THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 5, 1995 TAG: 9502050155
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
The future of the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament remains clouded, which is to say it's in the hands of the General Assembly.
Gov. George F. Allen did not include funding for the $145,000, 37-year-old contest in his budget. However, the legislature has rejected just about everything in that proposal.
Meanwhile, the assembly has deep-sixed an alternate plan that would have financed the contest and its promotional program. The plan called for going statewide with the Chesapeake Bay saltwater fishing license and using that money. The license now is limited to the Bay and its tidal tributaries.
Additionally, a couple of proposals for partially funding the program are still before the legislature. And they can always be amended to include full funding.
Even if the General Assembly funds the program, Allen could still kill it with a line-item veto. That seems unlikely, since it would be an extremely unpopular move, and Allen doesn't need anything else to tarnish his image.
Regardless of what the legislature does, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission could still fund the tournament, either in total or in part, from the Bay license money. That, too, seems unlikely, since the plan almost certainly would not be endorsed by the advisory group of recreational fishermen that suggests how the money should be spent.
Then again, the commission doesn't need the group's approval. Bill Pruitt, head of the agency, could push it through. Perhaps other commissioners could, too.
Don't count on Pruitt, though. He serves at the pleasure of the governor, and he likes his job.
Which all goes to show that it's political business as usual.
The bottom line is that $145,000 a year is a pittance for promoting an industry the governor's own blue-ribbon strike force said contributed $400 million annually to the state's economy.
ANOTHER ROBBERY: The plan to finance the tournament with money from the saltwater fishing license is not the only effort to tap the program's $1.3 million annual income.
State Sen. Hunter B. Andrews, D-Hampton, has suggested this might be a good source of funding for the state's annual survey of Chesapeake Bay finfish stocks.
The Virginia Institute of Marine Science has conducted the survey for 40 years, always with money from the general fund. But Andrews, perhaps the most powerful member of the General Assembly, has suggested that the license money could be used, ``should general funds be unavailable.''
I hate to say, ``I told you so,'' but I told you so. Politicians seem determined to chip away at that $1.3 million until it's all used to replace general funds.
When the license was inaugurated in 1993, recreational fishermen were misled into thinking that all the money would be used to shorten the time between bites. That's not the way the game is played.
QUICK EXIT: Virginia's menhaden-fishing industry moved quickly and efficiently to provide a quick exit for three legislative proposals.
The plans, all defeated in committee, would have:
Banned menhaden purse-seine fishing within a half-mile of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
Banned the activity within a mile of any Virginia Beach shoreline between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
Given the Marine Resources Commission regulatory power over the industry. That power now is exercised by the General Assembly.
The bottom line here is that if the Marine Resources Commission is to manage the state's resources effectively, the menhaden industry must become a part of the plan.
Otherwise, it's management by politics. And the resource continues to lose out to economics.
ACTIVISTS GAIN GROUND: Animal-rights activists have won major victories in Arizona and Oregon.
In Arizona, a statewide referendum to ban all trapping on public lands was approved, 58 percent to 42 percent.
In Oregon, voters approved a plan to outlaw the use of dogs in hunting cougar and bear, and the use of bait in bear hunting.
Now the anti-hunting movement is working to have the bear ordinance on the ballots in Utah and Michigan. If it is successful, Virginia and North Carolina are likely to be among the states next targeted.
NEW MEMBERS: The Virginia Bassmasters of Virginia Beach and the Tidewater Catmasters of Portsmouth are looking for a few good men. Or women. Both clubs have openings for new members.
The Bassmasters will next meet at 10 a.m. Feb. 18 at the Glass Baron, 1601 Diamond Springs Road, Virginia Beach. You must be a member of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society and have a tournament-grade, approved bass boat. For details, contact Don Sprinkle at 545-8435.
The Catmasters, devoted to angling for catfish, will meet at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 12 at the 4 Brothers Steak House at 3268 South Military Highway, Chesapeake. For details, contact Betty Miene at 393-1515.
SHORT CASTS: J.R. Ruggiero of Virginia Beach has earned citation awards from the Virginia Fresh Water Fishing Tournament with pickerel weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces and 5-15. He was on a private pond. . . . Charles H. Campbell of Ivanhoe, Va., has set a state record with a 14-12 walleye pulled from the New River in Wythe County. The previous record was 12-15. . . . Buddy Flear and Chris Bradshaw of Virginia Beach and Donnie Adams of Seaford released sailfish on a recent trip to Islamorada, Fla. They fished out of Bud 'N Mary's on the charter boat Tiki. . . . Sailfish have been released out of Fort Pierce, Fla., by Jim Turner of Chesapeake, Andy Mooney of Virginia Beach and Frank Chester of South Mills, N.C. They fished with skipper Chip Shafer on the Temptress, which is based at Oregon Inlet, during the summer. . . . The Bass Expo bass-fishing show at Hampton Coliseum closes out a successful stand today. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. . . . Joe Malat of Nags Head, Joe Shute of Atlantic Beach, N.C., and Lloyd Eastlack of Wilmington, N.C., will bring their popular ``Hands-On Fishing School'' to Richmond March 11-12. It'll be in the Holiday Inn at 301 West Franklin St. The cost will be $100. For details and reservations, call 1-800-242-2493. by CNB