New administration in unique situation

For the first time in 20 years, North Carolina will have a Republican governor, Pat McCrory.

McCrory and a Republican-dominated legislature will have the power to make needed changes in the state’s wildlife and saltwater resources management.

One of those changes likely will be passage of a bill that designates speckled trout, red drum and striped bass as gamefish. That will remove these public resources as for-sale items to a handful of commercial fishermen. Previous legislatures, with the governor’s approval, tabled gamefish bills. In 2011, because of a trade-off deal to gain five Democrat votes to override Gov. Beverly Perdue’s veto of the Republican budget, that bill also went nowhere, and in the past election year, nobody wanted to touch the bill.

With Republicans in charge in both houses of the Legislature and in the Governor’s Mansion, no deals are needed, and a gamefish bill won’t be held hostage. Legislative sources indicate a new gamefish bill is being readied for consideration in the next session.

McCrory also will change the appointed leadership at the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission and N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. He will appoint three new marine fisheries commissioners and a new chairman this summer, along with five new wildlife commissioners and suggest a new chairman. Leaders of the house and senate will appoint eight new commissioners, which could give the Republicans 13 of 19 seats.

Happily, changes already have begun, as evidenced by an 8-1 MFC vote in early November that approved amending the Shrimp Management Plan. The amendment will deal with how to reduce by-catch of untargeted species in shrimp trawls, which, according to studies, has killed 25 million pounds of juvenile fish annually for the last seven years. Many were spot, croaker and gray trout — once staples of inshore fishing.

A key suggestion would be to allow a trawler to pull only one 35-foot wide net for a 45-minute haul, not four nets of 50 feet each for any length of time. This change would move the biggest trawlers out of inshore waters but still allow the majority of shrimpers to keep working and reduce by-catch.

Most importantly, McCrory and a Republican-led legislature have an opportunity to show the nation that changes in natural resource management can boost a state’s economy. More fish to catch means more money spent on boats, licenses, fuel, lodging, food, tackle — and more jobs. More fish protected from nets could mean $20 billion a year to N.C.’s economy.

Making wise natural-resources decisions to protect fish and game could help the McCrory administration lead the state out of its economic doldrums.

All that’s needed is the will to do what’s necessary.