THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 14, 1995 TAG: 9505140185
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON
LENGTH: Long : 143 lines
A proposal from the National Marine Fisheries Service involving yellowfin tuna points vividly to the government's inability to face some issues head-on.
After almost two years of study, the agency has come out with a management plan for the yellowfin, the very heart of the offshore sport-fishing industry between from Maine and South Carolina.
It calls for a 10-fish bag limit for individual anglers, meaning a charter boat with six fishermen, plus a skipper and mate, would be allowed to land 80 yellowfins. Per day!
What is that supposed to do for conservation? Some boats can't or don't catch 80 yellowfins a season.
Assuming the average yellowfin weighs 25 pounds, which is grossly under the norm in some areas, that computes to 2,000 pounds of tuna a day.
The logical question is: What is anyone going to do with 2,000 pounds of tuna? The logical answer: Sell all or part of it.
Several years ago, the charter fleet sailing from Oregon Inlet voted to voluntarily limit its charters to 18 or 24 yellowfin a day, depending on the size of the fish and what else is available. The limit was adopted because of concerns that too many fish were being caught. The practice has been picked up by the Virginia Beach charter fleet.
Omie Tillett, dean of the Oregon Inlet fleet, said it was incomprehensible that the federal government would place its limit so high.
``It just looks to me like they aren't very concerned with the future of this fish,'' Tillett said.
Dick Stone, a spokesman for the National Marine Fisheries Service, which proposed the limit, said the figure was picked because there was not enough biological data to indicate it should be lower.
``We just don't have the data we need,'' Stone said.
Yet the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna , which helped formulate the plan, has described the yellowfin as a ``fully exploited stock,'' meaning we should probably reduce the catch.
Unfortunately, if you know anything about yellowfins, allowing a 10-fish-per-angler, 80-fish-per-boat bag limit is almost certain to increase the take.
Another part of the proposal calls for charter and party boats to have yellowfin tuna permits by Sept. 15, and for all boats to have permits by Jan. 1.
BLUEFIN, TOO: The government also has proposed new regulations for bluefin tuna, saying that current limits have been ``difficult to communicate effectively to both anglers and enforcement personnel.''
Under the new rules, each angler aboard party, charter and private boats would be limited to two fish per trip from the school, large school and small medium classes. This covers bluefins between 26 and 77 inches.
LOCAL HEARINGS: The overall rules and regulations, including minimum sizes for both yellowfin and bigeye tuna, are about as complicated, and only the federal government could make them. But at least the National Marine Fisheries Service has scheduled public hearings on the proposals.
One will be from 6 to 10 p.m. May 24 at Lake Wright Quality Inn on Northampton Boulevard in Norfolk. The other will be from 6 to 10 p.m. May 25 at the North Carolina Aquarium on Airport Road in Manteo.
For additional information, call Christopher Roger (1-301-713-2347) or Kevin B. Foster (1-508-281-9260).
LOSING STRIPERS: Eleven federal fish hatcheries, including two that have supplied more than 200,000 stripers to the Chesapeake Bay, would be closed under yet another Washington brainstorm.
The facilities contributed 18 million fish to America's lakes and streams in 1994.
The recent announcement that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service intends to close the hatcheries or turn them over to the states is being decried by anglers, states, congressional watchdogs and fishing organizations.
Among the targeted sites are the McKinney Lake National Fish Natchery in North Carolina and Bowden National Fish Hatchery in West Virginia. Both supplied stripers for Cheapeake Bay stocking.
In addition, the agency has proposed to shut down or transfer to the states an additional 15 hatcheries in 1997.
One of the plan's most outspoken critics is Mike Hayden, president of the American Sportfishing Association of Northern Virginia.
``Once again . . . the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has opted to wage war against sportsmen,'' Hayden said in a letter to members of Congress. ``When other agencies are working to reduce inefficiency and protect valuable programs, the service is cutting valuable programs to protect its inefficiencies.''
Hayden said recreational angling in Virginia and Maryland provides $1.25 billion for local economies and more than 20,000 jobs.
LAST CHANCE: Pro bass fishermen Rick Morris of Virginia Beach and Woo Daves of Spring Grove, Va., will have their last shot at the Bassmaster Classic field this week in Illinois.
For a Classic berth, each will need a strong showing in the Bassmaster Top 100 tournament on the Mississippi River out of Moline.
Forty of the nation's top pros will meet in the Classic in August on High Rock Lake near Greensboro. The title will be worth $50,000 in cash and prizes, but as much as $1 million in sponsorship endorsements and personal appearances.
Morris has never made the Classic field. But Daves has been in 13, finishing second at Richmond in 1988.
ON THE FLY: It's not the kind of book that will keep you flipping pages to see what happens next, but it will delight anyone interested in saltwater fly fishing. It's titled ``Saltwater Fly Patterns'' and was compiled by Lefty Kreh, widely held to be the nation's No. 1 saltwater fly fisherman.
This is the classic's second edition - updated, improved and expanded, although the price has been cut from $22.95 to $19.95, with a hardcover version available for $35.
Publication date by Lyons & Burford is Monday. It should be on the shelves of local bookstores shortly afterward. Every serious fly fisher should have a copy.
END, BEGINNING: Virginia's ``trophy-fish'' season for striped bass ends at midnight Monday. But at the same time, the next phase of ``Stripers '95'' opens.
Only fish at least 32 inches long have been legal during the trophy season, while during the next Chesapeake Bay season, running through June 15, the minimum size will be 18 inches and the maximum 28 inches. The bag limit will be two per day.
Additionally, a coastal season opens Monday and runs through Dec. 31, with a one-fish bag and a 28-inch maximum. A Chesapeake Bay season will run Oct. 17 through Dec. 15, again with an 18-inch minimum but no maximum.
Anglers who caught fish during the trophy season are reminded that they must file reports with the Virginia Marine Reources Commission. Forms are available at local tackle shops and marinas, or you may call 247-2238.
SHORT CASTS: Alex Bizocu of Virginia Beach has taken the striper lead in the annual Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament with a 48-pounder, boated off Wachapreague. . . . Carl Jones of Virginia Beach released a blue marlin estimated at 600 pounds on a recent trip to Walker's Cay, Bahamas. He was aboard the Runaway, owned by Larry Klar of Virginia Beach. The outing produced a 50-pound dolphin for Dick Ornstein of Virginia Beach. . . . Tom Coleman of Chesapeake bagged a 23-pound, 2-ounce turkey in Suffolk. It had a 10 1/2-inch beard. . . . Donald Crouse Jr. of Hot Springs has set a Virginia record with a 2-pound, 3-ounce yellow perch, caught at Lake Moomaw. . . . The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission will meet at the Comfort Inn in Greenville at 8:30 a.m. Friday. . . . Robert Markland, who has headed the Virginia Marine Patrol since 1978, will retire June 30. Steve Bowman, Markland's deputy, will assume most of his duties, but William A. Pruitt, head of the Marine Resources Commission, will become the division chief. It's part of the state government reorganization orchestrated by Gov. George Allen. . . . The Fairfield Heritage Bass Tournament will be held May 27-28 on Lake Mattamuskeet in North Carolina. It will be sponsored by the Fairfield Improvement Council. Registration will be $100 per two-person team. Details: 1-919-926-3021. . . . Bobby Baucom Jr. of Portsmouth has earned a citation award from the Virginia Fresh Water Fishing Program by releasing a 24-inch largemouth bass. It was caught on a private pond. . . . The 16-page Camping Vacation Planner is available for free from Go Camping America Committee, 1-800-47-SUNNY. by CNB