The Facts About North Carolina Speckled Trout

By: Bill Hitchcock

It seems our farcical and fantical “friends” at the Coastal Fisheries Reform Group are at it again. They are trying to resurrect the Gamefish Status movement for speckled trout due to the recent cold stun event we had here along coastal North Carolina.

Gamefish Status would ban all commercial take of speckled trout and reserve the fish strictly for the pleasure and enjoyment for recreational fishermen. The two main problems with it is this:

1) It is a small band of recreational fishermen known as “ardent anglers” who are pushing this issue. This is like the wolf banning the take of sheep so as to keep all of the sheep for themselves.

2) There is zero scientific or biological fact or reasoning for their unwarranted demands

(Click chart to enlarge)

As Sargeant Joe Friday use to say, “Just the facts Ma’am”.

The above chart shows that recreational fishermen kill far more speckled trout than commercial fishermen do. But this angry group of ardent anglers hiding behind the fascade of an organization want all of the fish for themselves. The Saltwater Catch Radio Show did several excellent interviews with the biologists and fisheries maangers in charge of speckled trout stocks here in North Carolina. I’d highly recommend you listen to these interviews in that they (the folks interviewed) are the source for all information. (Side note-The radio show archives all of its radio broadcast in the message board section of the web site.)

Also keep in mind that a caught speckled trout stops with the recreational fisherman but with a commercial fisherman its just the beginning of a long journey. The trout will journey from fish dealer, from truck, to fish house, to restaurant and eventually your table. So although you may not fish or really don’t care about fishing-The Coastal Fisheries Reform Group is literally trying to take food off your table and greatly prohibit your ability to buy fresh locally caught seafood.

Now here is the real kicker. The Coastal Fisheries Reform Group is in fact, nothing. It is not an organization. it is not incorporated. It does not have members or chapters. It does not collect membership dues. It has no regular meetings. It doesn’t even have a web site. All that it does have is a blog they got for free from Bloger.com. That’s it. (But you have to be “approved” if you want to be e-mailed for updates from their free blog site.HHhhmmm…………….)

So what is the Coastal Fisheries Reform Group then? Plain and simple the Coastal Fisheries Reform Group is a fascade for a select few to hide behind so they can push their personal agenda in anonymity. It gives them a false presence, an illusion of size all the while moving in secret. “Dirty deeds done dirt cheap” with no repercussions.

No science. No biology. No organization. No members. Complete anonymity-Just personal agenda of a few ardent anglers with the desire to end commercial fishing and curtail your ability to eat freshly caught local seafood.

Now, what does the rececent cold stun event have to do with gamefish status? This “group” is trying to connect the dots between a low population of trout with commercial fishermen as the cause and that the cold stun event has lowered the current stock status even further! Sooooo, according to their logic, we should ban the minority catch group and give it all to them-The majority killer of trout.

Nice.

If you’d like to post a comment and see what other involved in the fishery have to say then log on to Saltwater Catch and enter the message board section of the site. Good stuff there!

Bill Hitchcock

Hitchcock Realty