House Republicans block vote on NC shrimp trawling ban bill

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCT) — The House Republican Caucus has decided not to move forward with a vote on a controversial bill that would ban shrimp trawling in North Carolina.

House Bill 442 would have banned shrimp trawling in all inland waters and half a mile from the coast.

On Wednesday, the House Republican Caucus announced they are not moving forward with a vote to kill the bill.

“I’m elated the House listened to a voice of reason with these shrimpers and these families and how it was going to devastate eastern North Carolina jobs,” North Carolina Fisheries Association Chairman Brent Fulcher said. “It’s not solely the shrimp job, it’s the fuel man, it’s the man that sells the boxes. It’s the labor that supports all of that.”

According to members of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, the bill would have gone against a recent executive order from President Donald Trump aimed to revitalize the country’s seafood industry.

“The Trump administration has been very clear we need to unburden the United States industries, allow our seafood industries to thrive here,” said Deborah Long with the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “He’s looking at making sure everybody has access to our resources and North Carolina is trying to use a legislative process to bypass the established scientific process that talks about resource distribution.”

Supporters of the bill said inshore trawling has harmful effects on the environment. According to members of the NC Wildlife Federation, for every pound of shrimp caught, four pounds of bycatch are caught and thrown away.

Fulcher said North Carolina is the most environmentally-friendly state in protecting bycatch and small fish.

“The Senate took a bill that was going to be a good bill, both for commercial and recreational sectors, and inserted an amendment that tried to devastate eastern North Carolina,” he said.