Will state take bait and switch license?

• Author: Murray, Arthur O.
• Position: Tar Heel Tattler

When the General Assembly eliminated licensing for charter-boat captains during a 1997 overhaul of fishing regulations, Tar Heel captains cheered. Not anymore.

Now anybody with a suitable boat can hire out as a charter captain. And part-time captains converge on North Carolina's waters during peak fishing times, says Brian Horsley, co-owner of Nags Head-based Flat Out Fly Fishing and Light Tackle Charters and a member of the Oregon Inlet Fishing Association.

Horsley doesn't mind saying he dislikes the competition. "It's hard enough to make a living when a lot of people aren't doing it." Plus, for many of the newcomers, chartering is a sideline, so they can afford to charge less. "They're the first ones going into a price war." But he insists there's more at stake than protecting pocketbooks. "You see the out-of-state guys running trips, living in camper-trailers. Their input into the tax system isn't that much."

In August, Horsley presented a petition on behalf of the fishermen's association to the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission asking for reinstatement of the license. It suggests...