NC MFC can't see the forest...

... due to all the trees wearing rubber boots that keep jumping up in their faces. The Marine Fisheries Commision voted 5-2 AGAINST the gill net ban proposal that the Director of DMF, Dr Louis Daniel, had put out there. This will open up a whole can of whoop ass on NC commercial fishing. The gill netters have been catching turtles for years and not reporting, the state faces a lawsuit from turtle protection people, the Endangered Species Act mandates that the state do something about it. Dr Daniels proposes closing gill net fishing from May to December as something to placate the federal regulators. The commission votes it down. Can you see where this is headed? Don't be surprised if the National Marine Fisheries Service comes in to NC, takes over management of our fisheries and SHUTS DOWN all flounder and/or gill net fishing entirely. Way to be short sighted people. You've made your bed, now go cut down the trees...or something like that.

Capt. Gordon

http://captgordon.wordpress.com/2010/02/19/nc-mfc-messes-up-again/

When Gill Netters Attack

Editor's note: The following is a report from Capt. Tom Roller about an attempted boarding of his boat by angry commercial fishermen. Capt. Tom Roller is a fly fishing and light tackle guide out of the Carolina's. Tom and other inshore guides, (including our own Capt. Gordon Churchill) have been working to stop the use of unattended gill nets in North Carolina waters. As you can see from his note below - some folks don't like what he is doing. Please take a minute of your time and sign this petition to change the North Carolina gill net rules. The redfish you save....

The following is Capt. Roller's own story - unedited.

Gill Netting conflicts are nothing new in North Carolina. While the North Carolina Department of Marine Fisheries (DMF) would like you to believe that these conflicts are rare and isolated, it is anything but the truth. Many of these commercial fishermen (who either do it part-time or are of the poorest and lowest rung of the socio-economic ladder) act as if the water belongs to only them and no one else – particularly when it comes to guides. They set nets on top of you, wrap up the spots you were fishing the day prior and even apparently try to kill gamefish like redfish just insothat you cannot catch them.

As a guide, I have had my share of run-ins even though I do my best to avoid conflicts. I am a private person and don’t like to tangle with the generally scary people who are commercial fishermen.

Today, after being out-of-town for over a week, I decided to embark, solo, on a redfish scouting mission in preparation for a week of trips. I launch my flats boat and tie up to a loaded dock that is just almost over-capacity with a large/old sailboat and a couple of dinghies. While paring my truck, I see a local commercial gill netter on his cell phone. As I was untying, I notice a skiff coming my way WOT through a no-wake zone. Right as I toss the last line into the boat that screams up at me, pushes a huge wake towards me that I have to rush to prevent slamming my new boat into the dock. As I try to get away, the two commercial fishermen (one of whom is a convicted felon with an extensive criminal record) use their boat to prevent me from leaving the dock. While they yell threats and how they’re gonna “be ready for me” and are going to be “ready for me in duck season” (in reference to my waterfowl guiding business), they start trying to force me into the sailboat moored to the dock behind me. I know this because the two netters look at each other and said, while five feet away - “push him into that sailboat!”

I some how get out of the pickle and go at a fast idle trying to get away – they do a u-turn and come bearing at me, one of them standing on the bow cussing at the top of lungs that I need “to come here” and apparently was getting ready to try to jump on and “board me.” When he was 2 feet away and ready to jump, I slam the throttle and get myself out of dodge very quickly.After this, I immediately call the local police. They send three officers who say they can do nothing. Big surprise. After they leave, one of the netters spits his tobacco juice all over my truck door (just about every time I use the ramp I come home to dip juice on my door). Police say they can’t do anything else about this. Big surprise.

The important thing to get out of this? This is a common occurrence down here in coastal North Carolina. The commercial fishermen behave as if they own all the water and try to intimidate anyone who they deem any sort of threat. They know that NC is the only coastal state that allows gill netting and are trying to muscle their ugly heritage through for a few more years.

Another point I want to reiterate – BEFORE you hire ANY guide or charter boat in North Carolina, please ask them what they think about gill nets and inshore commercial fishermen. MANY of North Carolina’s most famous and well-known FLY and LIGHT-TACKLE guides are big supporters of gill nets. While I don’t want to name them – just ask, you’ll find out and you’ll be very surprised.

Capt. Tom Roller

WaterDog Guide Service Light Tackle, Fly Fishing and Tours

252 728 7907

919 423 6310

http://www.waterdogguideservice.com/

Fishing Jones: Sign, Save Redfish, Get Gear

Pete McDonald over at Fishing Jones is giving away an extremely sweet Redington Titanium CDL Reel for 7/8 Wt line. It only takes two simple steps to get your name in the running for this primo item of fly fishing gear.

First take a moment and sign our pal Captain Gordon Churchill's Petition to stop unattended gill net practices in North Carolina.

Second, once you've signed the petition, slide over to the Fishing Jones website and leave a comment on his Help Redfish and Get a Reel post using your name and typing the word "Signed" in the body. A commenter will be picked at random and get this great fly reel.

The completed petition is going to be presented to the Governor of North Carolina as a way to protect the state saltwater fish. Unattended gill nets are taking a major toll on Redfish stocks on Carolina inshore waters. Guys like Captain Gordon Churchill, Pete McDonald and others are doing this to make a real difference for both anglers and fish populations.

