North Carolina senators on Monday approved a plan to pay the commercial fishermen impacted by a proposed inland shrimp trawling ban. The approval came ahead of a planned Tuesday protest by shrimpers at the state legislature.
The bill would provide “annual transition payments to eligible holders of commercial fishing licenses with verifiable lands of shrimp” from 2023 to present day. It passed 45-2 on Monday. The payments would last until Oct. 1, 2028, with payments dependent on the value of the eligible shrimp trip tickets submitted by the fishermen plus $180.
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The plan would spend up to $10 million over the next five years in government handouts to any affected shrimpers, senators clarified Monday. But it's unlikely to quell the outrage by many in the industry who say it will put them out of business.
Sen. Brent Jackson, R-Sampson, said he understands people's reluctance to take handouts but that lawmakers think it's the least they can do given their plans to crack down on the industry.
The inland shrimping ban is House Bill 442, and the payment proposal is House Bill 441.
"This program is designed to ease the transition of House Bill 442," Jackson said. "We know that will not solve all the problems and discomfort that has been caused, and will be caused should 442 become law. But it is a step in the right direction."
Most senators are in favor of the ban as well as the handouts. But the opponents, all of whom represent coastal communities, are passionate in their opposition. On Monday, Sen. Bobby Hanig, R-Dare, proposed multiple amendments to the handouts bill but saw his fellow Republicans shoot them all down. Hanig voted against the ban last week and also opposed the handout program Monday, before storming out of the Senate after the vote was finished.
The proposed ban also passed the Senate nearly unanimously last week but quickly led to death threats against the senators who supported it.
Legislative critics said the trawling ban, which passed the Senate last week, would destroy the shrimp business in the state and take down other related businesses such as fish processing plants. It would only allow trawling more than 0.5-mile off the coast. Most boats that trawl in the sound are too small for off-shore fishing, critics of the ban contend.
"Completely unnecessary," said Ryan Speckman, the co-founder of Raleigh-based Locals Seafood. "We have a safe, healthy, sustainable food right on our coast. There's no good, logical reason why we have to close it down."
Supporters argue that North Carolina is the only state that allows inland shrimp trawling and that a ban would allow other fish species to thrive in the Pamlico Sound, which would be a boon to recreational fishermen from across the state. North Carolina has a long history of political fighting between commercial fisherman and recreational fishermen, whose regulatory goals often conflict.
"It's a policy issue that probably has been delayed for a long period of time," Senate leader Phil Berger told reporters Monday. "Should have been done a while back, and wasn't. North Carolina's the only state on the on the East Coast or the Gulf Coast that allows shrimping in the inland waters."
The bill banning inland shrimping passed the Senate 41-4 with only coastal lawmakers voting against the bill.
Tuesday’s protest is organized by groups including NC Catch and North Carolina Watermen United, a group that advocates for coastal communities.
“The future of our coastal communities and North Carolina's access to safe, sustainable shrimp is in their hands,” the groups wrote on a Facebook page promoting the protest. “We must show up to help educate lawmakers why [House Bill 442] is a flawed bill with dire consequences for the commercial fishing industry, consumers, restaurants, and the entire state's economy.”
Reps. Edward Goodwin and Carson Smith, both Republicans who represent coastal counties, and Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, are scheduled to hold a press conference to discuss the ban.