The state legislature is considering a tool to slow the disappearance of traditional waterfront businesses such as fish houses, the same kind of property-tax break that farmers can get.

And activists are pondering a system to pay owners for agreements not to sell to developers.

If the tax measure passes as now worded, working waterfront property would be taxed based on its value for its current use rather than the higher value for development. Owners would be liable for the difference and interest if they sold the property or used it for a purpose that didn't qualify as working waterfront.

It is hard to judge how many would use the measures or how effective they would be, but some say that more fish houses will inevitably close before they can even be tried. The voluntary tax relief wouldn't be available until the next fiscal year beginning July 1.

"I don't see any quick fix for any of it," said Brent Fulcher, president of B&J Seafood in New Bern, which he said was losing money.

Sean McKeon, head of the N.C. Fisheries Association, said that fish house owners should be cautious about selling development rights.

He compared the idea with paying farmers for agreements not to develop their land, something that has grown increasingly common.

"So, the family gets, say, $200,000, and they've got that cash infusion, but once it's gone, maybe they're right back to the same problems they had before with paying the bills, and now their farm is worth less to sell," he said.

Not all the fish house owners who would consider selling, though, are losing money, and some would stay in business if the big check from a developer looked less attractive, said Barbara Garrity-Blake, a Carteret County anthropologist and member of the state fisheries commission.

"We should make options available to people, and they can take them or not," she said. "No one is going to cram it down their throat."

She said property tax relief should be available for homeowners in coastal communities, as it is in Maine for folks whose incomes are low compared with the values of their homes. Soaring property tax bills are one more pressure for the fishing industry and one more way the boom threatens traditional communities, she said.

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