislative matters. The list of these seem to stretch out father every year. Below is a list of things that NCWU has been involved in during 2013 and already in this year, and whether you are a commercial, charter/headboat or recreational fisherman, you need to take note and follow what we are and have been doing. Whether you live and work on the coast, or just come to enjoy yourself, the economic engine that is fishing is not understood very well in Raleigh or Washington DC. Special interest groups and the money they spread around have hampered everyone that enjoys fishing or does it for a living. Recreational fishermen need options, and so do charter/headboat and commercial fishermen. Fishermen of all stripes target what God gives us at any given time, and that gives species that may not be in the best shape time to recover. Many times, the species at a low level have not been caught, but are going through natural cycles. A case in point is the winter kill of

2 speckled trout this past year. Rather than open the season on these dead and dying fish, NC Fisheries Management chose to shut the fishery down, which allowed countless millions of fish to wash up on the shore for buzzards and gulls and other critters to eat. What a waste! Now, fishermen are dealing with an artificial regulatory diminished harvest. It begs the question - when history has proven that NC undergoes a winter kill, on average, one in ten years - why was the harvest not increased the past two years when all fishermen were reporting unprecedented numbers of specks? The bright spot is red drum. A phenomenal amount of fish has been seen in places, and at times, when and where these fish have not been seen before. Rather than drop the size limit and increase the harvest and institute a trophy tag, NC fisheries management has decided to remain status quo. Rather than celebrate a very viable, healthy stock, management has curtailed the commercial harvest and kept charter/headboats at historical size and creel limits. Conscious decisions on management s part to deny all fishermen access to healthy and vibrant resources is not the creed of NCWU. Outside of the state, the feds are coming fast for your right and your privilege to fish. An ESA listing for sea turtles and a possibility of an ESA listing for sturgeon is going to, and in many cases already has impacted access to fishery resources. Historical numbers of turtles and historical numbers of nests (With their nesting success), has not reduced restrictions that could pose an interaction, but has increased them. The government has not even done a stock assessment to determine the number of turtles, nor said how many we have to have in order to take them off the ESA listing. As we go to countless meetings about issues of access to fisheries and fisheries management, the best we can get is a Trust us. No facts; no numbers; just a bunch of Lip Service It makes me think of something my grandfather used to tell me. Trust most of what you see, and very little of what you hear. When it comes to the government trying to reach in your pocket, don t trust anything. Now, I understand clearly what he was talking about. Weighing in on management issues for all users of our fishery resources, we have learned a few things 1. The fisheries management systems, both on the state and federal levels, are broken. 2. The way to impact change is through the ballot. Vet the potential candidates closely. Don t believe what they tell you, but look at their voting record. If they are not willing to Do the best for the most, you probably shouldn t vote for them. For the ones that are already in office, ask them questions and demand that they watch out for you. If they don t have your vote, then they don t have the power that many of them crave. YOU ultimately have the upper hand. Educate yourself on what is going on and join with us. We have drawn the line, and we are making a stand. We re making a stand for what is right and just and true. Ernie Foster said it best when we were organizing NCWU Truth is the highest and easiest position to defend. We will continue to tell the truth, and if it steps on your toes, maybe you shouldn t have had your foot in the way. Y all go fishing! After this long dreary winter, I am ready to see you on the rip! Shack Britt Shackelford NCWU President brittonshack@gmail.com What's NCWU Doin' For Me? by Melba Milak Executive Secretary I hear it over and over What s NCWU doin for me? Why should I pay? NCWU sends announcements about NC MFC, SAFMC, MAFMC, HMS and special-called meetings like bluefin tuna hearings, but anyone can get those by logging onto the websites and signing up on the lists.

