BY MILES LAYTON

RALEIGH — Rather than dance around the truth, let’s state the facts – NC Senate sent a strong message to commercial fishermen and working class people in coastal communities – SCREW YOU! 

Wednesday, the Senate gave a thumbs up to House Bill 442, which includes a controversial amendment which prohibits shrimping in coastal waterways unless you’re trawling a half mile off the coast. That bill passed the Senate 40-4 – only a quartet of senators voted against the bill, all Republicans representing coastal areas — Bobby Hanig, Norman Sanderson, Bob Brinson and Michael Lazzara.

“Today, these gentleman stood tall for Eastern North Carolina — fighting to protect the livelihoods of hardworking commercial fishermen from a reckless amendment to House Bill 442. They were the only ‘no’ votes,” Washington County Commissioner John Spruill posted to social media. “This proposed ban on shrimp trawling would devastate families and communities that have depended on these waters for generations. It’s more than a policy — it’s an attack on a way of life. Senators Hanig, Sanderson, Lazzara and Brinson showed true leadership by pushing back against this amendment and standing with the people who make a living off our coast.”

Next stop — the bill goes for a third reading on Thursday for final approval in the Senate. 

The bill will be up for a vote next week in the House, where Representative Ed Goodwin, R-Chowan, has expressed opposition to the bill. Before the Senate vote, Goodwin posted to social media his opposition to the bill in no uncertain terms.  

“​​This will not pass the House,” Goodwin posted to social media. “We had a great bill (HB 442) which only sought to re-open the Southern Flounder and Red Snapper season that was shut down by NCDMF proclamation. The problem came when Senator Bill Rabon, Senate Rules Chairman, added this anti-trawling amendment at the 11th hour. I am leading the fight in the NC House to stop this amendment that will effectively eliminate the shrimping industry and put thousands of hard-working North Carolinians out of work and destroy a century old way of life.  The commercial fishermen and shrimpers are the backbone of our excellent and vibrant seafood industry, and I will fight until last dog dies to protect it!”

If the House votes down the amended bill, possibly next week, then it will go to a conference committee, where there will have to be a “meeting of the minds” between a small group of legislators from the House and Senate before the bill can move forward. With the July recess around the corner, anything could happen.   

Recap: Introduced Monday, an amendment to House Bill 442 seeks to prohibit shrimp trawling for four years within our coastal waters, such as the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds, and within ½ mile of the Atlantic shoreline. And, the amendment makes violations subject to license loss, forfeiture of catch, and enforcement penalties as well as override the authority of the Marine Fisheries Commission to permit such activities. If this bill becomes law, the shrimping ban will expire on August 1, 2029.

Senators Hanig, R-Currituck, and Sanderson, R-Carteret, fought the good fight, but it was not to be. 

Hanig submitted five amendments to HB 442 to slow or halt the offending amendment, but time and again, the Senate opted not to table the matter.  

Before senators cast their final vote, Hanig offered a spirited defense of coastal communities, working families and he took aim at moneyed interests that don’t give a damn about commercial fisherman and the seafood industry.  

“It’s been no secret that the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) and North Carolina Wildlife Federation have been in full on assault against the commercial fishermen for years,” Hanig said. “Now they have the attention of a few influential politicians to help them with their agenda. Ain’t that convenient? This amendment is about money and influence, nothing less. Don’t let anyone fool you. Don’t let anyone convince you different. That’s what it’s all about.”

Hanig continued, “Banning shrimp trawling in inland waters will destroy the commercial fishing industry in North Carolina. Shrimp trawling is a main source for our fish houses. Without shrimp trawling, many of our fish houses are going to close. People are going to lose jobs. It’s going to decimate our fishing industry.”

Hanig said this bill will kill commercial fishing.   

“They’re going after commercial fishing one step at a time. You can call it death by a thousand cuts,” he said. “You can call whatever you want to call it, but that’s what they’re doing. When people don’t have fish houses to bring their crab and their fish and whatever to be processed, they don’t have anywhere to take it, so they can’t fish. They can’t make any money. That’s how they destroy the fishing industry in North Carolina.”

Hanig continued, “Make no mistake. I set forth an amendment for this body to do the right thing. Everyone had an opportunity to vote on these two issues separately. This body chose not to do that. Again, I’m going to tell you, this amendment has been rushed through the process the 23rd hour because they don’t want you to know. They don’t want to do what is right — not for the working class, not for the working water men and women.”

Speaking truth to power, Hanig said legislators work for the special interests rather than the people.   

“They work for special interests like the CCA, Wildlife Federation. I implore you to vote no on this bill. We need to save our citizens. We need to save our counties.”

Poor counties like Hyde and Tyrrell – this is going to be hard – other places, hard too, but especially tough in places like Engelhard and Swan Quarter.    
 
“This ban affects many of the poorest counties in this state,” Hanig said. “One of the counties is almost 19% of their revenue (Hyde). We need to save our heritage. We need to save our fisheries. I implore you to vote no on this obvious money grab and total sellout of the hardworking people in North Carolina. And I’m going to leave you with a quote from Mark Twain. ‘A lie will travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.’ Vote no.” 

