King Mackerel Reign In Dispute Over Menhaden Fishing Off OIB
BY SUSAN USHER
The king lives. Long live the
king.
Protection of the king mackerel
and the local sportfishing and tour
ism industries hammered a strong
blow Tuesday to efforts to reach a
workable agreement between local
beach communities and menhaden
iisnerie.s wumtc v t ,v>c i iv^uiafly p'j
the ocean off Brunswick County's
beaches.
As Ocean Isle Beach commis
sioners discussed an agreement ten
tatively reached among the two
groups at a Sept. 21 work session,
Commissioners Ken Proctor and
Kendall Suh shook their heads "no."
They decided that the proposed
agreement was unacceptable, and
that stronger measures were needed
than asking the Division of Marine
Fisheries to keep in mind the town's
original request to keep the men
haden boats farther off the beaches.
"The tournaments provide a lot of
benefit to this area," said Suh, not
ing that fishery vessels working lo
cal waters have taken a million to l'A
million fish in a single day, raising
questions about the potential for
overfishing a shared resource.
"To let menhaden fisheries from
Dare County and elsewhere come in
and take that resource when it bene
fits us locally is unconscionable,"
said Suh. "It seriously jeopardizes
our town's fishing area."
Instead the town will ask the
commission to ban the boats from
operating off Ocean Isle Beach, pe
riod, following the examples of
states to the cast and west.
Vessels from three menhaden
companies, Beaufort Fisheries in
North Carolina and AMPRO and
Zapata Protein out of Virginia, rou
tinely work the waters off Bruns
wick County, one of the few remain
ing areas along the East Coast where
the fishery is still allowed to oper
ate, said Suh.
Sou ih Carolina has restricted
menhaden fishing along the entire
South Carolina coast and Dare
County has set limits off its beaches
as well.
"It's a dying industry and these
people are trying to hold on," said
Suh. "But we shouldn't be made out
to be the bad guys here."
He cited fish spills and related
clean-up problems, the fisheries'
past track record of non-cooperation
with beach communities and king
fishermen, and competition rather
than sharing of the resource.
At the Sept 21 meeting, represen
tatives of three towns and one fishery
agreed on fishing alert procedures,
spill notification and clean-up efforts,
fishing 750 feet away from marked
piers and other points to be included
in an agreement drafted by Mike
Street of the Division of Marine
Fisheries no later than Oct. 14.
' Little Giants'
To Open Here
This Weekend
"Little Giants," the film featur
ing Troy Simmons of Supply as
one of its young ballplayers,
opens this weekend at Surf
Cinemas on Long Beach Road,
Southnort.
Show times are 2 p.m., 4 p.m.
and 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
and 7 p.m. weekdays, said Sybil
Mitchell Simmons, his mother.
TYoy portrays Rasheed "Hot
Hands" Hanon in the movie,
which was filmed in California.
TYoy will also appear in an
NBC movie scheduled to air dur
ing uie noiiaay season.
"One Christmas," based on the
Tnwsn Capote story of the wme
name, was filmed in Wilmington
this fall. It features Katherine
Hepburn, Henry Winkler and oth
er well-known names. TYoy won
a supporting role as Toby, side
kick to a character named Buddy,
played by TJ. Lowther.
Shallotte Board
Meeting Friday
Shallotte Aldermen will hold a
special meeting Friday at 10:30 a.m.
to discuss economic development
grants with Chip Leavitt of Bruns
wick Electric Membership Corp.
The town board also will convene
early for its regular meeting on Oct.
18. Aldermen will hold a joint meet
ing with the planning board at 6
p.m. to discuss the Shallotte Thor
oughfare Plan.
Beachcombers
Club To Meet
The Beachcombers Shell Club of
the South Brunswick Islands will
hold its regular Tuesday, Oct. 18,
meeting at Long Beach at noon.
Participants are being asked to
bring a bag lunch. For directions,
call Joy Wood at 579-1017.
*- . ?mG?? g
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Ks^fcSO
STAff PHOTO BY f*)C CAM. SON
IN A CHANGE OF HEART Tuesday, Ocean Isle Beach commissioners voted to ask the state to ban
menhaden fishing off the island, rejecting a compromise agreement that would allow boats like this
one seen off Holden Beach Monday to continue plying local waters.
But there was no budging by ei
ther group on the issue of menhaden
boats operating in local waters dur
ing king mackerel tournaments.
The flips that draw the kings
close into shore are also sought by
king fishermen for bait, and by the
fisheries for their oil and protein.
Local tournament participants be
lieve there is a direct relationship
between availability of baitfish and
whether or not the menhaden boats
are working or have recently worked
an area.
Jule Wheatly of Beaufort Fish
eries said his company couldn't of
fer to give up fishing for the number
of days involved in the seven to 10
tournaments held in the Pender,
New Hanover, Brunswick and Horry
counties that attract sports fishermen
to the area.
While Wheatly offered not to fish
during the recent U.S. Open and
Wrightsville Beach tournaments on
ly, commercial fishermen reported
r
that menhaden boats from an un
specified company did operate dur
ing the event, said Suh, questioning
the sincerity of the companies and
their willingness to follow the terms
of any agreement.
Ocean Isle Beach had joined other
Brunswick County beach towns in
endorsing a resolution first adopted
by the Town of Long Beach. The
Coastal Pediatrics
James V. Mulholland M.D.
Fellow of American Academy of Pediatrics
The Only Board Certified
Pediatrician
in Brunswick County *\.
/ ft . ' h
v.* ? * ?
Shallotte Professional Plaza Jf 'i\- ' '
^ 4428 Main stfe?t ? Shallotte
754-KIDS (5437) *J
C1983 THE BWUNSWCK BEACON
"To let menhaden fisheries from Dare
County and elsewhere come in and take
that resource when it benefits us locally
is unconscionable. . . It seriously
jeopardizes our town *s fishing area. "
? Kendall Sun, OIB Commissioner
similar resolutions urge the Division
of Marine Fisheries to set offshore
limits for vessels operating off the
beaches bccause of the potential for
fish spills, which have been a prob
lem in the past.
Long Beach Mayor Joan Altman
said Tuesday that initially l^ong
Beach had wanted to ban menhaden
fishing there, but thought the town
would be more successful in getting
the state to extend restrictions now
in place in Dare County to
Brunswick County.
Rep. David Redwine stepped in,
offering himself as mediator in an
effort to reach a compromise agree
ment short of added state regulation.
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