3 What you do not see is the behind-the-scenes work by our Members and Board of Directors who are not paid for the time and efforts they make daily and nightly after fishing all day. Many of the actions are IN OPPOSITION to a proposed rule or fishery issue, so sometimes, there is a negative connotation to the work, but it needs to be done. Since NCWU represents all three Sectors of fishermen Recreational, Charter/Headboat and Commercial, we don t always have unilateral agreement on all issues, but after much discussion, we are able to present a united front to represent the best interests of all fishermen and keep ALL of them fishing. We are far ahead of the in-fighting between Sectors that has greatly affected fishermen in so many other states and shut down fisheries or decreased limits for them. In 2013, NCWU - Opposed Game Fish Bill HB #983 o Sent three letters by and hard copy to all Senators and Representatives in the NCGA o Helped sponsor a bus to Raleigh for the Legislative Forum regarding the bill o Ran ads in the Raleigh News and Observer with our reasons for opposition to the bill Opposed the Petition to Re-Classify Coastal Areas as Secondary Nursery Areas (Shrimp Trawl Ban) o Sent a letter by and hard copy to the 9 MFC Committee Members; 10 Finfish Comm Members, 11 Habitat Comm Members, 12 Sea Turtle Comm Members and 11 Shellfish Comm Members o Attended two meetings in Morehead City and one in Raleigh regarding the issue. Attended the NC Farm Bureau Federation Meeting to help Develop a Policy for adopting NC Harvested Seafood as an Agricultural Commodity Sent letters by and hard copy to the NC MFC Director in regard to the extension of the Sea Turtle Incidental Take Permit Sent a letter by and hard copy to the Federal US Fish & Wildlife Commission in opposition to the establishment of a Critical Habitat Designation for Loggerhead Sea Turtles that would affect 90 miles of NC shores Submitted Comments to SAFMC on Vermillion Snapperand Red Porgy, on Vessel Monitoring Systems,on Black Sea Bass, Red Snapper, Comprehensive ACLs, Dolphin Wahoo and SEDAR 24 Submitted Comments to HMS on Swordfish and Bluefin tuna Submitted comments to NC MFC on Sharks, Strategic Habit Area and Sea Trout Sent proposals to NC MFC regarding flounder, red drum, gray trout and bycatch reduction. Set up a booth and distributed information at o North Carolina Seafood Festival - Morehead City o Day at the Docks Hatteras o OBX Seafood Festival Nags Head In 2014, NCWU has already - Provided a tour of Oregon Inlet and the Bonner Bridge for the NC Farm Bureau Federation Sponsored an Informational Panel Discussion at Pirate s Cove with the Dare County Oregon Inlet Task Force Sent Requests for NC Fishermen by and hard copy to all Senators and Reps in the NCGA o Move the Commercial Sector and the Charter/Headboat Sector to the NC Department of Agriculture o Move the Recreation Sector to the NC Wildlife Resource Commission o Ask the NC DENR to enlist its Law Enforcement Officers to handle Observations for the state. o Pay all LEOs their back-pay. o Institute a complete audit by the NC Auditor to locate the lost money that DENR says was sent to pay the commitments to LEOs. o Oppose any action supporting the Joint Enforcement Agreement. Joined the NC Fisheries Association in a request for an action proposed by two affiliate groups, the Ocracoke Working Watermen s Association and the Carteret County Fishermen s Association, to ask the NC MFC Director to issue a proclamation regarding large mesh gill nets and red drum bycatch. So, please ask. I am happy to tell you what NCWU has been and is doin for you! PLEASE SUPPORT US WITH YOUR MEMBERSHIP! TUNA! TUNA! TUNA!

4 Fishin Frenzy Capt Greg Mayer Tuna Fever Capt Billy Maxwell Release Capt Rom Whitaker PHIDEAUX Capt Jamie Reibel Tuna Duck Capt Dan Rooks NC FARM BUREAU FEDERATION TRIP TO OREGON INLET NOT A BAD DAY AT ALL! Melba Milak Desperado Capt Rob Barker Poacher Capt Devon Cage Bi-Op-Sea Capt Jesse Granitzki It wasn t a bad day not a bad day at all. It was raining, but only a misty drizzle under a gray sky with no fog. The wind was blowing Northeast, but only 5 10 mph, much less than some days when it blows mph directly into the inlet and produces enormous seahorse-mane breakers. The waves were only 1 to 2 feet; just enough to lullaby-rock the boat, but not splashing spray water over the gunwales. The channel markers were in place; no creeping along watching the depth recorder every second. It was cold, in the lower 40s, but not freezing. On February 26, 2014, eight charter boat captains fired up their diesel engines and made a trip from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center five from the Center and three from Pirate s Cove Marina. They snaked along the evermoving channel and under the bridge. But they were not headed offshore with a charter party on a trip for dolphin or yellowfin tuna. They were not tournament fishing, looking for showy billfish. They were not inshore-boats going out along the Banks to reel in bluefish and Spanish mackerel. These boats were not going commercial fishing for bluefin tuna as many of them do during the winter. The boats were taking about 60 members of the North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and Staff on a sight-seeing and fact-finding tour to look at the problems with the channel and Oregon Inlet and the Bonner Bridge. The NC Farm Bureau Federation Board is comprised of 63 Members, from across the state. These men and women are the organization s leaders who direct and the guide the Farm Bureau. In September 2013, the NCWU Board of Directors was part of a group of fishermen invited to a meeting to discuss Fishery Issues for the NC Farm

