Stripers Forever VA - it has been requested that we provide the following information our members in VA. We agree with the concerns raised in the following e-mail reqarding the attempted commercial monopolization of the Virginia Marine Resource Commission. We hope that you will take the actions suggested below by the Coastal Conservation Association
VA. We have not used live links, so you will need to cut and paste teh e-mail addresses that appear at the end. Brad Burns
State Senate Committee Votes to "Pack"
Marine Resource Commission.
SB1087 Would Undo Years of Progress in Marine Regulation
Virginia's marine resources would be imperiled if Senate Bill 1087 passes
in the General Assembly. We urge your immediate action to defeat this bill.
The bill would dedicate THREE associate commissioner seats on an expanded
Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) to commercial watermen. This
compares to the ONE seat that is held by a recreational fisherman.
The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources
reported SB1087 out of committee on January 26 by a vote of 13 to 2. If the
bill is passed in the Senate, then it will go to a House Committee for
consideration
We ask that you immediately call or email your state senator or delegate
who will soon vote on SB1087. If you do not know the names of your senator
and delegate, click here: Welcome to the Virginia General Assembly - Who's
My Legislator? It's simple ... just state your name and telephone number,
and tell the legislative aide to ask your Senator or Delegate to vote NO on
SB1087.
At the Senate Committee hearing, commercial watermen representatives talked
about the state of the blue crab fishery and how it has been depressed for
the past 15 years. They pointed out that the 22 measures that were put in
place prior to this past year did not work. They implied that the VMRC did
not listen to the request of the commercial fishermen when they implemented
the reduced harvest limits last year, and that it put the watermen out of
business for 5 months of the year. They stated their belief that only
commercial crabbers were qualified to make decisions relating to the
crabbing industry. Their goal was to get adequate representation of the
different aspects of commercial fishing on the Commission. They went on to
say that commercial fishermen were the best qualified to understand the
implications of the habitat improvement decisions as well as the negative
implications relating to the habitat permitting process.
The Coastal Conservation Association Virginia and the Virginia Seafood
Council spoke against SB 1087. CCA VA president David Nobles stressed the
importance of a diverse and balanced VMRC for the benefit of the resources.
Marine resources may not be properly served if there is commercial bias in
representation.
To have an impact, members need to contact the Delegates who serve on the
House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources. For your
convenience the contact information for the members of the committee is
included below. Contact as many of them as you can. They will decide
whether this bill gets to the floor of the House of Delegates.
Recreational fishermen and the public at large deserve a balanced and fair
Marine Resources Commission. The balance between recreational and
commercial representation will be destroyed if this bill is passed.
Specifically, the bill will add two associate commissioner seats, with both
of the additional seats being filled by commercial watermen. Therefore,
three of the ten associate commissioner seats on the VMRC would be
dedicated to representatives who have earned their livelihood for at least
five years by working on Virginia waters, and are licensed as commercial
waterman. One seat would continue to be dedicated to a recreational
fisherman who is not employed by the commercial fishing industry.
Currently, the law calls for a balanced representation with one seat being
held by a working waterman and one by a representative of the sport fishing
industry or a recreational fisherman who is not employed by the commercial
fishing industry.
CCA VA objects to this bill for these reasons:
First, Virginia code already requires a working waterman to hold one seat
on the Commission. In addition, a recreational seat is designated, but as a
practical matter, that just means someone who is not a working waterman
since no criteria are enumerated. Adding 2 more "waterman" seats would
cause an imbalance in representation in that licensed watermen and seafood
dealers represent less than one one-thousandth (0.0007) of Virginia's
population
Second, the appointment process already provides the governor with the
authority to balance the Commission in any way he sees fit,"it shall be
representative of all areas of interest in Virginia's marine resources,
including commercial, recreational and environmental interests." The
present Commission is very well balanced between commercial, recreational,
and environmental interests, as it should be.
Third and finally, we have heard this bill has been submitted because the
Commission has allegedly made "bad decisions," specifically with reference
to the harvest of blue crabs. While we agree these decisions have been hard
on watermen, and could be considered "bad" in that sense, we cannot agree
the actions taken by Virginia Marine Resources Commission to protect and
restore the blue crab are bad. In fact, we believe these measures are
essential. The idea behind this bill seems to be that the makeup of the
Commission should be such that whatever is good for watermen should
prevail, and the good of the resource and the other 7 million Virginians
who have an equal stake in that resource, should be always outvoted. Given
this underlying rationale for the bill, it does not deserve to move
forward.
Call, e-mail, or write as many of these Delegates as possible. A call takes
only a minute. State your name and telephone number, and tell the
legislative aide to ask the Delegate to vote NO on SB1087.
House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources
Delegate Harvey Morgan (Chair), Gloucester, (804) 698-1098,
Delegate M. Kirkland Cox, Chesterfield, (804) 698-1066,
Delegate Beverly J. Sherwood, Winchester, (804) 698-1029,
Delegate R. Lee Ware, Jr., Powhatan, (804) 698-1065,
Delegate Thomas C. Wright, Jr. Victoria, (804) 698-1061,
Delegate Robert D. Orrock, Sr., Thornburg, (804) 698-1054,
Delegate Christopher B. Saxman, Staunton, (804)698-1020,
Delegate Clarke N. Hogan, South Boston, (804) 698-1060,
Delegate Edward T. Scott, Culpeper, (804) 698-1030,
Delegate Daniel W. Marshall, III, Danville, (804) 698-1014,
Delegate Matthew J. Lohr, Harrisonburg, (804) 698-1026,
Delegate Charles D. Poindexter, Glade Hill, (804) 698-1009,
Delegate Brenda L. Pogge, Yorktown, (804) 698-1096,
Delegate Kenneth R. Plum, Reston, (804) 698-1036,
Delegate James M. Shuler, Blacksburg, (804) 698-1012,
Delegate Albert C. Eisenberg, Arlington, (804) 698-1047,
Delegate Stephen C. Shannon, Vienna, (804) 698-1035,
Delegate Lynwood W. Lewis, Jr. ,Accomac, (804) 698-1000,
Delegate David L. Bulova, Fairfax Station, (804) 698-1037,
Delegate Margaret G. Vanderhye, McLean, (804) 698-1034,
Delegate Robert W. Mathieson, Virginia Beach, (804) 698-1021,
Delegate Joseph F. Bouchard, Virginia Beach, (804) 698-1083,
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