Looks like its not going to happen this year afterall...
Norfolk Virginian Pilot
Kaine won't impose cap on menhaden from Chesapeake Bay
April 1, 2006
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=102377&ran=10883
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine will not impose a cap this year on the harvesting of menhaden from the Chesapeake Bay, his office said late Friday, just hours before an April 1 deadline arrived.
A spokesman said the governor is concerned about the possible consequences of his inaction, which might include a closure of all state waters to menhaden fishing. But, by a quirk in the law, Kaine had no choice but to back away, his press secretary, Kevin Hall , said.
Here's the rub:
A state law passed last year empowers the governor to enact a cap on menhaden if, after consulting with scientists and regulators, he believes such a limit is necessary to protect the little silvery fish, which are important to Virginia's economy as well as the Bay's ecosystem.
However, he must act at least 30 days before the start of the menhaden season on May 1 - hence, the April 1 deadline - and only when the General Assembly is not in session.
Given that the General Assembly remains in session - albeit a special session, on the stalled state budget and transportation issue - Kaine believes his hands are legally tied, Hall said.
"The governor is concerned about the potential for a moratorium" on menhaden fishing, Hall said, "and is disappointed the General Assembly didn't enact a cap when it had the chance."
State lawmakers could have adopted any of three proposed bills this year that would have restricted the annual catch to about 105,000 metric tons. The cap was endorsed last year by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission , a regulator panel that sets policies from Florida to Maine.
All three bills were killed or withdrawn in the House and never resurfaced in the Senate, mostly because critics said they lacked specific science to support them and were legally fuzzy. Attorney General Bob McDonnell also opined that the cap was not legally binding on Virginia.
The winner in the debate is the menhaden industry, which probably will be allowed again this year to catch as many fish as its wants from Virginia waters and squeeze them into meal, pet food and health supplements at a processing plant in Reedville .
The industry largely is controlled by Omega Protein , a Texas-based company that owns the Reedville plant, the largest of its kind on the East Coast, as well as a fleet of fishing vessels and aircraft used for spotting schools of menhaden.
An Omega spokesman, Toby Gascon , was delighted and relieved by the news out of the governor's office.
"When regulations are available that are backed by peer-reviewed science, we'll be the first ones at the table," Gascon said. "We have as much a stake as anyone that menhaden stocks remain healthy."
Humans do not eat menhaden, but just about every game fish on the Atlantic coast does. Sports fishermen have long argued that shortages of healthy striped bass and bluefish, among other favored species, are due to declining menhaden stocks.
Menhaden also are filter feeders, meaning they help soak up excessive nutrients and algae that otherwise pollute the Chesapeake Bay. Environmentalists have urged protections of menhaden stocks for years. And in almost every state, except Virginia, rules against the industrial harvesting of menhaden exist today.
Todd Keller , a spokesman for the environmental group Menhaden Matter , said members are disappointed and frustrated by Friday's news.
"It's just unfortunate," Keller said.
He said the Virginia law passed last year empowering the governor to set a cap is "ridiculously complicated" and "clearly written by those favoring the industry."
Keller said the group would ask the U.S. Commerce Department to find Virginia in violation of the coastal fishing commission's cap endorsed last year.
John Daniel , a former Virginia secretary of natural resources and an attorney helping Menhaden Matter, said Kaine made the legally correct decision.
"My understanding was that he was looking for a way to act on this," Daniel said, "but he's gotten caught up in this snag, this nit-picky stuff."
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