ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 27, 1997 TAG: 9703270030
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS
Fishing has caused shark populations in the bay to decline up to 25 percent from levels of 20 years ago.
State regulators are considering new rules to protect slow-maturing sharks from commercial fishing in the Chesapeake Bay.
The sharks use the bay as a nursery. Fishing has caused shark populations in the bay to decline up to 25 percent from levels of 20 years ago, according to Jack Musick, a biologist with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission may ban catching sharks less than 58 inches long. A second proposal would close state waters to shark fishing when the number of sharks taken legally in ocean waters has been reached.
-ASSOCIATED PRESS
LENGTH: Short : 26 linesby CNB