A new bill is before the General Assembly that would make three fish species gamefish, raise fishing license prices and provide funds for state fishing observers and dredging.
One of the four actions proposed in the bipartisan bill, filed Wednesday by four inland county representatives and titled H.B. 893, “The 2013 Fisheries Economic Development Act,” is to designate red drum, spotted sea trout and striped bass as coastal gamefish. It also seeks to compensate commercial fishermen for “certain losses due to coastal gamefish designations,” increase Coastal Recreational Fishing License fees, appropriate funds for the marine fisheries observer program and provide funding for dredging shallow draft navigation channels.
If these three species of fish are declared coastal gamefish, they’ll only be able to be taken by recreational fishing. The only fish of these species that anyone will be able to buy, sell, transport or exchange are ones grown in an aquaculture operation, imported from a state without a gamefish designation for them, purchased by a restaurant, or possessed by individuals within the daily recreational limit for their own, personal use, including people who are customers of a guided fishing trip.
via www.carolinacoastonline.com
In 2011, ex-vessel revenue for red drum, spotted seatrout and striped bass was $166,915, $140,535 and $1,164,426. NMFS says says that there were 187,669, 296,966 and 141,407 trips that targeted red drum, spotted seatrout, striped bass in North Carolina in 2011. Red drum and spotted seatrout seem like a no brainers for gamefish status. They are a popular targets and commercial landings aren't impressive (price per pound is less than $2). Striped bass, on the other hand, is a top 10 finfish in terms of ex-vessel revenue and the price per pound is almost $3.
NMFS also says there were 1.5 million anglers in North Carolina in 2011 (down from about a 2 million average over the previous 10 years). A $1 increase in the recreational license fee could compensate for the lost commercial earnings on the proposed gamefish. Of course, not all of those anglers are targeting the proposed gamefish. NMFS says that the total number of trips in North Carolina was 4,739,744 in 2011. So the trips targeted primarily for the proposed gamefish is about 13% of the total. If 13% of the total anglers were asked to pay a gamefish stamp (required to keep a gamefish), almost 200 thousand anglers, then a stamp fee of $7.5 could compensate the commercial fisherman.
Update from the inbox: "You should look more closely at Striped bass commercial landings. I believe that the $1M value you cited may include ocean caught striped bass (480K pounds allocated to the commercial sector). If so, the estuarine component may be quite a bit less."
