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April 21, 2000     Cape Gazette
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April 21, 2000
 
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CAPE GAZETTE, Friday, April 21 -April 27, 2000 - 19 Watermen, DNREC, lawmakers meet to discuss fisheries issues By Jim Cresson Local watermen made consid- erable progress, April 19, in their attempt to resolve what they've cited as major problems in the state's commercial fishing and shellfishing industry, as they made a presentation during a joint House and Senate committee hearing on fisheries and seemed to gain legislators' support.. Sen. Gary Simpson, R-Milford, chaired the joint committee hear- ing in Legislative Hall which in- cluded Rep. George Carey, R- Milford, Rep. Bobby Quillen, R- Harrington, Rep. Charles P. West, D-Gumboro, and Rep. Shirley Price, D-Millville. Auman raised the question of why Delaware is the only state on the East Coast that allows gill net- ting but doesn't allow the use of a net wheel to wind the nets back into the boat. "There's no real reason why we shouldn't be able to use a net wheel," Auman said. "We can only put out so much net, and we can only harvest our quotas of fish. We won't be catch- ing more with the wheel; it'll just make our job less back-breaking. It will also help the environment because we'll be able to wind those nets in before a storm rather than leaving them through a storm and killing whatever gets caught in them. Dead fish are no good to anybody; we all agree on that." Manus agreed with the concept of using a net wheel, in light of the quota restrictions that have been put in place over the years since the Finfishing Act was passed in 1985. "We need to get the Finfishing Advisory Council meeting again to address these issues," said Manus. "The problem is there are no longer regular meetings of the advisory council; they've met about three times over the last two years." Rep. Quillen interjected: "If that committee isn't meeting, then we'll deal with these issues leg- islatively and maybe wake some- body up. Maybe then the gover- nor can appoint some new mem- bers who want to meet regularly." The biggest issue Auman and the other watermen said they're facing is the future of their indus- try. "We see our industry dying because we aren't allowed to transfer our permits outside of our families," he explained. "If we could transfer the permits like other states allow, we'd be able to have equity in our boats and equipment and we'd be able to keep our industry alive." Simpson agreed it seemed odd that fishing and shellfishing li- censes are the only licenses in the state that cannot be transferred. "Even race horses and their li- censes are transferable," he said. "I can't name any other business license in Delaware that isn't transferable." Lesser explained that it was the recreational fishermen who ob- jected to the gill net license trans- fers in the 1980s, because they sought a reduction of commercial watermen in Delaware. "If you kick that sle¢ping dog, he might bite you," Lesser warned. Rep. Carey said he had no prob- lem with making it easier for wa- termen to transfer licenses. Manus said he favored the idea of a four-year apprenticeship pro- gram that would allow an appren- tice to use the license when the waterman he's working for could not go fishing. "After four years, the license holder could then transfer the license to the appren- tice. I have no problem with that concept," said Manus. "We'll have to meet soon to work out the de- tails, because it might be an ex- plosive issue. The sooner we get talking, the better." Rep. West said he, too, favors making things easier for water- men. "I always thought farming was a hard life," said West, who farms in Gumboro. "But I expect fishing is harder. You've got my support." Rep. Price said she hopes recre- ationa{ fishermen will join in the upcoming discussions. OPEN HOUSE Saturday, April 22 • 12.2 p.m. Rt. 1 to Rt. 24 west 6 Look for signs. 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