THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 7, 1994 TAG: 9408070215
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB HUTCHINSON, OUTDOORS WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
When the Virginia Marine Resources Commission approved the state's 1994 striped bass season and bag limit, the agency left the door ajar for additional changes.
The commission had hoped to add 15 days to the recreational season, bringing it to 47, and to increase the commercial quota from 211,000 to 317,000 pounds. But that plan was nixed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a coalition of all East Coast states.
For the moment, the Virginia agency had no choice but to go with what the coalition had approved, including the removal of the 36-inch maximum-size limit that had been in place.
Also approved by the state agency was an ocean-fishing season, starting the day after the regular season closes and extending through March 31, with a one-fish bag limit and a 28-inch minimum.
Because the 32-day rod-and-reel season will not open until Oct. 27, the agency has time to pursue at least four options, according to spokesman Jack Travelstead.
He said the commission's staff was still assessing those options and their impacts.
``We can do one of several things,'' he said. ``One, we can do nothing. Two, we can ignore the situation and do whatever we want, which would put us out of compliance. Three, we can draft another plan. And four, we can try to convince the coalition's voting members to reconsider our first plan.
``Right now I can't tell you what we'll do, although I don't think it will be No. 1, which would be to do nothing.''
If Virginia decides to go with its original plan over the objections of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, it faces the possibility of the U.S. Department of Commerce stepping in to ban all striped bass fishing in the state for the remainder of the year. That authority was granted under a bill signed into law by President Clinton in December.
``We still have some time on this,'' Travelstead said. ``The commission meets again on Aug. 23, and we could know something by then. But the recreational season doesn't start until late October, and I guess we could change the rules even after it opens.''
As things now stand, Virginia's rod-and-reel season will open Oct. 27 and run through Dec. 18. The bag limit will be two fish a day, with an 18-inch minimum in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, and a 28-inch minimum in coastal waters.
Fishing will be allowed from midnight each Wednesday until midnight each Sunday, as in 1993. by CNB