Sen. David Craven, R-Randolph, defended the amended bill, saying the bill lifts restrictions on flounder and red snapper fishing. He said the shrimping ban would align North Carolina’s trawling regulations of Virginia and South Carolina. 

“This will pair us up with surrounding coastal states with Virginia and South Carolina,” he said. “We could get into the different points of the bycatch and some of the issues that we see out of shrimp trawling that we see in the inlets. I will say that I’ve talked with many of our commercial fishermen – a lot of them here today – there is no intent from anybody in this General Assembly to impact or hurt someone’s business. We are simply asking them to do what every other state does and that is operate within a half mile outside of our coastline.”

Craven said Senator Brent Jackson, R-Sampson, is working on a compensation package that he will unveil soon that will help shrimpers to “get these folks where we can make that transition over for them to ensure that they are able to fish in that area (off the coast) and trawl and do those things.” 

Craven said the General Assembly has been “working on the bill a long time and it is something that is good for North Carolina ecosystems for the next generation.”  

As a longtime member of the General Assembly, Sanderson said he has never voted to put someone out of work. 

“I’ve been in the General Assembly for fifteen years,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever intentionally voted to deny someone the ability to work and to put them out of business. And I’m not going to start with this bill in this current form, HB 442. It’s going to do that, and I apologize to these people (commercial fishermen) that are in this chamber this afternoon who have come up here to advocate for their jobs and to advocate for their futures and to advocate to keep an industry that has been so regulated.” 

Sanderson continued, noting how important fishing is to the food supply,  “I hope they have overcome many obstacles. I hope that they can hang in there somehow so that we do not lose one of the most important industries, I think, in the state of North Carolina. And that’s an industry to produce food for our citizens if it comes to that.”

Shrimp from China or South America!? 

“Right now, we are giving foreign countries in this country, and that is a dangerous place to be. And if you look at the list of the other countries, it’s also very dangerous to allow them to be our source of food supply,” Sanderson said. “So in its current form, I cannot and will not vote for HB 442.” 

Up or Down Vote in the House 

Most likely, the House will debate the Senate’s amended bill next week before heading into the July and August recess.  

Representative Goodwin posted a letter he sent to Speaker Destin Hall.  

“I have spent the last two days listening to many of my constituents whose families have been shrimping the inner coast of NC for generations. I am not willing to stand by and let this short-sighted and ill conceived idea ruin the lives of so many hard working North Carolinians. Our coast is unique to the United States and our coastal sound is second only in size to Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay. We need to shrimp where the shrimp are that is the inner coast of NC. Mr. Speaker, this cannot pass the House. Our seafood industry is excellent and vibrant, and we need to protect it.”

On a political note, this middle finger from the General Assembly sends a bad message.

“After the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene, the Legislators in Eastern NC stood in solidarity with the Legislators in Western NC by voting to send whatever resources needed to help the people of WNC,” District 1 GOP Chair Harvey West posted to social media. “Look at how those Legislators in Western NC repay us.  By passing a bill that not only devastates our culture, but our economy and way of life.  So much for solidarity.”

Parting thoughts

Since the mainstream media won’t say this, here’s what I know from talking off the record with insiders in Raleigh and from God’s country.

I’m told the rush job through the Senate was because there is a study or two nearing completion that refutes environmentalists’ position that the coastal ecosystem is in danger because of shrimp trawling. Sensing defeat, that amendment was put forward at the 11th hour to jam this change through so that the study couldn’t have an impact on the Senate’s decision making process. 

Hanig is right — if this bill is signed into law, it’s going to make life hard, very hard, in Hyde and Tyrrell counties, the two poorest counties in the state, also the smallest in terms of population. Other coastal communities in places like Carteret and Craven, they have growing and can probably absorb the shock a little better, but still it will be a tough pill to swallow.

And I’m told there’s a lawsuit percolating up in South Carolina that may poison the waters in the North State. The federal lawsuit follows a round of genetic shrimp testing last month by an industry-hired consultant that found that 40 of 44 Charleston-area restaurants were “misleading customers in their branding, menu descriptions or proximity to local docks, with 25 found to be outright fraudulent.” The South Carolina Shrimpers Association claims that this type of “shrimp fraud” harms their reputation and livelihood, as they strive to provide consumers with genuine wild-caught South Carolina shrimp. 

Applied to our state, if this practice is occurring in South Carolina, it could also be happening in North Carolina. A similar study conducted in Wilmington found a high rate of shrimp mislabeling in restaurants, indicating that this is a relevant issue for North Carolina consumers and the seafood industry. The South Carolina lawsuit could serve as a precedent and inspire similar actions in North Carolina.

So if you eliminate the local competition, that will not only be good for folks who sell shrimp from other countries, but there’s less to worry about lawsuits derived from false advertising.

Please environmentalists, do not contact me spouting nonsense about fish stocks — there’s no denying this bill favors weekend anglers with expensive lures and unfairly targets working class commercial fishermen, many of whom come from families who have been shrimping for generations.

If only we could target Raleigh’s bureacrats — you can’t use laptops unless you work a half mile outside the city limits under a tree between 11:17 a.m. and 1:09 p.m. As to legislators from coastal communities that supported this bill, you may may get primaried, voted out of office.