Characterization of the North Carolina Recreational Shrimp Trawl Fishery: APreliminary Analysis. Fisheries Research Reports to the Fisheries Moratorium Steering Committee

摘要

Development of a new licensing system in North Carolina is difficult becausepartime fishers using commercial gear straddle recreational and commercial fishing motives and behaviors. Currently, over 20,000 fishermen in the state hold commercial fishing licenses, but fewer than 10% of those (1,747) sell more than $10,000 worth of seafood annually. Undocumented recreational shrimp trawling constitutes a part of the larger problem of unlicensed, yet often significant, recreational fishing in North Carolina. The authors conducted an intercept interview survey in the fall of 1995 to investigate the nature of the recreational shrimp trawl fishery in coastal North Carolina waters. Slightly more than half of those interviewed were recreational shrimpers; the remainder were part-time commercial shrimpers. All were men, and most held skilled and semi-skilled technical jobs. Most limited their shrimping activities to local waters, and had used other commercial gear including gill nets, clam rakes, scallop and oyster dredges, and crab pots.