THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 24, 1996 TAG: 9603240193
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON
LENGTH: Long : 138 lines
A major battle apparently is shaping up between Virginia's largest group of commercial fishermen and its largest group of recreational fishermen.
The head of a national menhaden-fishing organization has said that his industry is ready to join in a war of words with its critics.
``We've got people who are trying to put us out of business through rumor-mongering, and we've got to fight back, no matter how distasteful that might be,'' said Barney White of the National Fish Meal and Oil Association.
The Virginia menhaden industry, which operates two plants at Reedville in the Northern Neck, is the backbone of the group. The association represents the largest single group of commercial fishermen in the state, employing about 450 people.
The prime target of the industry's effort apparently will be the Virginia chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association. Headquartered in Virginia Beach, the Virginia association has more than 1,200 members in chapters from Northern Virginia to the Eastern Shore. It is affiliated with a national group of recreational fishermen headquartered in Texas.
The Virginia association has lobbied unsuccessfully to get the past three sessions of the General Assembly to restrict menhaden fishing in one manner or another.
The menhaden industry fired its first salvo last weekend when R.C. Lassiter, chief executive officer of Houston-based Zapata Protein Inc., used a captain's retirement party on the Northern Neck to blast critics who claim that the industry's tremendous catches of the small, oily fish are disrupting the food chain in the Chesapeake Bay. Between 300 million and 500 million pounds are landed annually in Virginia.
A ``privileged elite'' is behind the anti-commercial groups that have sprung up all along the East Coast, Lassiter told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. ``At the core,'' he said, ``it's rich people who want the water for their personal enjoyment.''
Bob Pride of Virginia Beach, head of the anglers' association, said Lassiter could not be farther from the truth.
``If we really had big money and big politics behind us, the menhaden industry would be gone,'' he said.
Pride said that while almost half the respondents to a recent survey of his group were in favor of banning menhaden fishing, that was not the association's official stand.
``We merely want to ensure that the harvest is not disrupting the food chain that lures game fish into the Chesapeake Bay,'' he said.
Feelings between the industry and recreational fishermen reached a low point last year when the commercial group persuaded the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to deny funding for a study of the importance of the menhaden as a forage species for other Chesapeake Bay fish.
The decision irked not only the association and recreational fishermen, but also the respected Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which considered such a study an important beginning to establishing an overall management plan for the Bay.
White said major initiatives, such as a successful net-ban referendum in Florida that stopped menhaden fishing there, have forced the industry to promote itself publicly.
He said the Florida net ban was ``a wake-up call.''
Meanwhile, Pride's group is preparing to survey a wide range of recreational fishermen to learn their sentiments.
While no one wants to call it an all-out war between anglers and the menhaden industry, that could be the next step.
TATEM CHOSEN: Damon Tatem, who operates Tatem's Tackle Box tackle shop at Nags Head, has been named to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
He replaces Bob Lucas, chairman of the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, who resigned about six months ago to devote his energies to chairing a group redrafting the state's coastal fishing laws.
Tatem, who was selected for the position by Gov. James B. Hunt Jr., has long been active in matters concerning recreational fishermen.
``Damon Tatem is dedicated to the conservation and protection of marine resources,'' Hunt said.
The Atlantic States Commission is a coalition of East Coast states that sets guidelines for regulating fishing for most major species in coastal waters up to 3 miles offshore. Its decisions, such as the successful program for limiting striped bass catches, are binding on member states.
NEW RULES: A major rule change has been announced by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries for recognizing new state-record freshwater catches in Virginia.
It says: No fish caught within the boundaries of a public or private aquaculture facility or private fee-fishing area will be recognized as a state record.
The rule apparently was added because of a proliferation of trout-rearing and fee-charging areas in Western Virginia.
The agency also said that merely applying for a trophy-fish award, or citation, would not automatically qualify a catch for state-record consideration.
The rules are different, a department spokesman said. Most important, a department employee must witness the weighing of any fish to be considered for a state record.
A GLITCH: The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission has taken the first step to correct a glitch that removed or altered recreational bag limits and minimum sizes for four popular species: striped bass, speckled trout, bluefish and gray trout.
It's a complex story. But the bottom line is that the commission eliminated the 10-fish bag limit on speckled trout and changed the striper bag limit from two to three fish a day, while lowering the minimum size for stripers from 21 to 18 inches.
Last week the commission voted overwhelmingly to put the limits back where they had been. Unfortunately, the way the state's laws are written, it will take 18 months for that to happen.
SMALLER TUNA: The increasingly popular run of bluefin tuna off Hatteras, N.C., this winter and spring continues to have serious impact on the overall fishery.
Effective March 17, the National Marine Fishery Service lowered the maximum size for keeping a bluefin from less than 73 inches to less than 49 inches. Additionally, fish under 27 inches also are illegal.
The lengths are ``curved-fork-length,'' measured from the tip of the nose, down the curved side of the fish to the point where the tail begins to fork.
``They've just been catching so many bluefins down there that the entire East Coast quota is being impacted,'' said Dr. William Hogarth, a spokesman for the federal agency.
This is the third time the fishery has altered the 1996 East Coast tuna quota. Officials earlier lowered the minimum size to less than 73 inches and lowered the limit from two fish per angler to one fish per boat.
SHORT CASTS: A reminder: Virginia's spring turkey-gobbler hunting season opens April 13 and runs through May 18. . . . Jess Hawkins, an 18-year employee, has been named assistant director of the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, replacing Red Munden, who was serving in an interim role. . Bass Tournament at Buggs Island Lake. His catch weighed 9 pounds, 7 ounces. The winner, Aaron Bussard of North Carolina, finished at 15-8, winning $5,200. the recent MegaBucks Tournament staged by the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society. Jim Sumrell of Virginia Beach was 106th in the field in the Texas event, won by Jeff Magee of Florence, Miss. First place was worth $70,000. . . . Mark Wilson of Virginia Beach has earned a citation award from the Virginia Fresh Water Fishing Program with a 1-3 white perch, caught at Hellspoint Creek. . . while Joe Plyler of Franklin did it with a 4-0 pickerel at Lake Prince. . . . Larry Klar of Virginia Beach recently caught and released a 26-pound permit at the Marquesas Keys, west of Key West, Fla. He was with guide Pat Bracher, a Virginia Beach native now living at Big Pine Key, Fla. . . . Virginia's limit of four gray trout with a minimum size of 12 inches is expected to be approved for 1996 when the Marine Resources Commission meets Tuesday in Newport News. by CNB