on the water

As executive director of CCA South Carolina, Scott Whitaker must navigate the murky waters of marine resource management. To do so, this lifelong outdoorsman and family man wrestles with everything from fish bag limits to water quality and fishing access.

NAME: D. Scott Whitaker

AGE: 40

OCCUPATION: Executive Director, Coastal Conservation Association South Carolina

RESIDENCE: Columbia

HOMETOWN: Sumter; grew up in Murrells Inlet

FAMILY: Wife, Sandy; two kids: Britton, 6, Tripp, 3

EDUCATION: B.S. in Business Administration from University of South Carolina

WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER?

I have no idea. I was always in trouble it seemed like :Ha!

I honestly don't have an answer to that question. At one time I thought maybe I wanted to be a commercial fisherman. My grandparents ran Capt. Dick's Marina, so I grew up around boats. I actually started college to become an architect, and I got sidetracked after I got up there.

HOW WAS YOUR PASSION FOR CONSERVATION OF MARINE RESOURCES CULTIVATED? DID SOMETHING SPECIFIC HAPPEN THAT MADE YOU THINK, WOW, THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO BE DOING?

The passion for conservation of marine resources was cultivated growing up on the coast of South Carolina. It started for me at a young age. My family is a family of hunters and fishermen. We've done that all of our lives. My great grandparents, grandparents, uncles. It's just what my family did, and what we still do. Britton has shot everything under the sun except a hog, and he catches a lot of fish with me. Hopefully the tradition continues.

TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR ROAD TO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CCAS.C.

When I was a young kid, like a teenager, I started working on the headboats at Murrells Inlet. I looked forward every summer to being able to do that, be on the water all day.

My family owned a small business - we manufactured children's and ladies' clothes. So I grew up in a small business, family business background, if you will. I've done everything from sweeping floors to hiring and firing. I've been involved with every aspect in owning and running a business, and that's helped me with CCA operations.

I was on the state board of the National Wild Turkey Federation, and at the time, some volunteers from CCA were looking for a director. They had seen what I had done, and it was one of those perfect time, perfect fit things. I've been here for nine years. I started in June 2000.

WHAT ARE A COUPLE OF YOUR PROUDEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS, ONE PERSONAL AND ONE CAREER?

Well, I'm so proud of my family, my wife. We're a very small and tight family. Probably my proudest personal accomplishment is that I'm married to my high school sweetheart, and our two kids we have together.

With CCA, it would be the growth we've been able to accomplish. When we started, we were literally a one-man operation, one chapter, less than five members. We've since grown to 12 chapters and about 3,600 active members in the state.

My proudest career accomplishment is being able to nurture and cultivate CCA South Carolina. By far we are the largest voice of recreational saltwater fishing in South Carolina. No discussion takes place in Marine Resources (a division of the state Department of Natural Resources) without us being a part of it. And that's a testament to the volunteers, and to the accomplishments this organization has made to the state and marine resources. It's very fulfilling.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB?

I'm definitely a people person, so I would say the opportunity that I have to meet so many people around the state that are likeminded and willing and passionate about marine conservation. I've been able to travel many places throughout the Southeast and Midwest, and I've never been anywhere that the citizens of a state have as much pride in their state as South Carolina.

The only place that I've been to that I could compare it to is Texas. If you're from Texas, you're usually proud of the fact that you're from Texas. And I've had Texans say they've met South Carolinians who just think the world starts and ends here. It's a neat thing to be able to get up and come to work and talk about what you love to do and what so many people love to do every day.

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST ISSUES FACING LOWCOUNTRY SALTWATER ANGLERS TODAY?

One of the biggest issues just about anywhere anymore is access. Not just access to the resource, but boat landing access, just being able to enjoy the resource. We've got an increasing human population along the coast, and that's going to lead to an increase in fishing pressure. By and large, the big-picture issue is definitely having access.

WHICH FISH SPECIES ARE IN MOST NEED OF ADDITIONAL PROTECTION?

There are several fisheries that are in need of additional management measures, but the highest profile fishery that needs to be looked at right now is probably bluefin tuna. There's a worldwide market for that, a lot of countries that participate in that fishery : and a lot of fishery pirating, if you will. That species is really in a dismal state of affairs, if you want to know the truth. It's going to require a lot of management effort and lot of people trying to do the right things to bring that fishery back where it used to be.

On a state level, flounder stocks are something we'll probably be looking at. We'll probably be looking at some cobia issues because of the unique fishery we have here in the Port Royal sound.

There's never a lack of something to do.

IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT THE WAY MARINE RESOURCES ARE MANAGED, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

This is a unique thing. In South Carolina, we are one of two states left on the East Coast that still manages its fishery through a legislative process. It's an important issue we've got to address. Everything we do, from changing red drum limits to the size limit on speckled trout, it all goes through the General Assembly - every member has a vote. That is extremely cumbersome. It's a very reactive process, and it's a process that slows down management.

We need to move toward a management process by committee, board or commission, something that has regulatory authority to enact conservation measures or fisheries management measures. If we could change one thing, that would be a good thing to change, the actual management process.

MANY PEOPLE CONSIDER THE RESURGENCE OF RED DRUM AS A MANAGEMENT SUCCESS STORY. DO YOU AGREE, AND WHAT LESSONS DO YOU THINK WE COULD TAKE FROM THAT EFFORT?

The success of management of red drum is certainly a classic management success story. It has a lot of different elements of management process involved. Conservation efforts were enacted to preserve the stock, starting with net bans down in Florida in early '90s. It also included an education component, where huge efforts were in place to educate the community on why things like size limits work. And it also involved an ethics change in that it kind of ushered in a conservation thought process and realization that the ocean is not an inexhaustible resource, that you have to make wise management decisions with the ocean.

Reach Tideline staff writer Abi Nicholas at 843-958-7375 or abi@tidelinemagazine.com.