Legislative saltwater review committee sets dates

Hearings will be open to the public, but comments to be taken only at March 1 meeting.

The Legislative Research Committee on Saltwater Issues has set four tentative dates for hearings about proposed changes in the way saltwater resources are managed in North Carolina.

The first meeting likely will be Jan. 5, the second Feb. 2, the third March 1 and the fourth April 5.

The committee is set to examine topics such as North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission operation and commissioner appointments, North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries regulations and enforcement policies, and consideration of game-fish status for several popular saltwater species (speckled trout, reds and stripers) that traditionally have been targets of commercial netters and economic best-use of coastal marine resources that will benefit the most people and add the most jobs to the state’s economy.

“The first meeting will be to review existing marine fisheries legislation and policies, and an overview of saltwater problems; the second meeting will be to organize interested parties; the third meeting will be a public-comment period; and the fourth will be to put legislation together so we can get (a bill or bills) to the legislature (during the short session that begins in May),” said Rep. Darrell McCormick (R-Yadkin), a committee co-chairman along with Sen. Harry Brown (R-Jones/Onslow).

The public will be able to attend all meetings, but only will be on the agenda to speak during the March 1 hearing.

“We probably will choose a couple of speakers from both sides to talk at the third hearing,” McCormick said.

The first meeting will be taken up mostly by staff presentations of what they’ve discovered in studying these topics since the saltwater review committee was formed last summer.

McCormick was a sponsor of a 2011 bill that would have prohibited the sale of striped bass, spotted sea trout and striped bass. The legislation didn’t receive a hearing in the summer legislative session, apparently because of a backroom deal to give the Republican majority a veto-proof margin for its budget.

The problem in naming dates for the hearings has been the availability of some members of the committee to be at the hearings, McCormick said.

“We tried to schedule the meetings to correspond with times when the members would be (in Raleigh) for other committee meetings,” he said. “People will say, ‘Oh, yeah, I can be there that day,’ then call back and said they had a conflict or something else had come up. So it’s been a tough process to get (the meetings/hearings) organized, but we are going to do it. Have no doubt about that.”

McCormick said his committee may have at least one more and possibly two planning meetings, and that’s why he said the dates are tentative.

“We know people are interested in being able to come and perhaps comment on our examinations of these issues,” he said.

North Carolina Sportsman readers are encouraged to express their opinions via e-mail to members of the committee:

* Harry Brown, harry.brown@ncleg.net,
* Don East, don.east@ncleg.net,
* Thom Goolsby, thom.goolsby@ncleg.net,
* Bill Rabon, bill.rabon@ncleg.net,
* Tommy Tucker, tommy.tucker@ncleg.net,
* Jean Preston, jean.preston@ncleg.net,
* Stan White, stan.white@ncleg.net,
* Darrell McCormick, darrell.mccormick@ncleg.net,
* Dan Ingle, dan.ingle@ncleg.net,
* Ruth Samuelson, ruth.samuelson@ncleg.net,
* Danny McComas, danny.mccomas@ncleg.net,
* Bryan Holloway, bryan.holloway@ncleg.net,
* Pat McElraft, pat.mcelraft@ncleg.net,
* Tim Spear, tim.spear@ncleg.net.
* Brent Jackson, Brent.Jackson@ncleg.net.
* Tom Murry, Tom.Murry@ncleg.net.

Jackson (R-Duplin/Lenoir/Sampson) was added to the committee by the Senate leadership during November. McCormick added Murry to keep the number of members even at 16. Murry (R-Wake County) represents 83,000 licensed recreational anglers in Wake County; Jackson is a farmer and owns an agri-business company.

North Carolina Sportsman will provide constant coverage of the move to protect the state’s saltwater fisheries in the pages on the magazine and on this site, so be sure and check back!