Online Gillnet Petition

FlyfishMagazine.com Saltwater Editor, Captain Gordon Churchill, asks you to take a few moments of your day to sign this online petition seeking to end the use of unattended gillnets on the North Carolina coast. The petition will be presented to Governor Beverly Perdue. It is a quick and easy way to show you care about this issue.

"Unattended gill nets are a wasteful fishing method and should be attended all times to stop wasteful killing of non-targeted fish, bird and turtle species. Mandatory attendance would stop the waste due to the person fishing the net being right there and able to release the fish before it dies.

We support commercial fishermen and their desire to make a living from the water and also support fishing methods that are unwasteful."

The time has come

The Facebook cause page has been a great way to get people all in the same virtual space. Now it is time to start doing something.

This is an easy way to get started. Our new Governor, Bev Perdue has stated that she would be interested in talking about making the red drum a gamefish in NC. We need to start holding her to this. To that effect we need to begin with an email campaign. If everybody who receives this message sends her something stating that we want red drum to be made into a gamefish to stop targeting and sale of them by gill netters and others it will be a giant step in the right direction. We also need to message our local legislators. If you live out of state mention that NC is not a place you will choose to spend your hard earned dollars on vacation if something is not done.

Contact Governor Perdue at governor.office@nc.gov
If enough of us step up to get this started, it may actually happen.
Thanks,
Gordon

Gill Net Ban Convert

Earlier this year a Rocky Mount Telegraph reporter wrote a series of articles for his paper in Rocky Mt, NC focusing on the gill net problem we are seeing in Carolina waters. In the original series he tried to be a good reporter and be fair to both sides. Seems like he has had his own run in with the netters and seems to finally understand the way this thing works. He wrote a new article that ran this past weekend:

"We were unable to get another strike from a trout after that episode of rudeness. The commercial fisherman had watched us catch those big trout, then completely wrapped up all the points we had been fishing for the day.

Since last Saturday, I am no longer “on the fence.” I want gill netting to be banned in North Carolina as soon as possible. This coming weekend would not be soon enough."

Click here to see our previous coverage of this issue.

Marine Fisheries Commission Meeting Article

I attended a public hearing of the Marine Fisheries last Wednesday. I said my piece and basically told the attendees what I see on a regular basis. Then got called a liar by people with serious criminal records. Nice. Anyways, there was an article in the local paper today.

Article Link

The Gill Net Quandry: Part Three (A Compromise)

UPDATED - Parts four and five added.

Part Three of Five in the Rocky Mount Telegram's coverage of the gill netting issue. Is it possible for a compromise? Today's money quote indicates that it might be a good idea to keep the two sides apart:

Marine Fisheries allowed flounder gill netters to place their sets in the sound one-half hour after sunset. By law these nets were to be retrieved by one-half hour before sunrise.
The plan worked. The two different user groups met rarely, only in passing. Flounder tend to move more at night, so most of the commercial fishermen were happy with the compromise.

The Gill Net Quandry: Part One (The Issue) - Debatable Catch
The Gill Net Quandry: Part Two (More Nets, Problems)
The Gill Net Quandry: Part Three (A Compromise)
The Gill Net Quandary: Part Four (Recreational Use)
The Gill Net Quandary: Part Five (For The Fish)

The Gill Net Quandry: Part Two (More Nets, Problems)

Part two of the Rocky Mount Telegraph's five part series on the clash between commercial gill netters and recreational fishermen is out today and it points out a new player in the mix. The recreational commercial gill netter:

As Montgomery sees it, the problem with the weekend netter is that he is not doing it for a living.

“He is likely to set his net in the wrong place,” Montgomery said. “And if the weather gets bad, he’ll probably just check it tomorrow

There is even a quote from FlyFishMagazine.com's, soon to be properly announced, Saltwater Editor - Gordon Churchill, about a proposal to require attendance of gill nets in Carolina waters:

“No matter who owns it or what type of license, this should not be allowed,” he said. “It results in dead fish that cannot be sold due to being rotten or are not the targeted species and are therefore wasted regardless of condition.”

Read the entire article here:

The Gill Net Quandry: Part One (The Issue) - Debatable Catch
The Gill Net Quandry: Part Two (More Nets, Problems)

Gill Nets In The News

The battle between recreational and commercial fishermen over unattended gill nets on the Carolina coast is heating up and making news. The Rocky Mount Telegram is running a series of articles about the conflict. From "The Gill Net Quandary: Part One (The Issue) - Debatable Catch"

The recreational guides say the commercial fishermen see their clients “hooked up” fighting red drum on certain areas of the sound. The next day or even later that same day, flounder nets are stretched out to cover the entire area wiping out the drum. And it’s totally legal.

Swansboro guide Rick Patterson said, “I’ve had guys look me in the eye and say they’re going to kill every drum they can. I have no idea what they want to accomplish, but it’s a twisted mentality.”
Although commercial fishermen refer to guides and their clients sarcastically as “pastel shirts” because of their brightly colored fishing clothes, they deny targeting drum with their flounder nets.

Friend of FlyFishMagazine, Capt. Gordon Churchill is a leader in bringing this issue to the attention of his fellow anglers. His position is stated on his facebook cause page which we suggest concerned anglers join:

Unattended gill nets are a wasteful fishing method and should be attended all times to stop wasteful killing of non-targeted fish species.
Mandatory attendance would stop the waste due to the person fishing the net being right there and able to release the fish before it dies.
We support commercial fishermen and their desire to make a living from the water and also support fishing methods that are unwasteful.

Part two of the five part series runs Monday.