NC’S SEAFOOD COMMUNITY WON’T FORGET WHO DEFENDED THEM

Over the past year, North Carolina’s seafood businesses and consumers have been under attack. Fishermen and supporters won’t forget who stood up when it mattered. When shrimp, a keystone fishery in North Carolina, was almost shut down by House Bill 442, a move that would have bypassed NC’s management process, people showed up. When blue crab, the most valuable fishery in North Carolina, was facing proposals that could’ve crushed working families and seafood businesses, people showed up again.

Thank you to the NC Senators and House members who listened, asked questions, and helped stop HB 442, including Senator Bobby Hanig, Representative Ed Goodwin, Representative Keith Kidwell, Representative Celeste Cairns, Representative Pricey Harrison, Senator Norman Sanderson, Representative Frank Iler, Representative Ted Davis, Representative Carson Smith, Senator Bob Brinson, and Senator Mike Lazara. These legislators took a bi-partisan stand for consumer access to local seafood and the fishing families who provide it.

Thank you to Commissioner Steve Troxler, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CA), for opposing the trawl-ban language in HB 442 and asking legislators not to concur. Commissioner Troxler also opposed additional commercial harvest cuts in the blue crab fishery unless backed by science and a valid economic review. 

Thank you to theNC Farm Bureaufor supporting consumer access to local seafood, stating that NC families deserve access to food from our waters, and that decisions should be grounded in sound science/best available data. 

Thank you to the NC Coastal Counties Fisheries Coalition, which formed to help protect the NC seafood industry, coastal economies, and commercial fishing families who make up the fabric of fisheries-dependent communities. 

Thank you to Eastern NC Counties that passed resolutions against HB 442 and blue crab proposals, including Beaufort, Carteret, Currituck, Dare, Hyde, Pamlico and Tyrrell. 

Thank you to the numerous fishing and seafood organizations that presented a united front against HB442 and harmful blue crab proposals, including the NC Fisheries Association, NC Blue Crab Association, NC Waterman Heritage Defense Fund, NC Watermen United, and the Southern Shrimp Alliance. 

NC Catch was proud to share accurate information about conservation efforts in the shrimp and crab fisheries and to help amplify voices defending consumers’ access to NC seafood, from fishermen to chefs.  

 Commercial fishing is more than just a talking point. It provides the only access consumers have to North Carolina seafood. Commercial fishing is made up of families carrying on a proud, 300-year-old heritage. Commercial fishing sustains coastal economies, including seafood restaurants that promote local and cater to visitors and residents alike. 

Thank you one and all. If we missed an organization or county that supported NC seafood, drop it in the comments so we can give credit where it’s due.