THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 7, 1996 TAG: 9604090525
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON
LENGTH: Long : 136 lines
The chasm between recreational fishermen and Virginia's menhaden-fishing industry has widened in the past three years as efforts to limit the fishery's scope have repeatedly been turned back in the Virginia General Assembly.
Now some members of the legislature want to see if getting the parties together might improve those relations.
So Del. Thelma Drake, the Republican who represents Norfolk's Ocean View section, has called for a ``town hall'' meeting to try to do just that. Open to the public, it will be at 7 p.m. April 29 in Ocean View Baptist Church, at Government Street and Wells Parkway.
In addition to Drake, those in attendance will include Del. Jerrauld Jones, the Norfolk Democrat who chairs the Committee on the Chesapeake Bay and its Tributaries. All fishery legislation is heard by this committee.
Others will include Jack Travelstead, head of fisheries management for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission; John Barnes, vice president of Ampro Fisheries of Reedville, one of the menhaden processors; and Henry Richardson, president of the Virginia Beach Hotel and Motel Association.
Richardson's group spearheaded an anti-menhaden proposal that died in this year's legislature. It would have restricted the activity along the Virginia Beach Oceanfront during the summer tourist season.
But Ocean View is where, over the years, much of the resistance to menhaden fishing has been centered. Some area residents have been trying to limit the activity along the Norfolk beach for more than 30 years.
Jones said he hoped the two groups would come away from the meeting with a better understanding of where the other was coming from.
``Menhaden fishing has already been banned in Maryland and a couple of other states, and it's been restricted in some others,'' he said. ``I'm sure that's what the industry fears may be trying to develop in Virginia.''
The industry claims that recreational fishermen are looking for social restrictions that have no basis in biological reality.
Recreational fishermen, on the other hand, often claim that the industry wants to play by its own rules and not be a part of any overall management plan for the state's publicly owned marine resources.
The menhaden is a small, oily fish that is basically inedible but is prized for its high oil and protein content. It is processed into meal to supplement livestock food and into oil used in varnishes, cosmetics and other chemicals.
It also serves as perhaps the Chesapeake Bay's most important forage fish, a source of food for such game fish as cobia, bluefish, striped bass and red drum.
Virginia's two processing plants at Reedville in the Northern Neck operate the largest commercial boats on the Bay. Some are more than 120 feet long.
They catch the fish, which move about in huge, tightly packed schools, by wrapping up vast quantities in their nets, known as purse seines.
After the catch, the net is ``pursed,'' or closed like the string on a purse, and the fish pumped into the ship, often leaving surface residue. Winds can push this residue onto area beaches.
STRIPER TIME: Once again, Virginia anglers will be allowed to keep big striped bass during a special ``trophy season'' May 1-15.
But there are some caveats: The minimum size is 32 inches, and you can only keep one fish a day. However, all the state's salt waters, including the Atlantic Ocean out to 3 miles, will be open.
Then, on May 16, a special spring season will open on both the Chesapeake Bay and the ocean.
Anglers on the Bay and its tributaries will be limited to two fish a day between 18 and 28 inches. In the ocean, only fish 28 inches and up will be legal, although the bag limit will be two per day.
Virginia's primary season on stripers will begin Oct. 17 and run through the end of the year. Only waters of the Chesapeake and its saltwater tributaries will be open.
Again, there will be a two-fish daily limit. And while the minimum size will be 18 inches, there will be no maximum limit.
Clear as a bell's chime, eh?
If you have trouble keeping all this straight, your local marina or favorite tackle shop should have some state-supplied forms providing the details.
At the moment, there seems to be no scarcity of stripers, at least in waters of the Bay and its tributaries. The fish apparently are scattered throughout the Chesapeake.
Meanwhile, North Carolina has announced that recreational fishing for stripers in the lower part of the Roanoke River Management Area will close at midnight Wednesday.
This area begins at the U.S. 258 bridge in Halifax County and extends downstream to the mouth of the Roanoke. It includes the Cashie, Middle and Eastmont rivers and their tributaries.
BEACH CLEANUP: Volunteers to help clean up the beaches of Cape Hatteras National Seashore are being sought by the sponsoring North Carolina Beach Buggy Association and the National Park Service.
Three cleanup programs are planned this season, the first on April 20, according to John Newbold of Virginia Beach, president of the beach-buggy group.
Jim Keene of Franklin, chairman of the cleanup, said association volunteers will staff all beach-access ramps of the seashore, handing out containers and asking beach travelers to collect any garbage they see.
``We've had great cooperation from the general public in the past,'' Keene said, ``and we're hoping to get it again.''
FIRST TOURNAMENT: The year's first billfish tournament is set for May 8-11, when the Hatteras Village Civic Association stages the annual Hatteras Village Offshore Open.
Fishing will take place that Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with Teach's Lair Marina serving as the official weighing station. In addition to awards for the most billfish releases, prizes also will go to boats with the heaviest tuna, wahoo and dolphin.
Entry fees will range from $300 to $500. You can get details from Donna L. Peele at 1-919-986-2323.
FISHING NEWS: Bob Ruggles of Norfolk has earned a citation from the Virginia Fresh Water Fishing Program with an 8-pound, 3-ounce largemouth bass, caught at Lake Smith.
Bart Tuthill of Portsmouth earned a Virginia saltwater award with a 10-pound, 8-ounce tautog caught off Virginia Beach on the boat Predator 13.
David Bevan and Mike Martinez won a recent largemouth tournament staged on the Chickahominy River by the Tidewater Bass-N-Babes. Their combined catch weighed 12-4. Second went to Wayne Hayes and Dan Knight at 10-9, third to Craig Owens and Dick Hartman at 9-10, and fourth to Brenda Carter and Johnny Burdette at 8-8. Burdette had the lunker at 4-6.
The tournament benefited the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Thomas Hains of Virginia Beach won a recent tournament staged by the Virginia Bassmasters. His catch weighed 15-1. Second went to Dave Chappell of Chesapeake at 14-5 and third to Butch Wilson of Chesapeake at 9-13. Randy Allen of Chesapeake had the lunker at 6-11.
SHORT CASTS: The Virginian-Pilot will resume its Weekend Fishing Forecast on Thursday. It'll be published in the sports section weekly through the fishing season. . . . A final reminder that Saturday is ``ST'' day in Virginia, the day the annual spring turkey season opens. It'll run though May 18. . . . The Tidewater Chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association of Virginia will hold its annual fund-raising banquet and auction April 20 at the Ramada Plaza Resort on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront at 57th Street. Tickets are $30. For reservations, contact Jim Bolton at 420-7928. . . . The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheies will hold a meeting in the Hatteras Municipal Building at 7 p.m. Tuesday to discuss proposed rules for gill-net fishing for gray trout. . . . The Tidewater Anglers Club of Norfolk will stage its annual largemouth bass tournament, open to anyone, April 22 on the Suffolk lakes, with registration at the Western Branch baithouse. For details, contact Steve Jones at 499-1318. by CNB