- BIG STORY: S.C. fisheries mostly healthy, but face threats
- MORE NEWS: Bills to watch as S.C. legislative clock ticks down
- LOWCOUNTRY, Ariail: Ocean wail
- BRACK: A British geopolitical analyst on trade between China, S.C.
- MYSTERY PHOTO: Pink clouds
- FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
S.C. fisheries mostly healthy, but face threats
By Jack O’Toole, Capital Bureau | In an age of relentless cynicism about government, talking with the fishermen, scientists, politicians and regulators who manage South Carolina’s fisheries feels like a bracing splash of cold water on a hazy summer day.
- Editor’s Note: The following article is a condensed version of this week’s cover story in Charleston City Paper. To read the full piece, click here.
Words you hear a lot in those conversations? “Competent,” “caring,” “collaborative” and “successful.” Words you don’t hear so much? “Big government” and “pointy-headed bureaucrat.”
Put simply, there’s almost universal agreement that Palmetto State fisheries — a vital part of the state’s $4.2 billion-a-year wildlife economy — are well-managed and mostly healthy.
But that consensus comes with a critical caveat: For now. Why? Because increasingly, it’s not the relatively healthy fisheries on which t managers are focused. It’s the storm clouds on the horizon.
And that’s when you start hearing a different, less popular vocabulary — words like “climate change,” “explosive growth,” “budget cuts” and “inflection point.”
In short, South Carolina’s fisheries are facing rough waters ahead. And to understand why, it helps to understand how the current system works.
How good management works
Fisheries management is designed to ensure that we don’t deplete marine wildlife through overfishing. And to accomplish that goal, managers use the best available data to place catch limits on various species, particularly those that are threatened by overfishing at any given moment.
On the federal level, which covers waters more than three miles from the coast, that work is primarily done by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in cooperation with regional councils made up of fishing industry stakeholders. On the state side, within the three-mile limit, it’s handled by SCDNR and the state legislature.
And according to S.C. Sen. Chip Campsen (R-Charleston), an avid angler and longtime leader on conservation issues in the Statehouse, the system works — mostly thanks to the fishermen themselves.
“It’s fishermen who’ve really adopted and promoted a conservation ethic that has worked for most fisheries and species,” Campsen said. “Take the spottail bass, which was in real trouble in the early 2000s. We’ve had [to work with fishermen] to change the limit on that three or four times since I’ve been in the legislature, but now they’re having a great comeback.”
Campsen says his work these days is focused on currently-threatened species like flounder and blue crab — a much-loved Lowcountry delicacy that will be subject to catch limits for the first time starting July 1.
“That was the first blue crab regulation in 83 years,” Campsen said of the bill he pushed through the state legislature last year. “Before that, it was the wild, wild West.”
Of course, real collaboration is never all sweetness and light. For instance, Campsen said, federal officials have strict limits in place for red snapper, which local fishermen believe are plentiful.
“Any offshore fisherman who bottom fishes can tell you we have loads of red snapper,” Campsen said. “You can’t catch any other bottom fish without going through five or six red snapper before you catch a grouper or something you can keep.”
In an April 25 email, NOAA’s Allison Garrett told Statehouse Report that the agency is actively listening and reevaluating the red snapper data, though no final decisions have been made yet regarding modifications to the current rules.
A ‘holistic’ approach: Limits plus habitat restoration
SCDNR officials say they are optimistic about the work they do to preserve S.C. fisheries, but realistic about the challenges.
“There are always challenges with some of the species we manage,” said SCDNR Director of Fisheries Management Ben Dyar, noting current concerns about southern flounder and other species. “[But] because we have our research and monitoring experts together here with us on one campus, that helps us get a really good understanding of how to manage those resources in a sustainable way.”
An example of that collaboration can be found in SCDNR’s creative management of the state’s oyster population, according to shellfish section manager Andrew Hollis.
“Oyster larvae prefer to land on other oyster shells, so when you harvest oysters, you take away habitat for future oysters to settle on,” Hollis explained. “That’s why we’ve focused our resources on our oyster shell recycling program, which is now the largest in the United States.”
Under the program, S.C. recycles more than 40,000 bushels a year, allowing teams of state officials and volunteers to replant the shells on intertidal banks, where recently spawned larvae are looking to settle.
And it’s that combination of data-driven catch limits and habitat restoration that’s kept the state’s oyster population sustainable in recent years.
“For every bushel that’s taken out, we’re trying to put one back, so our oysters can continue to thrive,” Hollis said.
Troubles ahead?
National and international studies consistently show that more than 80% of U.S. fish stocks are neither overfished nor in danger of overfishing. Despite unqualified successes, experts and environmentalists say S.C. fisheries are facing a perfect storm of troubles in the years ahead.
