THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 3, 1995 TAG: 9502030646
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB HUTCHINSON, OUTDOOR EDITOR
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
The future of the 37-year-old Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament was left in doubt Thursday when a proposal for funding was defeated a second time in the House of Delegates.
Del. Robert Bloxom, R-Eastern Shore, offered a bill which would have kept the contest's present form by expanding the state's saltwater fishing license to pay for it. Presently, that $7.50 license applies only to the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries.
Gov. George F. Allen did not include the program in his budget.
Bloxom proposed expanding the license to oceanside waters and earmarking up to 15 percent of the annual revenue to operate the tournament. The change would have added an estimated $85,000 to the $1.3 million license revenue.
The tournament's $145,000 annual budget ends June 30. The 1995 contest is to begin March 1, a start-up which now appears in jeopardy.
A function of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, the contest awards hardboard plaques, popularly known as ``citations,'' to anglers registering big fish. More than half the awards go for fish that are released.
In addition, the program promotes Virginia's $400 million saltwater fishing industry by entertaining local and national writers and television-show hosts assigned to feature fishing in Virginia.
Bloxom's bill was defeated Thursday, 50-49. It had been turned down Wednesday, 55-45, but was revived at the request of Del. Richard Cranwell, R-Roanoke, who said he wanted to change his ``no'' vote.
The matter may not be completely dead.
Del. Vincent Behm, D-Hampton, has offered an alternate plan that would eliminate the promotional aspects of the program but keep the ``citations.'' This plan, however, would eliminate the tournament director's position, held by Claude Bain of Virginia Beach, and turn the operation over to a clerical review by the Marine Resources Commission staff. by CNB