Gov. Pat McCrory has reappointed three members of the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission, but it was his fourth appointment of Nov. 2 that has commercial-fishing interests seething and recreational fishing interests cheering what appears to be a super-majority on the nine-member board for recreationals.
Six days before the election, McCrory re-appointed commissioners Allison Willis, Mark Gorges and Chuck Laughridge, Willis to a commercial seat. Gorges and Laughridge swapped chairs, with Gorges now in a recreational seat and Laughridge in an at-large seat. The fourth appointment, to an at-large seat vacant since the resignation of Wilmington restaurant owner Keith Rhodes last November, went to Brad Koury of Burlington.
The appointment of Koury, described as a “businessman, sportsman and conservationist” certainly didn’t sit well with the commercial fishing industry.
