On Dec. 6, 2010, John Ritchie of Cape Carteret cast a MirrOlure into a Bogue Inlet feeder creek that flows near his backyard.
Something big slammed his lure, and Ritchie soon landed a huge speckled trout that weighed 9.15 pounds. In this time of “spike trout,” Ritchie had landed a whale of a fish. Happy to share his good fortune, he told a few people about his trophy and used his cell phone to send photos of himself and his “gator” to other friends. The next day, he landed a 5.8-pound trout from the same spot on the same lure.
Shortly thereafter, his good fortune turned sour, as something akin to California’s 1849 gold rush occurred in School House Creek.
On Dec. 9 at 3:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m., strike netters appeared and scooped up a mother lode of large trout. Then, they set up shop and stayed for two weeks. Local residents said they found dead specks and red drum bearing gig marks.
Ritchie confronted one of the netters. He said he was told, “These waters belong to me,” and there “isn’t a thing (Ritchie) can do about it.”
Besides showing piggishness, contempt and disregard for Ritchie and other residents, the commercial netter showed another characteristic — he was legally correct. State law holds that the state’s navigable waters belong to the public and, short of a proclamation by the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries director, saltwater netters can ply their trade wherever and whenever they want in coastal inshore waters.
Now this wouldn’t normally be a cause of major concern except for two key facts:
• North Carolina experienced its coldest December on record, and its coastal creeks, home to thousands of overwintering spotted seatrout, are almost certain to experience a second straight year of “cold stun” kills;
• Speckled trout numbers are at an all-time low, and NCDMF is scrambling to find some way to return the population to a level that can sustain future fishing pressure.
NCDMF tried in November to activate a portion of its Speckled Trout Fisheries Management Plan, but its nine-member appointed board, the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission, pulled the rug from under Louis Daniel, NCDMF’s director, and wouldn’t allow him to set a 50- or even a 150-pound trip limit for netters, who can catch 2,000 pounds of specks a night, if they can find them — and some apparently do.
So what’s the solution?
Easy answer. Designate speckled trout as game fish.
Who can do that? Easier answer. The N.C. legislature.
A bill to designate specks and red drum as game fish was submitted last year but died in the House Seafood and Aquaculture Committee. The chairman, a Democrat from eastern North Carolina, wouldn’t allow the bill to be brought before the full legislature for debate and a vote.
With Republicans now in charge of the N.C. House and Senate, the bill can be resurrected and passed, which will take the pressure off Daniel and should help speckled trout numbers recover. Why? Gamefish status for specks and reds would mean an end to their commercial netting.
The legislature need understand only two things about such a bill:
• It makes biological sense;
• More than a million voting saltwater fishermen, including John Ritchie, would be forever grateful — not to mention the specks.
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