THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 19, 1996 TAG: 9605190185
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON
LENGTH: Long : 120 lines
Virginia's recreational fishermen soon will be presented with their best weapon yet in their battle to win more respect from the state's Marine Resources Commission.
It's an official study which will show that in 1994, the state's marine anglers spent $246,293,000 on fishing trips, tackle, boats, motors and related items.
It will also show that the expenditures generated $380,540,000 for the state's economy and were responsible for employing 8,704 people, from fishing guides to sales clerks.
The figures are contained in a preliminary report from Dr. James E. Kirkley, a respected fisheries economist at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at Gloucester Point. Kirkley's study was funded with a grant from the $1.3 million generated annually from the state's saltwater fishing license.
Kirkley presented the preliminary report at a recent meeting of the citizens board that advises the state commission on how the license money is to be spent.
Kirkley's finding substantiate those of another preliminary report presented last year by a special task force appointed by Gov. George Allen to study state government. That study estimated at $400 million the total economic benefit of marine recreational fishing in Virginia.
Kirkley is making a similar study of commercial fishing, although he has not completed his early report.
Anyway, the bottom line is that voting members of the Marine Resources Commission, the folks who decide who gets what in dividing up dwindling resources, will have to be impressed with Kirkley's recreational report.
Unfortunately, too many commission members have, over the years, seen rod-and-reelers as a bunch of good-timers with coolers full of beer.
The truth is that recreational fishing not only is a large, viable industry, supporting a lot of hard-working folks, but also one that contributes impressively to the state's economy.
There needs to be room for both commercials and recreationals. But the recreational industry deserves a bigger slice of the pie than the Marine Resources Commission has been serving.
STRONG MESSAGE: Along those same lines, recent action by the recreational advisory board sends a couple of strong messages:
The group is going to give top priority to funding research projects.
The members aren't very interested in spending a lot of the money on facilities, especially at state parks.
The best thing the board did at its recent meeting was deny approval for the purchase of Kruse's Wharf, a launching ramp and fishing facility at Deltaville on the Middle Peninsula.
The project would have swallowed $535,000 of the $815,000 available at the time.
Additionally, it would have put the Marine Resources Commission in the unenviable position of going into business against private enterprise, since there are other nearby competing facilities.
The board also turned down several requests for improving or constructing boating and fishing facilities at several state parks. It did approve two small park projects.
Meanwhile, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries apparently decided that the board was not at all happy with that agency's blanket request for $250,000 annually. At the last minute, the request was withdrawn. The money would have been used for ramps and other access facilities.
Overall, the board approved spending more than $654,000, most for fish research projects.
Final consideration of the expenditures will come Thursday, when the Marine Resources Commission holds it monthly meeting in Newport News. The meeting was moved from the normal fourth Tuesday because of Memorial Day.
DUCKY OUTLOOK: On top of last winter's increased duck population, the Delta Waterfowl Foundation reports that breeding conditions appear ``good to excellent'' on the vital northern prairies. This is the area in which as much as 80 percent of the North American duck population spends spring and summer and raises its young.
``Although waterfowl habitat is declining in both the U.S. and Canada, there is a pretty good supply of water to attract, hold and sustain ducks,'' the waterfowl conservation organization said in a report.
TURKEY FUNDS: Records were set by this year's fund-raising banquet by the Tidewater Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation.
Attendance was up 50 percent over a year ago, and a $20,000 donation was made to the National Federation.
``On top of that,'' said Pete Costenbader of Virginia Beach, a chapter officer, ``I managed to bag a gobbler for the sixth consecutive year. So the year was a success for both me and the chapter.''
HERRING LOSS: A conservation group has blasted the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission for allowing the state's herring catch to exceed its quota significantly.
The quota for the beleaguered herring was set at 250,000 pounds. But fishermen landed 360,000 pounds.
``This is what happens when the commission and state fishery managers let politics, not biology, drive fisheries management decisions,'' said Richen M. Brame, executive director of the Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina.
``This mismanagement of a severely depressed stock may result in continued delays in the herring's recovery. The losers are the herring and, in the long run, the people in Northeastern North Carolina who depend on a viable fishery.''
For years, North Carolina herring landings were measured in multi-millions of pounds.
SHORT CASTS: Dr. James C. Wright of Virginia Beach has earned his third citation award of the year from the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament. It was for a red drum released near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Wright has also scored with sea bass and tautog. . . . Eric Burnley, co-host of the local fishing show ``Virginia Outdoor Life,'' will speak at Monday's 7 p.m. meeting of the Portsmouth Anglers Club. Open to anyone, it'll be at the Simonsdale Civic Center on Vick Street near Portsmouth City Park. . . . Rick Morris of Virginia Beach finished 26th and just out of the money in a recent Bass Angler Sportsman Society tournament in Alabama. However, he won $1,000 for the largest bass (5 pounds, 13 ounces) taken the first day. . . . Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., has been named BASS Angler of the Year. He also earned the title in 1992. . . . Casting competition for young anglers, known as CastingKids, is planned for June 1 by the Virginia Bassmasters. It'll be at Munden Point Park in Virginia Beach. For details, contact Don Sprinkle at 545-8435. . . . Rules for catching tuna, striped bass, speckled trout, gray trout and bluefish will be on the agenda when the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission meets Thursday and Friday in Atlantic Beach. For details, call Jess Hawkins at 1-919-726-7021 or, from North Carolina, 1-800-682-2623. by CNB