First, they say, indiscriminate federal budget cuts under President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative are wiping out the expertise and data collection programs that state fisheries rely on to make good decisions.
“The states just don’t have the capacity to take over the work that’s under federal jurisdiction right now,” said Jeff Kopaska, executive director of the American Fisheries Society. “And that could be a major challenge for the people who use and enjoy our natural resources.”
Or as one federally-connected source told Statehouse Report: “People don’t understand how extreme this is yet. But we literally aren’t going to have the data we need to set limits next year. And that’s when the whole system starts to fall apart.”
Another major threat, officials say, is South Carolina’s exploding population, which in turn is putting more recreational fishermen in the water.
“People are moving to the coast,” SCDNR’s Dyar noted. “And we’re definitely seeing more [fishing] effort as a result.”
Finally, and many say most serious of all, is the danger posed by rising seas and warming waters, which has the capacity to destroy ecosystems that S.C. fishermen have relied on for centuries.
“My sense is that we generally do a good job with fisheries,” said Dana Beach, founder of the S.C.-based Coastal Conservation League. “But this existential threat of climate change is likely to diminish or even eliminate whole fisheries if we don’t act.”
And the only way to prevent it, Beach argues, is by attacking the fossil fuel problem directly — which is why he was so disappointed by the state legislature’s recent decision to allow a new natural gas plant to move forward in rural Orangeburg County.
“What’s going on right now is not just unsustainable, but potentially tragic,” Beach said. “And the stakes couldn’t be any higher, because the best in-state fisheries management on the planet isn’t going to save fisheries unless we do the right thing with energy.”
- Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Bills to watch as S.C. legislative clock ticks down
By Jack O’Toole, Capitol Bureau | South Carolina lawmakers are scrambling to put points on the board before the General Assembly’s clock for doing business hits triple zeroes on May 8.
Headlining that effort is a mad dash in the S.C. House to pass a revamped bill cutting the state’s top income tax rate from 6.2% to 5.39%, despite the fact that the Senate is unlikely to take up the bill before next January.
It replaces an earlier flat-tax plan that saw a majority of South Carolinians potentially paying more in taxes – something that sent House lawmakers scrambling back to the drawing board when they realized how bad the first proposal looked.
“When you get resistance like that, you back up and find a different path,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bruce Bannister (R-Greenville) told reporters on April 29.
The revamped plan, unveiled on April 25, seeks to initially cut taxes for 42% of filers, while 24% — mostly residents making less than $75,000 a year — would see their tax bills rise. Taxes for the remaining third would remain flat.
Future rate cuts would follow in any year when state revenue grew by at least 5% — eventually, supporters hope, eliminating the income tax entirely.
But critics warned that hastily-written tax bills can have unintended consequences.
“I just think there are a lot of implications that we may or may not be thinking about,” said Ways and Means Vice Chair Gilda Cobb Hunter (D-Orangeburg).
Already out of committee after an almost party-line 17-6 vote on April 30, the bill is expected to pass the House before the session ends at 5 p.m. on May 8.
In other legislative news as the session clock ticks down
Private school vouchers will go to the governor’s desk. After seeing two voucher initiatives struck down by the S.C. Supreme Court in the past four years, GOP leaders will try again with a bill that received final passage on May 1.
- Boat tax relief will probably have to wait for next year.
- State health agency consolidation and energy reform will become law.
- S.C. will still be one of two states without a hate crimes law on May 9.
State Treasurer Curtis Loftis will remain in office for now. In April, senators mustered the two-thirds majority required to remove Loftis from office for his role in a $1.8 billion accounting snafu. House leaders say they will likely consider the matter in January 2026.
Liquor liability reform is hanging by a thread. As bars and restaurants across the state continue to close due to exorbitant liquor liability premiums, members of the House and Senate are struggling to find a compromise between the very different approaches favored by the two chambers. Bar owners aren’t happy and continue to press for action.
Drivers will soon have to put down their cell phones. With the federal government threatening to withhold $54 million in highway funds, lawmakers say they’ll get the hand-free driving bill across the finish line before session’s end.
Legislators may, or may not, give themselves a pay raise. House and Senate negotiators are working to reconcile the 2025-26 budget bills passed in each chamber. A Senate amendment would raise lawmakers’ pay by $18,000 a year, but House leaders sound leery of the proposal.
- Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Ocean wail
Award-winning cartoonist Robert Ariail has a special knack for poking a little fun in just the right way. This week, he takes a sad look at pollution on our beaches.
- Love this week’s cartoon or hate it? Did he go too far, or not far enough? Send your thoughts to feedback@statehousereport.com.
A British geopolitical analyst on trade between China, S.C.
By Andy Brack | Imagine my surprise early on April 22 when I saw a column in The New York Times about China, tariffs and trade by British geopolitical analyst and author James Crabtree.