5 Sea Era Capt Dean Johnson Bureau Federation. At the meeting, Farm Bureau members from a number of coastal counties developed proposed policies that were subsequently adapted by several county Farm Bureaus at their annual meetings. The policies were presented for adoption at the state level. After discussion and adoption by the statewide NC Farm Bureau Federation Resolutions Committee, the Resolutions were presented to the organization s voting delegates for adoption at their annual meeting in December Among the Resolutions adopted were ones in support of access to local seafood by NC citizens and classification of seafood as agriculture. Each year the Federation go on an educational trip, usually to see agricultural production and marketing in another state. However, the 2014 tour focused on Eastern North Carolina. The Oregon Inlet boat tour, visit to O Neal s Sea Harvest and presentations at the Coastal Studies Institute, provided board members with an understanding of the importance of the inlet to the coastal economy, of fishing to the economic health of Wanchese and neighboring communities and of the engineering realities involved to secure long-term ocean access for coastal fishermen. Waste Knot (formerly First Crack) Capt Barry Sawyer Fish N Fool Capt Bobby Smith Fintastic Capt Duke Spencer The boats made many passes and lazy circles in-and-around the channel and under the bridge while the board members asked about the shifting sands and the dangers of maneuvering a boat through a constantly-shoaling channel and what can be done to solve the problems. They noticed the color changes green, gray, brown, light brown - just beside the channel and guessed how deep it might be shaking their heads at the few feet of depth. Many kept their eyes on the white waves lining the mouth of the inlet, and most agreed that they did not want to cross through it. Britt Shackelford, NCWU President, riding on one of the boats with Larry Wooten, President of NC Farm Bureau, remarked that the 30% of the time when the inlet is impassable would be the same as NC farmers being unable to get to their fields for the harvest 30% of the time. After about a forty-minute ride, the boats came back to the marina, not with fish, but with much information about the dangers of the inlet and the bridge. The Federation Board also went to O Neal s Sea Harvest in Wanchese. What an exciting day at the fish house! Not one, but two bluefin tuna! One had been brought in late the night before by a North Carolina fisherman; it was wrapped and iced ready to be air-freighted to Japan. The other one had just been unloaded from a boat from New Jersey. The visitors got to experience the whole process weighing, testing, icing the fish interior, wrapping in plastic, icing the box for a trip to the Fulton Fish Market in New York. The cartons must have reminded some of the board members about bushels of corn or meat packed for shipment. Two silver-haired, distinguished-looking men, Mister Benny O Neal in a hoodie and boots and Larry Wooten in a windbreaker, stood talking quietly about business on the cold, wet concrete floor - a variation of the threepiece suit traders on Wall Street. This morning in Wanchese, these two men represented the essence the very heart - of the commodities market.

6 Debbie Hamrick, Director; Specialty Crops, for NC Farm Bureau later remarked The Federation Board Members had an experience they will always remember. Everyone buzzed about it all day long. Outrigger Capt Aaron Wright NCWU would like to thank the eight captains who provided the boat tour, O Neal s Sea Harvest and the Coastal Studies Institute for their expertise and all of their time and efforts to impart information to the Farm Bureau Federation. Farm Bureau Federation at O'Neal's Sea Harvest Eat Local Seafood! Rick Scarborough, Captain of the Speck-Tackler, and his wife, Donna, run The Captain s Table Restaurant in Buxton. The Seafood is always Fresh and Local!