North Carolina lawmakers are advancing a bill that would kill the state’s shrimping industry.
On Thursday, the state Senate voted on House Bill 442, which had recently been passed by the state’s House of Representatives to expand the recreational fishing season for southern flounder and red snapper and establish a pilot program to restore their populations. Both species had their seasons shortened in 2024 because they were considered overfished by state agencies, despite local fishermen arguing otherwise.
Leading up to the vote, an amendment was added to the bill that would restrict trawling for shrimp—a fishing method that involves mechanically dragging a large net close to the seabed—in inland waters and within half a mile of the coast. Those found violating the trawling ban would be charged with a class A1 misdemeanor, which carries a maximum punishment of 150 days of “active, intermediate or community punishment” and a fine subject to a judge’s discretion.
The measure, and the bill, passed on its third reading with a 39–2 vote. The two dissenting votes came from senators representing coastal counties. Other coastal senators who had previously voted against the amendment voted “absent.” The bill now heads back to the House and, if passed, will go into effect December 1.
The impacts of the legislation could be potentially devastating to the state’s commercial seafood industry, which contributed nearly $300 million to North Carolina’s economy in 2021 while supporting over 5,000 jobs. Nearly 75 percent of the state’s shrimp is caught in the waters that this bill would close off.
State Rep. Keith Kidwell (R–Washington) tells Reason that the bill would wreck the local economies in his district, which comprises a large share of the state’s coastline, including the Outer Banks barrier islands. “In my district, there are literally thousands of people who work in the fishing industry.”
Some lawmakers have suggested that shrimpers will be able to adjust to the bill by moving their operations offshore. Kidwell says that’s not so easy. Of the roughly 400 shrimping vessels in his district, “75 percent are not suited to go out into the ocean, to go half a mile offshore.” Kidwell says some of them could be modified but others could not, which would drive their operators out of business.
The impacts of the bill go beyond shrimpers. In the Outer Banks, where tourism contributes millions of dollars to the local economy, visitors flood local restaurants each summer for fresh-caught seafood. For many restaurants, local shrimp is the top seller. Some retailers have told Kidwell that 90 percent of their annual revenue comes from shrimp sales.
Supporters of the bill say this restriction is necessary to protect estuary waters and reduce bycatch—fish caught unintentionally by recreational shrimpers—which they argue is depleting fish populations. Sen. David Craven (R–Asheboro), who introduced the ban amendment, said that an estimated four pounds of bycatch are caught for every one pound of shrimp. Chad Thomas, executive director of the North Carolina Marine and Estuary Foundation, told The Carolina Journal that the ban would boost fishery recoveries and could enhance 900,000 acres of critical inshore habitats.
Shrimpers in the state have pushed back, claiming that they lead the nation in reducing bycatch. “Today NC requires two bycatch reduction devices per net—more than any other state. Gear rules implemented in 2019 and 2022 cut bycatch up to 70%,” writes Cameron Whitaker, a local fisherman based in Hatteras, North Carolina. The claim that every one pound of shrimp is caught with four pounds of bycatch, which comes from a 2009 study, is “not correct,” according to Whitaker. “This study today is almost as relevant as the iPod or the Myspace Platform.”
Kidwell says that while the commercial fishing industry has done “a great job of excluding” bycatch, there is always “going be some damage [from] bycatch.” But, “there’s also a lot of damage by recreational fishing…do we just shut off the recreational fishing? Cause I think the answer that’s gonna be ‘no.'”
The state has also already introduced several protections to its inland waters. Of the roughly 2.2 million acres of estuary waters in North Carolina, about 1 million acres are closed to shrimp trawling.
The bill is the latest example of regulatory overreach that has plagued both commercial and recreational fishing in North Carolina. In recent years, the state has imposed mandatory reporting requirements and shorter fishing seasons. In a March meeting, Joe Romano, a commercial fisherman from Wilmington, North Carolina, told the state’s Marine Fisheries Commission that over-regulation of the industry has created “a death by a thousand cuts, one rule after another, reducing access, increasing cost, driving more water men out of business.”
A ban on shrimping in the state would be less of a death by “a thousand cuts” and more of a government-sanctioned execution.
Kidwell, who heads the House’s Freedom Caucus, says he’s going to do his best to kill the bill, which is expected to be voted on this week. “I’m not gonna have them shutting off commercial fishing in Eastern North Carolina.”