“I know that guy,” I thought, immediately remembering a tall and lanky graduate of the London School of Economics who volunteered for a couple of months during my ill-fated (but fun) 2000 congressional campaign. “And now he’s writing in the Times, Foreign Policy and all sorts of publications.”
So I reached out that morning to congratulate Crabtree. Turns out he was in China where the day was ending. Surprisingly, he responded within just a few minutes and agreed to answer a few questions about the unstable state of the world today, particularly in trade. In his Times column, he wrote about how steep tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump would pay off – but for China, not the United States.
“South Carolina will find it harder to attract investment – and harder to trade and export – because other countries will see the U.S. turning inwards and against trade, and decide to take their investment and trade elsewhere,” Crabtree said.
And with the Port of Charleston being a top 10 port nationally, that will be a big deal, especially since about 20% of the port’s 12.2 million metric tons of imports were from China, according to FreightWaves price reporting service.
“There will hopefully still be a globalized, trading world — with Europe and East Asia at its heart — but the U.S. will play less of a role in it. And obviously, ordinary people in South Carolina are going to pay a whole lot more for a lot of things they buy as prices rise sharply and economic growth slows down.”
It will cost more, he said, for the new Nintendo switch, toys or a basic iPhone.
“Supply chains will adapt, and the U.S. can import toys from other countries, but they will cost more and often be less good.”
Crabtree, who has a new book coming out soon on the U.S. struggle for primacy in the Pacific, predicted that if the tariff war continues, the U.S. will do less trade overall “but relatively more with other countries which are not China, so the trade landscape will be less efficient and more complex.”
There have been basic global trade problems that needed fixing before the rush to slap on tariffs, such as how the U.S. has become too reliant on some Chinese goods. “But the tariffs are not a good way to achieve this objective, and they have lots of very damaging side-effects.”
Crabtree, now back in London with his family after serving as bureau chief for the Financial Times in India and head of an international think tank in Singapore, says his time in 2000 in South Carolina was critical to his career path.
“I was young and green, and knew very little about political campaigns,” he said, adding that he learned the importance of retail politics. “I loved Charleston and the Lowcountry, too, which I’d explore on the weekends. There aren’t too many British people who’ve been inside a Piggly Wiggly or visited the Hunley museum or eaten scrapple. (I wasn’t vegan back then.)”
He said he also found being here to be intellectually fascinating.
“Living in South Carolina was one the first times I’d really lived and worked in a place which felt genuinely foreign and different, despite speaking the same language (just about).”
Volunteering here also planted a seed in his mind to return for graduate school at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, where he met his wife. He also realized in the Palmetto State that he “”somehow wanted to travel and learn for work. This became the impetus for later becoming a foreign correspondent, and living abroad in Asia for a dozen years.”
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of the Charleston City Paper and Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Pink clouds
Here’s a view of some pink clouds in South Carolina. Where was this picture taken? Make sure to add your name and hometown to your guess and send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Our most recent mystery, “Rural scene,” stumped all but two veteran photo sleuths, George Graf of Palmyra, Va., and Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas.
And that surprised photographer Bill Segars of Hartsville, who thought the photo of a friend’s custom metal and woodwork shop in the tiny Pee Dee town of Society Hill wouldn’t be locatable on the Internet – with whatever investigatory tools were used.
“A version of these photos can be seen on Google Earth, if one knows to look in Society Hill,” Segars. “But who would look in Society Hill, S.C., for this?”
Answer: George and Allan!
The shop is called Piece of Work, as Peel explains: ““Founded by Les Baker and Jacob Stafford, the business specializes in salvaging and repurposing old, discarded materials to create meaningful, custom-built, and one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture. The mystery photo shows a variety of work that Piece of Work has done in the past. They work closely with their clients to ensure that each project aligns with their customers’ visions while incorporating the studio’s creative flair.”
Great stumper!
- Send us a mystery picture. If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
Send us your thoughts
We’ve been getting a few good letters and would like to share them, but writers aren’t leaving phone numbers and hometowns to help us verify them for publication. We encourage you to send in your thoughts about policy and politics impacting South Carolina. We print non-defamatory comments, but unless you provide your contact information – name and hometown, plus a phone number used only by us for verification – we can’t publish your thoughts.
- Have a comment? Send your letters or comments to: feedback@statehousereport.com. Make sure to provide your contact details (name, hometown and phone number for verification. Letters are limited to 150 words.
Statehouse Report, founded in 2001 as a weekly legislative forecast that informs readers about what is going to happen in South Carolina politics and policy, is provided by email to you at no charge every Friday.
- Editor and publisher: Andy Brack, 843.670.3996
- Statehouse bureau chief: Jack O’Toole
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