CAROLINA BEACH — Carolina Beach fishing charters are not what they used to be, but members of the charter fleet, along with the town, are hoping to change that.
Captain of a fishing boat and Harbor Commission member Dave Tilley offered some insight into the situation during Town Council’s monthly meeting.
“Historically this harbor has been one of the top harbors in North Carolina for charter fishing and in the last [few] years we have slipped. Morehead City, Oregon Inlet — they are eating our lunch. So as a town and as a charter fleet we have been working here the last couple years with the upgrades and the marina … we are trying to regain our [stature] in that charter fishing industry,” Tilley said
One of the biggest problems hampering the charter fishing fleet is the lack of fuel at the town’s harbor.
“Fueling of the charter fleet. Historically we had a marina there in the harbor, it was down in the corner and we could get fuel pretty much any time we needed it, but one of the hurricanes wiped it out … After that we had a fuel truck that sat down there and really didn’t move … eventually, it wouldn’t pass inspection anymore so that went away,” Tilley said.
Eventually, the fleet moved to a system where companies would just bring fuel to the boats, but now the trucks and fuel companies have decided they no longer want to do that. This has caused problems for the fleet since they have to potentially leave fishing in order to make sure they are able to refuel before another trip.
A new solution?
In an effort to help solve the fuel source problem Tilley has gotten Colonial Fuel, a Wilmington-based company, to agree to provide a 2,000-gallon fuel tank for the docks.
“Why is this good for the town? Well, one of the things that we have coming is we are fixing to set the [new] docks on the West side. When we set those docks were going to have empty slips and we’re going to have to attract boats,” Tilley said.
In the age of the internet, walk-up fishing charters are virtually non-existent, he said; that means charters will utilize the marinas that are the cheapest available. But if the town’s municipal marina were to offer fuel it would be an incentive for charters to use the marina.
Officials did not make any decisions during the Tuesday night meeting, but they were receptive to the idea.
“I have heard from several of the boat captains that they are kind of anxious to get something happening there, they have had their fuel cut off and it’s become a real problem,” Councilman Steve Shuttleworth said.
Town Manager Ed Parvin said if the town leaders want to, he can get the item on the next Technical Review Committee’s agenda and hopefully find out if the proposed solution is viable within a few weeks.
Michael Praats can be reached at Michael.P@Localvoicemedia.com
