THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 10, 1994 TAG: 9407100234
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON
LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
Do not tell Jim Douglas that you can't go home again.
Douglas, 60, served more than 11 years as head of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission before leaving in 1983 to join the National Marine Fisheries Service in Washington.
He was deputy director of the federal agency for five years, until 1990, and more recently has been head of its office of trade and safety services.
Now, Douglas is back in Newport News and working with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. Only he remains on the federal payroll. He is serving the Virginia agency in an advisory role as a special assistant for interstate fisheries.
The assignment has to do with the new law that allows the federal government to step in and close any state fishery when the state doesn't live up to its promises to protect a particular species.
``Both federal and state fishing laws are becoming more and more complex and more and more numerous,'' Douglas said. ``I hope I'll be able to provide the expertise to show the (Virginia) commission how the federal government interacts with state government.''
Douglas said he would concentrate on the two organizations that have basic lawmaking responsibilities for fisheries: the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.
The former is a coalition of East Coast states that formulate fishery laws for inshore species, such as gray trout, flounder, striped bass and black drum. The latter, also representing East Coast states, does the same thing in federal waters, which start 3 miles offshore and extend out to 200 miles. It regulates tuna, marlin, swordfish, dolphin and other ocean fish.
Douglas said he also hoped to help develop stronger ties between the marine commission and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at Gloucester Point. The institute is the marine biological arm of the College of William and Mary and does much of the finfish and shellfish research performed in Virginia.
Both the institute and the marine commission have been criticized for not working more closely, as so many of the commission's decisions are based on scientific data.
Jack Travelstead of the marine commission said Douglas' assignment to the agency ``should be a tremendous help to us.''
``He knows an awful lot about the inner workings of the federal government and its role in fisheries management,'' said Travelstead, who heads the fishery management division, a job to which he was appointed under Douglas' first stint.
Now Douglas will report to Travelstead.
``I was about ready to retire,'' said Douglas, who recently married for the second time. ``But my wife is from Newport News, and this was a great opportunity to come back to Hampton Roads.
``I'm excited about the challenge. Things are changing so fast in this field, and getting so complicated, I really think I can provide a service, both to the federal goverment and to Virginia.''
His salary will be paid by the federal agency. But his expenses, such as to the numerous meetings he will attend, will be borne by the state government.
DRINKING BOATERS: The feeling here is that there is no difference between operating a boat and driving a car if you've been drinking. But there are a lot of boaters who wouldn't think of spending a day on the water without a couple six-packs in the ice chest.
Well, if you're going to drink while boating, here's a warning: Don't do it in Georgia. In 1993, Georgia police officers charged 422 boaters for boating while intoxicated, tops for any state.
More than 3,000 such cases were made nationwide, according to BOAT/U.S., a national organization of boaters. BOAT/ U.S. also reported that more than half of all boating accidents and fatalities in 1993 were alcohol-related.
In Virginia, some 34 boaters were cited for BWI. That was a 20 percent drop from 1992 and 50 percent fewer than were cited in 1991.
The bottom line is that having a designated operator on board makes just as much sense as having a designated driver for a car.
DOVE DATES: Dates for hunting dove, railbirds and woodcock will be set this month by wildlife agencies in Virginia and North Carolina.
In both states, sportsmen will be given an opportunity to voice their preferences before the dates are finalized.
In Virginia, the board of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will meet Thursday and Friday to perform the task, while July 20 is the meeting date for the board of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
The Virginia meeting will be in the board room of the agency office at 4010 W. Broad St. in Richmond, starting at 9:30 a.m. Dates for Virginia's special resident goose season also will be set then.
The North Carolina meeting will be at the commission's headquarters, 512 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, starting at 9 a.m.
With a few exceptions, both states usually begin the first segment of their split-dates dove seasons the first Saturday in September. This year that will be Sept. 3.
GOBBLER RECORD: Virginia's spring turkey season produced a record 8,973 gobblers, up from 8,331 killed the previous spring.
As it has for several years, Bedford County, near Lynchburg, was the top spot for bagging a gobbler. Some 249 were killed there. Buchanan County followed with 212, Westmoreland with 194, and Bath and Franklin counties, each with 187.
BIGGEST BASS: Just about every bass fisherman knows that the world-record largemouth weighed 22 pounds, 4 ounces, and was caught at Montgomery Lake, Ga., in 1932 by George Perry.
But I'll bet a lot of bass fishermen don't know that there have been 10 20-pound largemouth bass recorded in this country. Or that eight of them were caught in California in the past 15 years. Or that five of them came from one spot, Lake Castiac. Or that one man, Bob Crupi of Lake Castiac, caught two of them, 22 pounds and 21 pounds.
SHORT CASTS: The Virginia Beach Anglers will hold their annual small-boat marlin tournament Saturday, with headquarters at the Virginia Beach Fishing Center. For details, call Jim Ingham at 422-0085. . . . A trapping seminar will be conducted Aug. 20 by Joe Brescia of Chesapeake and the Virginia Trappers Association. It'll be at the Izaak Walton League clubhouse off Shipyard Road in the Deep Creek section of Chesapeake, starting at 9 a.m. There will be no charge for Boy Scouts. However, the public may attend by paying the $15 annual association membership. For details, contact Brescia at 487-1766. . . . Timmy Brown of Virginia Beach has earned a citation from the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament by catching a 47-pound cobia. He was at Latimer Shoals. . . . Nell Fruit Malat of Nags Head released an estimated 80-pound tarpon on a recent trip to Marco Island, Fla. . . . The Nags Head Surf Fishing Club will stage its annual kids fishing tournament Wednesday, starting at 8 a.m., with registration at any pier in the area. . . . Hotel Wachapreague will stage its annual tuna tournament Saturday. For details, call Randy Lewis, 1-787-2105. by CNB