THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 4, 1995 TAG: 9506040195
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
One of the hottest topics in the outdoors world for the past couple years has been whether hunting and fishing should be allowed on National Wildlife Refuges.
Understandably, the most vociferous opponents have been members of animal-rights and anti-hunting groups, such as the Humane Society and the Friends of Animals.
Just as understandably, the strongest supporters have been hunters, fishermen, and fish and wildlife biologists.
There have been a few ugly incidents between the groups, including a confrontation at Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge in Northern Virginia. Anti-hunting individuals tried to block deer hunters from entering the refuge.
The ``antis'' were unsuccessful and finally were removed by law-enforcement agents.
Now legislation mandating hunting and fishing as purposes of the National Wildlife Refuge System has been introduced in Congress.
It has the backing of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus leadership as well as a coalition of major conservation organizations, including the Wildlife Legislative Fund, International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the Wildlife Management Institute.
The bottom line is virtually every acre in the federal refuge system was obtained through excise taxes that hunters and fishermen paid on sporting arms and ammunition and fishing tackle.
So if the anti-hunters and the animal-righters want to ban hunting and fishing on certain public tracts, maybe they should take a lesson. Let them create a tax on whatever they use and earmark the money for closed tracts.
Then they can get an up-close and personal look at the devastation inflicted on wildlife without professional management, including controlled hunting, to keep it from getting out of kilter.
BOSHER BREAKTHROUGH: For more than 100 years the Bosher Dam in Richmond has been a closed door for striped bass and other fish trying to migrate to James River spawning grounds.
Now the door is on the verge of opening. The Bosher is about to become the last of five James River dams to be fitted with fish ladders to allow the passage of spawning fish.
The $950,000 project is expected to be completed in 1996. A 10-foot vertical slot will be cut into the dam's north end. It will open a 143-mile stretch of the James from Norfolk to Lynchburg.
Money for the project has come from many sources, including $100,000 the state's Chesapeake Bay saltwater fishing license fund and $50,000 from the commercial fishermen's license fund.
TOP ROD: Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Ark., has been named angler of the year by the 750,000-member Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (BASS).
The professional bass fisherman claimed the title based on his showing in a series of Bassmaster BP Top 100 tournaments in which he amassed 616 points. Denny Brauer of Camdenton, Md., was second at 610 points and Shaw Grigsby of Gainesville, Fla., third at 609.
In a full-field BP Top 100 tournament, 100 pros are paired with 100 amateurs. The pro winner gets 100 points, with second worth 99, third worth 98, etc.
The top 25 BP series finishers earn berths in the Bassmaster Classic tournament, set for August on High Rock Lake near Greensboro, N.C., with a $50,000 top prize.
TOURNAMENT TIME: Three major fishing contests are on the agenda, starting with the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, June 10-17 at Morehead City, N.C. Details: Kim Bennett, 1-919-247-3575.
That'll be followed by one of the oldest billfishing tournaments on the East Coast, the 36th annual Hatteras Marlin Club Invitational Blue Marlin Tournament, June 18-25. Details: Homer Styron, 1-919-986-2454.
Closer to home, the seventh annual Grady-White Owners Tournament will be held July 22-23 out of the Marina at Marina Shores on Lynnhaven Inlet in Virginia Beach.
The event is open to anyone and is sponsored by Norfolk Marine Co., Beach Marine Co. and Grady-White Boats of Greenville, N.C.
Both inshore and offshore species will be considered. The registration fee is $60 per boat. Details: Kevin Duffan, Norfolk Marine, 461-3391.
SHORT CASTS: The Cappy, a 24-footer owned by Bob Cozzens of Virginia Beach, won a tournament out of Pirate's Cove Marina at Nags Head, N.C. The event was staged by the Virginia Bluewater Gamefish Association. . . . Robert and Kim Kelly of Chesapeake released five tarpon on a recent trip to the Florida Keys. They were out of Bud 'N Mary's Marina with guide Vic Gaspeny, a Virginia Beach native. . . . Commercial fishing for most species of sharks has been banned in federal waters until July 1, as the quota 1994-95 quota of 2,570 metric tons has been reached. . . . A 2-pound, 8-ounce white perch landed at Lake Prince in Suffolk has been confirmed as a state freshwater record by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. It was caught by Jimmy A. Roper of Portsmouth. The old record was 2-1. . . . A children's fishing day will be held June 10, 1-4 p.m., at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia Beach. Reservations required, call 721-2412. . . . John Newbold of Virginia Beach has been re-elected president of the 4,000-member North Carolina Beach Buggy Association.
CORRECTION: An incorrect name was recently given for Bryan Kerchal, killed in an airplane crash shortly after he won the 1994 Classic. by CNB