THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 4, 1995 TAG: 9502040337
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
State officials passed emergency regulations Friday to close a Hampton Roads crab sanctuary that had been unexpectedly opened to harvesting this week because of a legal technicality.
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission voted unanimously for the regulations. The move ends four days of open season on crabs - primarily, pregnant females - within the sanctuary west of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.
Hampton General District Judge Wilford Taylor started the controversy Tuesday when he ruled that the sanctuary, designed to protect migrating crabs from watermen, was established last October without sufficient public notice.
His ruling came in response to an illegal-fishing ticket given to a Poquoson waterman, Joey Hanberry, who intentionally dredged crabs from the sanctuary to try to overturn its creation, he said.
``I hadn't worked for three weeks,'' Hanberry said. ``There's no crabs in the (Chesapeake) Bay. People don't understand that. We need work.''
The harvest lasted from Tuesday to Friday afternoon, when Virginia Marine Patrol officers again cordoned off the sanctuary with the commission's vote at 3:15 p.m.
Several watermen who had been dredging for crabs at the time were escorted from the area, said commission spokesman Wilford Kale.
Kale estimated that more than 70 crabbing boats collected about 140 barrels of crabs during the spree. A barrel typically holds about 120 pounds of crabs and pays the waterman about $120, said Pete Nixon, president of the Lower Chesapeake Watermen's Association, who supported closing the sanctuary.
``Crabs in the Bay aren't getting any break at all,'' he said. ``That thing needs to stay closed if we're going to have any crabs in the future.'' by CNB