Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 6, 1995 TAG: 9511060084
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium
By Friday afternoon, 6,000 pre-printed cards had been sent by members of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and a fishermen's group called the Coastal Conservation Association of Virginia.
``We've not gotten anything like this in the two years I've been here,'' said Wilford Kale, a spokesman for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.
The cards ask the governor ``to act immediately, in conjunction with the state of Maryland, to ensure the long-term ecological and economic viability of the Chesapeake Bay blue crab.''
Concern over blue crabs has been building for years and peaked two weeks ago when the commission predicted this year's commercial catch of 25 million pounds would be Virginia's worst in 36 years.
If the projection holds true, the catch will be 9.5 million pounds lighter than last year's and about half of the 1993 take.
The implications of declining harvests are huge in Virginia, where the blue crab remains the last major money crop for a few thousand commercial fishermen.
The impact of a crab shortage also has been felt by consumers, who have seen retail prices for crab meat double to about $20 a pound in the last five years.
Joe Maroon, director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Virginia office in Richmond, said the reaction of the foundation's 80,000 members to the postcard appeal was overwhelming.
``People understand the importance of the blue crab both as a symbol of the health of the bay and the economy of the bay,'' Maroon said.
by CNB