THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9504290448
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB HUTCHINSON, OUTDOORS EDITOR
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
If you sell your fish, Big Brother may be watching.
Along with monitoring hundreds of other rules and regulations, the U.S. Coast Guard is keeping an eye out for commercial rod-and-reel fishermen who do not follow the law when it comes to safety equipment.
The federal government requires special equipment aboard all commercial-fishing boats. And it considers any boater who catches fish for sale to be ``commercial.''
Not that there's anything wrong with being a commercial fisherman, even a commercial rod-and-reel fisherman.
But the type of gear used, from a gill net to a rod-and-reel, doesn't classify you as commercial. It's what you do with your catch. ``Sport'' fishermen don't sell their fish.
Anyway, if you're going to sell rod-and-reel fish, a whole different set of safety rules is in effect.
Coast Guard Lt. Cdr. Reb Bryant said the act of selling the catch ``places the vessel into the commercial category,'' even if it left the dock as a charter or private vessel.
Administrative law judge Peter Fitzpatrick says no one is exempt from federal mandates. ``If you sell fish,'' he said, ``you are a commercial fisherman.''
Commercial boats of 26 feet or more must be documented and must have full-immersion survival suits for everyone aboard. Undocumented boats are required to have the suits when water temperatures average less than 59 degrees.
Certified life rafts are presently required on all documented vessels and will be required on all undocumented commercial vessels starting in September.
Other safety requirements on commercial boats include special fire extinguishers, high-water alarms, mandatory drug testing, officer-competency certificates, CPR certification and special radar reflectors.
Bryant said the law is not easy to enforce. ``But it's one of the things we're always on the lookout for,'' he said. ``It's all about making commercial fishing more safe.''
The Virginia Marine Patrol also is on the lookout for rod-and-reel fishermen who sell their catch without first obtaining a Virginia harvester's license and the required gear license.
``It's something we always try to be aware of,'' said Charles Jones, a spokesman for the patrol's parent agency, the Marine Resources Commission.
``One of the problems is that the Virginia law only applies to state waters. If the fish are caught in federal waters (beyond three miles of the coast), there's nothing we can do.''
Still, But the state and federal agencies will be watching. by CNB