A ban on inshore shrimp trawling passed its first vote in the North Carolina Senate on Wednesday.
Dozens of commercial fisherman drove to Raleigh to lobby lawmakers ahead of the vote, which sparked a contentious debate between Republicans on the Senate floor.
Tuesday, senators agreed to insert the shrimp provision into House Bill 442 without public notice. They said it will help protect the millions of fish that die each year after being caught in shrimp nets dragged through inshore waters.
Commercial shrimpers say it would decimate their industry. Coastal communities also lobbied against it, including Carteret and Hyde counties and the town of Kill Devil Hills.
H.B. 442 was originally written to open recreational fishing seasons for flounder and red snapper. It would require six-week seasons for both through 2029.
Both species had extremely short seasons in 2024 because they are considered overfished, meaning the population is too small to sustain itself and could collapse.
Kathy Rawls, director of the Division of Marine Fisheries, said in May the bill "sidesteps the entire fishery management plan process."
Democrats supported the final version of the bill, and Wednesday's vote was 41-4, with all the 'no' votes coming from coastal Republicans:
- Bob Brinson, R-Craven
- Bobby Hanig, R-Currituck
- Michael A. Lazzara, R-Onslow
- Norman W. Sanderson, R-Pamlico
The Senate will vote a final time Thursday. Then, it goes to the House.
"We'll see what happens," Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, told reporters Tuesday.
Gov. Josh Stein has not responded to a request for comment.
'Need to save our heritage'
The bill would outlaw shrimp trawling except in Atlantic Ocean waters at least a half-mile from the beach, matching regulations in Virginia and South Carolina.
"This is just an archaic thing that we have allowed to happen," Sen. Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, said in a committee meeting Tuesday. "It's going to take a lot of fortitude for people to stand up and say: 'I really, I don't like it, but it is the best policy.' And at the end of the day, our challenge here is good policy, not friendships and friends at home."
Hanig attempted to tank the bill multiple times, calling it an example of "sleazy backroom politics" and a "total sellout." (All six of his proposed amendments failed.)
"Without the shrimp trawl, many of our fish houses are going to close. People are going to lose jobs. It's going to decimate our fishing industry," Hanig said. "This ban affects many of the poorest counties in the state. We need to save our heritage."
The state awarded 270 commercial shrimp licenses in 2023. Those shrimpers hauled in more than 6.5 million pounds of shrimp, worth an estimated $14.1 million, according to Division of Marine Fisheries statistics.
Around half of those shrimp were landed in the Pamlico Sound, the same report says, and that's been the case since 1994. The estuary is vital for young fish in the region.
"The Albemarle-Pamlico Sound provides habitat and nursery waters for more than 75 species of fish and shellfish," researchers wrote in 2024, naming striped bass, flounder, speckled trout and croaker.
Up to 90% of the mid-Atlantic's commercially important finfish spend time there, the report said.
Sanderson said a ban would give imported shrimp the upper hand.
"China produces most of the seafood that we take and eat in this country. And that is a dangerous place to be," he said.
Supporters of the bill say shrimp harvested here can only meet a fraction of the state's demand.
