cost $5 for 10 days, $15 a year and as little as $100 for a lifetime pass for children age 6. Those under 16 and over 65 could fish without a license.
This year's bill also includes discounted blanket licenses for charter boats and piers. The provisions, which are opposed by most recreational anglers, have been part of every license bill since the first one was proposed in 1996. Charter boats could carry unlimited numbers of anglers for as little as $27 a year and no more than $171 a year for the largest boats. Pier operators would pay a $1 for every foot their pier extends into the ocean.
The political prospects of this bill seem as dim as the others. Republicans have generally opposed the license as an extra tax. Sen. Marc Basnight, a Democrat from Dare County and the president pro-tem of the Senate, has also opposed a license. His constituents include some of the biggest commercial fishermen in the state.

Gigging drum banned
Gigging, gaffing or spearing red drum was banned by the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries June 18. The ban applies to recreational and commercial fishermen.
Red drum, the state saltwater fish, is listed as over fished in the most recent assessment of the state's fisheries.  Stringent management measures and fishing restrictions are in place to aid the fish's recovery.
For more information on red drum, contact Louis Daniel at Louis.Daniel@ncmail.net or by calling 1-800-682-2632.

weakfish. 
Recovering stocks include bluefish and summer flounder.
Visit the division's Web site at: http://www.ncdmf.net/stocks/index.html to view the new stock status report, along with species profiles and a glossary of fisheries terms. For more information about this stock status assessment, contact Louis Daniel, DMF - Morehead City, by e-mail at Louis.Daniel@ncmail.net or 1-800-682-2632.

License debate begins anew
North Carolina legislators waded into familiar waters in August as they considered for a fifth year whether saltwater fishing should require a license.
The debate before a House environment committee again pitted sportsmen against commercial-fishing interests in a battle for political muscle in the only Southeast state without a recreational saltwater fishing license.
The committee members heard from a number of recreational fishermen who favor the license if the fees are used only for regulations and enforcement that helps restore depleted fish stocks. About a million anglers would buy a license each year, giving us a stronger voice in fishery-management decisions. The license is estimated to generate about $8 million a year.
Commercial fishermen oppose the license because they fear it will give recreational anglers more power to lobby for stricter fishing regulations and beefed up enforcement.
The proposed license would

Weakfish was the major

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classification change in the
2001 report. Several stocks were not upgraded but continue to show strong signs of improvement under the FMP process.
Summer flounder is continuing a strong recovery. Older, more productive spawners, are more  abundant and the spawning stock biomass was at a record level in 1999. The stock is listed as recovering and will likely be moved to the viable category next year if trends continue.
The outlook also appears good for red drum, the state's saltwater fish. In 1998, temporary rules and harvest restrictions were implemented to begin stabilizing the red drum stock as part of the initial FMP. Even though the stock is still listed as over fished, several strong year classes continue to make their way into the spawning stock, which is very encouraging for fisheries managers. 
While many stocks show signs of improvement, some stocks have problems. Croakers continue to be plentiful in ocean waters, but virtually absent from sounds and inside waters.
Fish considered viable are striped bass in the Albemarle Sound and the ocean, dolphin/wahoo, king and Spanish mackerel, Atlantic menhaden, spot, spotted sea trout (speckled trout), shrimp and