THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 18, 1994 TAG: 9412180452
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON
LENGTH: Long : 135 lines
Virginia anglers will learn Tuesday whether four days will be added to the striped bass season in the Chesapeake Bay.
Del. Glenn Croshaw, D-Virginia Beach, has asked the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to extend the Bay season by four days. It is scheduled to close at midnight tonight.
Commission spokesman Wilford Kale said, however, that the proposal is not scheduled for the agenda at Tuesday's meeting and would be brought up only if requested by ``some fishermen'' or by a commission member.
``Obviously, I can't speak for the commissioners,'' Kale said, ``but in the past, things like this have been considered only when there is some support from the audience.''
The commission's fishery management staff has decided not to take a stand on the matter, instead informing the nine voting commissioners of the pros and cons of the additional days.
Nor does the state's largest organization of recreational fishermen, the Atlantic Coast Conservation Association, plan to speak on the matter.
``We decided not to get involved in this one,'' said Bob Pride of Virginia Beach, the organization's president. ``We're not sure it's right to preach conservation of our natural resources and then ask for something like this.''
The commission has received nearly 40 telephone calls supporting the extension, Kale said, including some from tackle-shop operators.
``Recreational fishermen have lost several fishing days because of bad weather,'' he said, ``and some of the calls have been from tackle shops who lost business as a result.''
The commission may have opened aPandora's box at its November meeting, when it voted to extend the gill-net season for gray trout by seven days along the Eastern Shore seaside. It was done primarily at the urging of net fishermen from Chincoteague, who said they lost seven days because of Hurricane Gordon's flirtation with the area. The request came from Del. Robert S. Bloxom, R-Accomack.
Should the commission decide to extend the rod-and-reel striper season, it would have to select dates. Some callers have suggested Dec. 22-25. Others, like Bruce Graham of the Tidewater Anglers Club of Norfolk, would prefer Dec. 27-30.
If the commission doesn't grant the added days, it will not mean the end of saltwater striper fishing in Virginia.
Ocean-run stripers will remain legal through March 31, with a 28-inch minimum. However, the daily bag limit will drop from two fish to one. Stripers will be legal along the entire coast up to 3 miles offshore; the Chesapeake Bay line has been drawn between the lighthouses at Cape Henry in Virginia Beach and Smith Island on the Eastern Shore.
Tuesday's commission agenda does include a public hearing on a proposal to ban commercial fishing on four state-owned artificial reefs in the Chesapeake Bay. The reefs have been funded at least in part through the recreational fishing license.
Another topic will be whether Virginia will increase its 1994 commercial catch of summer flounder, as ordered of all East Coast states in a recent ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Doumar of Norfolk.
Tuesday's meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m., with fishery items to be discussed starting at noon. It will be in commission headquarters, 2600 Washington Ave., Newport News.
VIRGINIANS SCORE: Virginia Beach anglers swept the two top places in one of the biggest billfish events in Florida, the Stuart Invitational Light Tackle Tournament.
First place went to the Pursuer, a private boat owned by Ray Temple and skippered by Dennis Steel. The anglers, Temple, Waldo Roberts and Ronnie Neighbors, released a tournament-record 24 sailfish in four days.
Second went to the Temptress, a charter boat out of Oregon Inlet, N.C., skippered by Chip Shafer, with anglers Larry Greene, Chris Widen and Terry Cleary, who released 15 fish. The Temptress won the 1993 contest.
BIG BUSINESS: Just how much does recreational fishing mean to the Virginia economy?
A lot more than commercial fishing, according to a recent report by Gov. Allen's Commission on Government Reform.
The ``Blue Ribbon Strike Force,'' as the commission is known, estimated that 700,000 recreational saltwater fishermen spent $400 million in Virginia in 1990, the last year for which figures were available.
By contrast, the group said the off-the-vessel value of seafood products landed in Virginia ``exceeds $80 million a year,'' with the value of processed seafood exceeding $146 million and a ``gross economic activity'' of $250 million.
The report added that sea scallops and blue crabs are ``the economic strength of Virginia's fishing industry,'' accounting for more than 50 percent of 1992 landings.
HUNTING DATES: Virginia waterfowlers should be in for some of the best shooting in years during the third and final segment of the duck-hunting season, which opens Tuesday.
Reports from most areas of the state indicate that more birds are wintering in Virginia than in some time. Federal officials had predicted that the fall migration of ducks would be the best since 1990.
Meanwhile, deer hunters with muzzle-loader rifles will be allowed back into the woods and fields west of the Blue Ridge Mountains on Monday.
Meanwhile, the final segment of the split woodcock-hunting season will open Tuesday, and the finale of the three-segment dove season will open Dec. 26.
SEA KILLERS: I like to eat shrimp about as much as anyone. But it probably isn't worth the price. Shrimp trawling is an environmental disaster.
The latest estimates are that 10 pounds of finfish are caught and killed for each pound of shrimp landed on shrimp trawlers.
According to the International Game Fish Association of Florida, a federation of recreational fishermen, 9.6 billion fish are killed and discarded annually by shrimpers in the Gulf of Meixco. No wonder some folks want to ban shrimp trawling in U.S. waters.
The good news, though, is that even if trawling is banned, you'll still be able to eat shrimp, since shrimp-farming is becoming impressively successful.
BASS NEWS: With the help of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society, a memorial fund is being established for Bryan Kerchal of Newtown, Conn.
Kerchal, the 1994 Bass Masters Classic champion, was killed Tuesday in an airplane crash in North Carolina.
In July on High Rock Lake in North Carolina, Kerchal became the first grass-roots amateur to beat the big-name pros and win the classic. Also, at 24 he was the second-youngest winner ever..
The memorial fund will help support youth fishing activities.
Meanwhile, Mark Davis of Arkansas remains in first place in the BASS angler-of-the-year competition with 277 points, followed by Rick Clunn of Texas at 263 and Bernie Schultz of Florida at 261. Woo Daves of Spring Grove, the top Virginian, is 54th with 140 points, while Rick Morris of Virginia Beach is 68th with 119.
SHORT CASTS: A class leading to a Coast Guard license to operate charter boats and headboats will open in Virginia Beach in February, with Al Paschall as instructor. The class will meet three times a week for four weeks at the Ocean Park Fire and Rescue Squad Building on Shore Drive. The cost will be $400, with success guaranteed. . . . Denny Dobbins of Chesapeake has added to his virtually insurmountable lead in the angler-of-the-year chase in the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament. Dobbins recently registered a citation in his 13th category with a 17 1/4-pound bluefish. The contest ends at midnight Dec. 31. . . . Otis W. Ricks of Virginia Beach has earned a Virginia citation with a 12-pound, 13-ounce tautog, caught at Chesapeake Light Tower on the Joyce Mae. . . . Mike Helvestine of Virginia Beach scored with an 11-8 tautog at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. ... The National Rifle Association has awarded $6,724.20 to Virginia for state firearms education and development programs. by CNB