Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 21, 1993 TAG: 9311210155
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ADRIENNE PETTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
John R. Jones could kick himself for not smelling something fishy one May afternoon in 1992.
Nationally recognized for his expertise at catching striped bass, Jones considers himself a professional fishing guide.
So when Tom Bishop called requesting his guide services, Jones was happy to oblige.
"No problem," Jones told Bishop. "Let's meet at the marina around 5."
When he met Bishop and a friend he brought along, Jones noticed that their fishing poles were the dime-store variety only kids use, and their tackle would never do for catching stripers. But he just assumed they were novices, and offered them some of his tackle.
It also seemed peculiar that the six-pack of Coke they brought wasn't on ice. What really should have clued him in, though, was a man videotaping on the dock and a government vehicle in the parking lot.
It didn't dawn on him until too late.
Bishop handed Jones a check for his services, and soon after whirled around, whipped a black hat out of his back pocket, and announced that he was Chief Warrant Officer Tom Bishop of the U.S. Coast Guard. By that time, about four other men had surrounded Jones and asked to see his captain's license. He didn't have one.
"You'd have thought I was a drug runner," Jones said.
Jones could have been fined as much as $15,000 for operating a commercial boat without a captain's license. The fine has since been negotiated to $700, but the debate it sparked in the lake community shows no sign of diminishing.
With the recent increase in boating accidents and the decrease in the number of game wardens on the lake, the Coast Guard has stepped up its patrol of Smith Mountain Lake for the past two boating seasons.
The guard's presence has reawakened a long-running debate about overlapping state and federal responsibilities and has raised suspicions among guides that the Coast Guard is not so much concerned about safety, but with giving weekend warriors something to do.
"I personally think it's a convenient way for the reservists who live in this area to get their duty," said a guide who asked not to be named because he doesn't have a license. "It's just a boondoggle for them."
Two other fishing guides, who could not be reached for comment, received similar fines this year. Fishing season ends in late October, but when it resumes next spring, the Coast Guard will be searching for still more guides who, federal officials say, are not complying with Coast Guard regulations. They estimate that of the 20 to 25 guides who operate on the lake, only five have licenses.
Jones sat out last season, and doesn't plan to return to his 17-year hobby as a fishing guide until somebody tells him what business the Coast Guard has on the lake.
From the time the lake was filled in 1966 until 1992, guides operated relatively untethered by federal laws because the guard didn't have the resources to police the lake. The Coast Guard would bring a boat from Norfolk to the lake for a few weekends during the summer, but not on a consistent basis.
Jurisdictional disputes date to the lake's creation. The Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers and any other agency that could get its oar in the water rushed to claim authority over everything from dock construction to sewage systems.
A 1977 ruling by U.S. District Judge James Turk established the 20,000-acre reservoir as a navigable waterway and established the right of federal agencies to oversee it.
But the Corps of Engineers, Interior Department and Coast Guard kept their involvement to a minimum - much to the relief of some lake residents who see federal involvement as meddlesome.
They've all honored an unwritten truce for several years. Local governments enforce zoning and dock regulation. The state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries patrols the lake and conducts safety instructions. And the Corps of Engineers regulates dredging and rip-rapping of the shoreline.
The Coast Guard does have jurisdiction, Bishop contends, even though it hasn't established a consistent presence.
The tactics the guard used in apprehending John Jones may have been underhanded, Bishop cedes, but they were necessary.
"We try not to do a sting operation, but sometimes we have to because these guides would school their passengers and say, `If the Coast Guard comes, tell them you're my friends,' " he said.
Besides, Bishop said, the Coast Guard has given guides ample opportunity to comply. In 1990, several guides received letters notifying them about the licenses, and Coast Guard officers visited guides personally.
"We went out of our way, above and beyond, to try to get them to comply before we started enforcing," Bishop said. "We know they're lying when they say they don't know about the licenses because we've been to their front door to talk to them."
He said the licensing department in Baltimore even went so far as to tailor the test to match Smith Mountain Lake.
Federal law requires people operating boats carrying up to six passengers for hire to obtain a license from the Coast Guard.
To qualify for the license, boat operators must learn boating skills and rules, CPR and first aid. Captains must pass a physical and a drug test.
The maximum penalty for not complying is $1,000, said Commander Bill Cummins of the guard's Marine Safety Office in Norfolk.
Any craft carrying seven passengers or more must be inspected and certified by the Coast Guard. The maximum penalty for not complying with guidelines concerning lifesaving equipment and other boat features is $5,000 daily.
People who live and work on the lake are divided over whether the Coast Guard should be there.
Roger W. Doyon of Fairfax, an engineer with the U.S. National Science Foundation who maintains a vacation home at the lake, wrote a letter to the Smith Mountain Eagle this summer in response to an article saying that some groups welcomed the Coast Guard's presence. He charged that the Coast Guard's most recent charter doesn't give it authority to patrol inland waters.
"For the reservists, they should do their time in the Tidewater area where you have problems with drug smuggling," he said. "This would be much better use of the taxpayers money than harassing fishing guides."
Many other fishing guides agree with Doyon but declined to be quoted because they didn't want to be targeted by the guard.
One guide who did get his license was Bob King, owner of Honey Hole Bait and Tackle in Moneta.
"I guide for a living and I can't afford to have somebody sock a big fine on me," he said.
The way King understands the Coast Guard's regulations, it doesn't matter whether a guide is being paid a penny or $1,000.
"It's so broad that if somebody bought you a sandwich and a Coke for taking them out, you'd have to be licensed."
But he doesn't mind complying with the Coast Guard because he thinks being licensed lets potential customers know that he is qualified.
"You get on a boat with a licensed captain and you know everything's on the up and up."
Longtime lake residents and the Smith Mountain Lake Policy Advisory Board also endorse the Coast Guard's presence.
"We're excited that they're here and anything they can do to alleviate those horrible statistics, we're in favor of," said Liz Parcell, executive director of Smith Mountain Lake Policy Advisory Board, a quasi-governmental organization formed by Bedford, Franklin and Pittsylvania counties to address lake issues.
Col. Jeff Uerz, chief law enforcement officer at the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, said that game wardens do not have authority to enforce federal laws, and he welcomes the Coast Guard's assistance in policing the lake.
Meanwhile, Jones still is fighting the Coast Guard. He and his lawyer have contested the fine and the Coast Guard's authority to police commerce on the lake which, they maintain, is non-navigable. His case is on appeal with a Coast Guard commander in Massachusetts.
"They're trying to make an example of me," said Jones, who has given up his 17-year part-time hobby as a fishing guide. "They targeted me as the person they were going to prosecute and jump on real good to get everybody in line."
And Bishop will continue to seek out unlicensed guides.
"We're not out to put these people out of business," he said. "We want to work with them and help them get the things they need."
by CNB