It was the celebration of the organization entering into third year successfully. Ernie Foster said the defining moment came at a legislative committee meeting in Raleigh in 2004 when North Carolina Watermen United was formed. Captains Britton Shackelford of Manteo and Rom Whitaker of Hatteras said that it was a plan to strengthen the voice of watermen grew out of the three men’s discontent.
The organization got immense support in Wanchese and Hatteras after North Carolina Watermen United (NCWU) officially organized in April 2005. Even in Dare County the support was overwhelming. Commercial fishing was the parent of the Outer Banks charter-boat industry, and ties between the two groups remain strong.
Shackelford, owner of Doghouse Sportfishing Charters, told that he will work drop netting when someone needs a hand. According to him he grew up commercial fishing and never went sportfishing until he was twenty-one. Foster explained that NCWU works for the interests of watermen who make a living off the water. He also states that contemporary issues, such as a growing web of regulations, the loss of wetlands and habitat, high fuel costs, and the loss of docking slips, cement the historic alliance.
T. Jerry Williams, a consultant and lobbyist who has worked for NCWU, told that in the past when two or three captains might come to Raleigh to speak to a legislative committee or regulatory body, they were always perceived as speaking as individuals. Sean McKeon, president of the North Carolina Fisheries Association (NCFA), the state’s largest commercial fishing trade organization, opined that the charter industry and the commercial fishing industry face similar challenges in fisheries management issues.
