Keith Rhodes, chef at the Wilmington, N.C., restaurant Catch, has announced that he will resign from his at-large seat on the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission after a vote on flounder fishing restrictions drew angry debate.
His resignation letter was dated Nov. 20, the last day of the commission’s November meeting. In that meeting, members of the commission voted for limits of flounder fishing that the commercial fishing industry opposed. He was one of six members for voted for the passing regulations.
Keith Rhodes (center-left) being sworn into an at-large seat during the commission's August meeting. N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries photo.November’s meeting was Rhodes’ first and last as a seated commissioner after being sworn-in in August.
According to an interview with Star News Online, several factors went into his decision to resign.
“I’m tremendously busy with my schedule,” he said. “Also, I feel like they wanted a voice from the hospitality industry. And we were very flattered to be chosen to be that voice, but at this moment a lot of the issues deal very deeply with the commercial and recreational fishing industry. And for myself, I was just bringing a hospitality side, and my assessment was I didn’t really think that I could contribute as much as I would have liked to.”
The newspaper also reported that there were racially-charged comments directed at Rhodes posted in a closed Facebook group after the vote that may have led to his decision to resign.
