THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 24, 1995 TAG: 9504240067
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Short : 31 lines
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission on Tuesday will consider a striped bass quota for commercial fishermen of about 875,000 pounds - more than quadruple last year's limit.
After years of stringent fishing restrictions, striped bass - also known as rockfish - are once again plentiful in Virginia waters.
The dockside value of striped bass in recent years has been measured in hundreds of thousands of dollars. By contrast, the state's flounder catch is worth several million dollars.
But the rockfish resurgence is significant at a time when many of the state's other fish and shellfish are in decline. Though fishermen and scientists may not agree on why, it is clear that a fish that had all but disappeared from coastal waters is back.
Like most ocean fish species, striped bass go through natural cycles of abundance and scarcity. The fish enjoyed a prolonged period of abundance in the 1960s, hitting a peak around 1970.
KEYWORDS: ROCKFISH QUOTA by CNB