Shrimpers prevail…while loggerhead turtles get tossed aside

Political dramatics at the North Carolina General Assembly in Raleigh reached “soap opera level” proportions recently when Senate leaders “completely gutted an innocent bill” that had been proposed to pay tribute to the loggerhead sea turtle and name it as the official “North Carolina Saltwater Reptile.”

 

The loggerhead designation is something that has been near and dear to several coastal legislators for several years now, and earlier this year, Rep. Frank Iler, R-Calabash, of Brunswick County sponsored H.B. 441 to designate the loggerhead sea turtle as an official “state ambassador.”

 

His bill was approved in the state House of Representatives 113-0 on May 7 and referred to the Committee on Rules and Operations of the Senate for consideration.

It’s here that the political hocus-pocus began, according to Sen. Bobby Hanig, R-Powells Point.

The political shenanigans totally derailed Rep. Iler’s loggerhead turtle bill. At some point, the language within two companion bills (H.B. 441 and H.B. 442) was sliced and diced to become completely different pieces of legislation, targeted at prohibiting inshore shrimp trawling.

 

Put bluntly, the Senate leadership “hijacked” the original bills and “repurposed” them, with the intent of putting North Carolina’s shrimpers out of business, according to separate reports from two Outer Banks news outlets based in Dare County.

One legislator who was not identified by name labeled the Senate’s backroom dealings and total disregard for transparency as “Shrimpgate,” likening the situation to the “Watergate” scandal and cover-up that rocked the administration of U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1972. (The term “Watergate” has since become synonymous with political deceit.)

 

Cookies by Sugar & Salt, A Coastal Bakery, located in Down East Carteret County on U.S. Route 70 in Bettie.

Rep. Edward C. Goodwin, R-Edenton (shown below), said the “11th hour anti-trawling amendments were implemented by Sen. Bill Rabon, R-Southport, chair of Rules and Operations.

 

When the amended H.B. 442 came up for a vote on June 18, Sen. Hanig tried to tack on five new amendments in an attempt to unravel the shrimp trawling ban. All were tabled without discussion.

In the end, only Sen. Hanig and three other coastal senators – Bob Brinson, R-New Bern (shown below); Michael Lazzara, R-Jacksonville; and Norman Sanderson, R-Minnesott Beach – voted “no.”

 

The Senate’s action evoked an uproar within the shrimping community, and political rallies in Raleigh were staged to get the attention of House members. They got the message. The Republican House Caucus determined that the shrimp trawling ban would not come to a vote on the House floor.

Rep. Goodwin, in support of the shrimpers, said the Senate’s ploy would have “effectively eliminated the shrimping industry and put thousands of hard-working North Carolinians out of work, destroying a centuries-old way of life. The commercial fishermen and shrimpers are the backbone of our vibrant seafood industry, and I will fight until the last dog dies to protect it.”

Joy Crist, editor of the Island Free Press, based in Hatteras (shown below), reported that Robert L. “Bob” Woodard Sr., chair of the Dare County Board of Commissioners, is spearheading an initiative to form a North Carolina Coastal Counties Fisheries Coalition.

Here is the official portrait of the Dare County Board of Commissioners. Bob Woodard is the gentleman seated in the center with the bow tie.

Woodard said the coastal counties “share a deep connection to our working waterfronts and the hardworking men and women who make their living from our coastal waters. Our commercial fishing industry is both a vital part of our economy and an essential part of our heritage and identity.”

“With the recent controversy (in Raleigh), it has become clear that we must be proactive in defending and supporting this vital industry. It’s likely we will see similar legislation resurface in the future,” Woodard continued.

Perhaps, for starters, the new coalition can endorse the original loggerhead sea turtle bill in 2026. Hint, hint.