THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 26, 1995 TAG: 9504260496
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
Call it a conservation dividend.
By whatever name, Virginia decided Tuesday to greatly relax fishing limits on striped bass - a move that eases years of strict government protections which, even critics say, helped revive the popular sport fish from near extinction.
But many scientists now believe the species, also known as rockfish, has recovered so well that sportsmen and commercial fishermen can again capture the fish without much fear of damaging its populations.
By a unanimous vote Tuesday, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission agreed to quadruple the amount of rockfish that financially troubled watermen can pull from the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean, from 211,000 pounds a year to 876,940 pounds.
The commission also more than tripled the opportunity for recreational anglers to land a rockfish, expanding their season from 32 to 107 days.
Sportsmen actually have two seasons to choose from now - in late spring, from May 16 to June 15; or throughout the fall and winter, from Oct. 17 to Dec. 31, according to approved plans.
Size limits also were slightly relaxed, and a new ``trophy season'' for big fish longer than 32 inches will be opened from May 1 to May 15.
Commission chairman William Pruitt, often criticized for not doing enough to protect rockfish and other species, quickly tried to defuse any suggestion that Virginiais not being environmentally sensitive.
Pruitt interrupted one waterman who raised the issue during a public hearing Tuesday, saying: ``We get beat about the head and shoulders on conservation . . . and I can tell you that the figures (catch limits) were taken into account by the scientific community. . . . So we've done the conservation thing.''
Not all sportsmen and conservationists agree. The Atlantic Coast Conservation Association of Virginia, for example, said the state plan opens the door to the same overfishing which put rockfish in jeopardy.
``Quadrupling the commercial quota is way, way too much,'' said Bill Harris, a Virginia Beach sportsmen who serves on the association's fisheries management committee. ``We're just asking for trouble if they approve that quota.''
Actually, the quota was recommended by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a federal oversight board which urged states from Maine to North Carolina to approve looser limits this winter.
All Atlantic coastal states have either passed or are about to pass new quotas reflecting scientific data that rockfish are healthy again.
``We feel very comfortable with what we're doing,'' said Jack Travelstead, state director of fisheries. ``They gave us the numbers and we figured out the best way to implement them.''
Citing research by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Travelstead said the state rockfish population is ``as high if not higher'' than figures recorded in the 1960s.
In its most recent survey of newborn rockfish in Virginia, VIMS researchers found the fourth highest number of babies in the lower Bay since the marine lab started taking surveys in 1967. The highest number was recorded in 1993.
Travelstead said the state likely will recommend a year-round season next year for commercial fishermen if population trends continue upward. This year, the commercial season runs from June 16 to Dec. 31.
Under pressure from the federal government, Virginia closed all state waters to rockfish anglers in 1989. The moratorium was lifted in December 1990. And until now, the state has enforced a 211,000-pound annual quota for watermen and a 32-day season for sportsmen.
Pete Nixon, a Tidewater waterman, said he caught his quota last year in 25 minutes. He made about $500, or about $1.50 a pound, from the rockfish he snared.
Nixon argued Tuesday against allowing more watermen into a pool of 346 commercial fishermen currently licensed to take rockfish, saying ``what we've got now is not even enough to call a fishery.''
Others said all 2,900 licensed commercial watermen in Virginia should have a shot at rockfish under the new, larger quota.
The commission decided on a compromise. Full-time watermen who did not fish for rockfish under the stricter quota will get first crack at about 160 more licenses the state will release. The rest will be won through a lottery. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
DREW WILSON/Staff file
Phil Haywood of Colington, N.C., pulls in a net full of rockfish
from the Albemarle Sound.
Graphic
NEW RULES
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB