THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 11, 1994 TAG: 9411110644
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TASLEY LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Officers of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission found 35 illegal rockfish in a cold-storage plant and ice house owned by R. Wayne Browning, a former VMRC commissioner.
They aren't charging him with anything, though, because agency enforcement officers don't believe he knew anything about it.
``He lets people put stuff in the cooler without knowing what it is,'' said First Sgt. Randy Widgeon. ``I'll bet he's learned a valuable lesson.''
The agency has charged a commercial waterman, James Taylor, 51, of Temperanceville, with storing the rockfish there, Widgeon said.
Taylor has been charged twice in two days with possession of untagged striped bass, also known as rockfish, Widgeon said. He was also issued a summons for possession of an undersized gray trout.
The first violation is a third-class misdemeanor punishable with a fine up to $500. The second is a first-degree misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.
The VMRC probe cleared Browning of any wrongdoing.
``Our investigation has revealed that Mr. Browning was not involved at all, nor was he aware that there was any illegal contraband being stored in his facility,'' said Wilford Kale, a VMRC spokesman.
The charges against Taylor were prompted by a tip from a ``Coast-Watcher,'' Widgeon said. Coast Watch is a VMRC program that educates residents about marine regulations and encourages them to report suspected lawbreakers.
Gill netters on the Eastern Shore who applied for rockfish tags were given 50, he said. They can choose which fish to tag as long as the fish is longer than 18 inches. Most save the tags for bigger fish, throwing back the little ones. But any fish in a waterman's possession must be tagged, Widgeon said.
After receiving a tip that Taylor had untagged rockfish, VMRC officers stopped his truck and found one. But it was iced down, and Widgeon said investigators suspected that he had more elsewhere. They knew Taylor occasionally left fish at the Tasley cold-storage plant.
They went to the ice house and found 34 more untagged rockfish, Widgeon said.
Widgeon described Taylor as a door-to-door fish peddler.
``A seafood dealer wouldn't take one without a tag, because they know about the regulation. But the average person wouldn't know about it,'' Widgeon said.
Browning, who was a VMRC commissioner for eight years until 1990, was not on the commission three years ago when tags were first required for rockfish as a method of improving the supply of the fish. Thursday, he was in North Carolina, and said by telephone that he knew nothing of the action with which Taylor is charged.
``I don't even know the fish are his,'' said Browning. As a community service, Browning allows locals to store perishables in his large refrigerators and freezers. He said the Accomack County government, a food bank, and state agencies have food there. by CNB