DATE: Wednesday, February 26, 1997          TAG: 9702260665

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C8   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BOB HUTCHINSON, OUTDOORS EDITOR 

DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                      LENGTH:   49 lines

COMMISSION CHANGES SOME FISHING RULES

A longer striped bass season and new minimum sizes and bag limits for flounder and gray trout were among recreational fishing changes approved Tuesday by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

Those changes also include the first-ever quota on the striper catch and first-ever minimum sizes for sea bass and scaup or porgy.

The 1997 rod-and-reel striper season will total 120 days, up from 107 days in 1996. The extra days will be at the start of the fall season in the Chesapeake Bay. That season, which has been opening Oct. 17, now will begin Oct. 4.

The minimum size and bag limit for this period will remain unchanged at two fish per day, with an 18-inch minimum and no maximum-size limit.

Other striper dates and bag limits will remain unchanged from 1996. They include:

Ocean seasons: Jan. 1 through March 31 and May 16 through Dec. 31, 28-inch minimum size, no maximum size and 2-fish bag limit.

Spring trophy-fish season in ocean, Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries: May 1-15, 32-inch minimum, no maximum, 1-fish bag limit.

Spring season in Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries: May 16 through June 15, 18-inch minimum, 28-inch maximum, 2-fish bag limit.

In addition, recreational fishermen will be limited to a total striper catch of 1,701,748 pounds. The 1996 catch was estimated at between 1.2 and 1.3 million pounds.

Flounder fishermen will be restricted to keeping fish at least 14 1/2 inches long in 1997, up from 14 inches in 1996. The daily bag limit will increase from 8 to 10 fish.

The gray trout rules are being changed for the fourth time since 1994. The new minimum size will be 12 inches, down from 14 inches, while the bag limit will drop from 14 to 4 fish per day.

The trout changes were sought by the Virginia Charter Boat Skippers' Association. The group's officials said they were unable to find gray trout even as much as 13 inches long.

Trout limits were set at 10 fish and 14 inches in 1994. Later they were changed to 12 inches and 4 fish. Then last year angling rules again were altered, this time to 14 fish and 14 inches.

Flounder and gray trout have been under serious catch restrictions by both sport and commercial fishermen for several years. Scientists say catches must be reduced if beleaguered stocks are to rebound.

The minimum size for sea bass and scaup or porgy was set at nine inches. While there will no bag limit for now, fishery officials say they could be established in the future.

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