North Carolina proposal to ban inland shrimp trawling met with fierce pushback
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Shrimp boats are moored to the dock at Mitchell Seafood in Sneads Ferry, North Carolina on September 13, 2018. Photo: LOGAN CYRUS/AFP via Getty Images
A potential ban on inland shrimp trawling has become one of the most controversial bills moving through North Carolina's state legislature.
Why it matters: The proposal, which would ban trawling less than a half-mile off the coast, heats up a long battle between the state's recreational and commercial fishermen. It also pits those opposed to the measure over environmental concerns against others who say a ban would devastate the state's shrimping industry and wipe out jobs.
- Several hotly debated proposals — including on tax cuts, immigration and gun permitting — have advanced in this year's legislative session, which began in January, but none have caused quite as much of a stir as the state Senate's shrimp trawling measure.
Driving the news: The proposal has been met with fierce pushback from commercial fishermen, who catch shrimp in the state's estuaries and sounds.
- "There's been a war and they're trying to get rid of the commercial sector," Ryan Speckman, co-founder of Locals Seafood, tells Axios, noting the commercial fishing industry in North Carolina is quite small.
The big picture: North Carolina is the only state on the eastern seaboard that has yet to ban inshore shrimp trawling, supporters of the legislation note.
- Proponents argue it's a long overdue change needed to protect natural habitats from "what has long been recognized as one of the most destructive fishing practices in coastal waters," per the North Carolina Wildlife Federation.
- Shrimp trawling requires dragging heavy nets and chains on the ocean floor, and some methods result in the unintended capture of other species, the federation said.
Between the lines: Lawmakers who have supported the legislation faced death threats just days after a Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed, while another Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were injured after they were shot inside their homes.
- The State Bureau of Investigation arrested a Brunswick County man Friday for threatening Republican Senate Rules Chairman Bill Rabon, per WECT.
- "All senators in Raleigh need to understand what happened to Melissa Hortman and John Hoffman in Minnesota can happen here in North Carolina," the man said in a Facebook post, the outlet reported.
The latest: Amid outcry from the commercial fishing industry and pushback from Republicans and Democrats alike, the Senate advanced a separate bill Monday that would pay commercial fishermen affected by the bill, spending some $10 million to do so over the next five years, WRAL reports.
- Still, opponents of the legislation gathered in Raleigh Tuesday afternoon to protest the legislation with the backing of House lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.
- Two lawmakers who are among the most ideologically opposite in the state legislature, Republican Rep. Keith Kidwell, a far-right freedom caucus member, and Democratic Rep. Pricey Harrison, both spoke against the inshore trawling ban, according to WRAL.
- "Are we going to shut down the people who go to work every day, making an honest living, because some branch of the government finally decides in some slimy backroom deal that they don't want to do this anymore?" Kidwell said.
- Harrison said that if the legislature was concerned about the environment, it would be talking about water quality, coastal development, wetlands and more, according to WRAL.
What's next: The fate of both bills — the ban and additional payments to fishermen — remains unclear, as they are now in the House with only a few days left of the session.