Gill net ban receives town support

CAPE CARTERET — An effort to ban gill net fishing in waters off of Cape Carteret received town support and is now headed to the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission for consideration.

The Cape Carteret Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday night in support of a proposed proclamation that would ban the use of recreational or commercial gill nets or seines in Deer Creek, Schoolhouse Creek or the entrance channel leading to Deer Creek from sunset to sunrise year around.

Approval for such a ban would have to come from the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission.

Cape Carteret Mayor Dave Fowler said the next step is to get the proposal to fisheries officials for consideration.

The Marine Fisheries Commission meets this week in Morehead City, but it’s uncertain whether a request for the proposed ban will be presented then or submitted to the commission in another fashion.

Fowler said one option is to appear before the commission during one of the two public comment periods to be held during the meeting but scheduling conflicts may prevent that.

Other options include a mediation process, requesting a formal petition for rulemaking, or requesting that the issue be placed on the MFC agenda. The next meeting of the commission will be in May.

Whatever route is chosen, Fowler said they will be submitting a request as soon as possible.

“The next step is to get the information into the Marine Fisheries’ hands. They are the entity with jurisdiction and the ability to enforce it,” Fowler said.

Residents who live along waters such as Deer Creek have expressed ongoing concerns about conflicts and disturbances with nighttime net fishing activities along the creeks, including complaints about noise and spotlights shining into houses. They have also noted problems with fishermen using their docks and yards and causing damage to property.

The residents have sought a nighttime ban of the net fishing activities similar to one that was put in place at Spooners Creek in Morehead City. Cape Carteret citizens petitioned for rulemaking in 2008 but said their efforts to work with the Division of Marine Fisheries reached a dead end.

They sought town backing with the latest effort.

A public hearing held by the town drew comments from concerned residents, as well as commercial fishermen who asked the town not to support a ban that would hurt all fishermen because of the actions of a few.

Fowler said the board’s support of the proposed proclamation wasn’t intended as opposition against fisherman. Rather, he said, the board was responding to the concerns of residents living within the town.

“In the end I think it boiled down to the board trying to do the right thing for the people who live in Cape Carteret,” he said.

A proclamation by fisheries officials would better address the issue, Fowler said, noting that with a town ordinance enforcement efforts would not extend to the water.

Contact Daily News reporter Jannette Pippin at 910-382-2557 or jpippin@freedomenc.com.