Charter boats feeling crunch

Economic downturn has customers canceling fishing trips along coast

CAROLINA BEACH -- The scent of diesel fumes mixed with seawater mist perfumed the cockpit of the S.S. Fish Witch, which was trolling for sailfish offshore of Cape Fear.

Shane Snow, 24, was fishing in a sailfish tournament, something he would have had little time for in previous years when his client book was solidly filled. Fishing in the tournament gave him an excuse to go fishing and also provided the opportunity to win a cash prize.

"I've had fewer charters this year," Snow said. "I'm still talking to as many people as always. They're just not booking as many trips. People aren't spending money like they used to."

The offshore charter business is one of the biggest victims of a high fuel costs. Fuel prices are so high they are preventing many people from driving to the coast for summer vacations, which for many families used to include one day or several days of charter fishing. Prices for everything from bait to fuel are also driving up the expenses of charter fishing, sinking charter captains' fortunes with a double whammy.

"I still get some people coming from Michigan and Kentucky, states that still have strong economies," Snow said. "But local North Carolina folks, the people who normally drive down from Charlotte and Raleigh to Carolina Beach, are drying up. I typically begin running charters by the first of March. But this year, I didn't run my first charter until May."

Snow wonders if this fall will bring more of the same, with an abbreviated season shutting off at Labor Day where it once continued well into fall.

His father, Carl Snow Jr., 66, began the family business at Carolina Beach many years ago. Fish Witch Charters has three boats. Shane captains the 33-foot J.C. offshore rig and also runs the Little Witch, a 26-foot Carolina Skiff. Carl runs a 48-foot Henriques boat, Fish Witch II, on Gulf Stream trips. But even the 48-footer sticks close to the beaches these days because of the declining economy.

"After a slow start, business is up quite a bit since June," Carl Snow Jr. said. "Fishermen are still coming. They're just not taking the offshore trips, which are down 75 percent. Instead, they book a half-day or three-quarter-day trip, catching nearshore fish like Spanish mackerel because of the cost."

A five-hour, half-day trip on the 48-foot boat costs $550, with the same trip costing $500 on the 33-foot boat. A similar charter on the 26-foot boat costs $300 for the first two people with an extra $50 for one or two additional anglers. Compared to the $2,000 cost of a 14-hour Gulf Stream charter on the 48-foot boat, the shorter trips seem a bargain.

"Two years ago, if you wanted to fish on one of my boats, you had to book months in advance," Snow said. "But now, out of a seven-day week, maybe two parties book in advance. We are catering to the vacationers who do make it down to the beach and book a trip on a whim and to local people who live nearby."

Jot Owens, 30, runs a 22-foot Ranger boat out of Wrightsville Beach for nearshore and inshore species. He also said business had been slow but had picked up.

"My business is down a total of 10 to 20 percent from last year," Owens said. "I've been a charter captain for nine years, and this is the worst I've seen it. I should be running every day in June, July and August. Right now, I'm running four or five days out of a seven-day week."

Owens said things appeared to be slowly improving, compared to spring and early summer. He said several customers had booked June trips last winter then subsequently canceled them.

"The worst time for cancellations and slow bookings was when everybody was talking about gas prices going up at the same time the stock market was going down," he said. "I had two customers call to say they just would not financially be able to come to the beach on summer vacation this year after booking their summer trips in February and March. But I'm not getting those types of cancellations now. I think things will pick up, now that fuel prices have stabilized."

Snow summed up the mood of all three captains, who were optimistic about the future. He has been in the charter business the longest and has seen the economic pendulum swing several times.

"It's the fear factor," he said. "So it shouldn't last too long. Once everyone gets used to the higher cost of fuel and higher prices for other things, they will start going fishing again."