[Kevin Smith]

Looks like the VA Watermen blame the VMRC for declines and have decided to not attend VMRC meetings until they get their way.

Please send letters of oppostion to your delegates & committee members to Proposed Bill # SB 1087. If passed this bill will add 2 more VA commercial watermen to VMRC?

This vote will be about the future of our marine resources and fisheries of the Chesapeake Bay!!

Letter to Editor Times Dispatch

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Published: February 7, 2009
Drastic Changes Needed On State VMRC Board

Editor, Times-Dispatch:
We need to get more watermen on the Virginia Marine Resources Commission board.

How can we have a professional, working VMRC without members of the maritime profession? We can't.

How do real estate agents and insurance salesmen manage a fishery? Not very well. The VMRC needs a major overhaul. For far too long, the board has had a stranglehold on the watermen.

Due to the mismanagement of this agency, the needs of our Chesapeake Bay and the men who work its waters have been ignored and neglected. The results are the drastic decline of the Bay's oysters, fish, and crabs.

I have personally begged VMRC to open up more oyster grounds so the watermen can work close to home, so they could save money on fuel and boat slip rent, and most important, so not every boat in the state is working one little area to death.

I am tired of watermen being blamed for overharvesting. It is VMRC's policies that have been the problem.

VMRC is allowing acres of oyster beds to lie there, silt over, and die.

VMRC requires all watermen to send in daily reports on their catches, the names of their boats, and who they sell their catch to.

Unfortunately, the VMRC doesn't seem to know what to do with this information. It could use it to see which areas are doing well and which are not -- without spending any more state money.

The watermen no longer go to the VMRC meetings -- not because they don't care, but because they do not have any say in the decisions that are made. Drastic changes must be made, or we will see not only the demise of the watermen, but our oysters, crabs, and fish as well. Can we afford that?

Tammy Croxton. Kilmarnock.

 

[Tinsquid]

The story line in this letter to the editor is detached from the reality I see when I am on the water. What parallel universe is the author talking about?

 

[Mike Avery]

Waterman are going to have to learn to be more like farmers, i.e., not take more than mother nature can produce. In fact, farmers have to expend the majority of their resources BEFORE they can harvest (till, fertilize, plant, tend, water, spray, nurture). Waterman just want to go out and harvest. Waterman need to learn from farmers or retain for another profession.

 

[Jet Ski Brian]

All take and no give.

 

[OceanViewKid]

The WORST possible thing we could do with our marine resources is to turn them over to the commercial watermen. From the cod and swordfish on the Grand Banks to practically the ENTIRE EAST COAST BLUEFIN FISHERY to the shrimp trawlers off Florida to the red snapper boats in the Gulf one thing is absolutely clear: Commercial water men CAN NOT AND WILL NOT POLICE THEMSELVES. Every time we allow that species are wiped out wholesale. A group of blind monkeys (not entirely dissimular to our elected officials in Richmond) would do a better job managing the resource than Commercial Watermen. I don't trust their judgement or motivation. PERIOD. And there is damn little in the news these days to dissuade me from this opinion. As a matter of fact I think the commercial watermen have too large a hand in management of the resource now. I remember a commercial advisor to the VMRC was caught with several THOUSAND pounds of illegal stripers in his boat about 10 years back. This is not a new problem. More control? I say hell no. IMHO.

 

[Seafox 2001]

If my memory is correct, was it not commercial fishermen/watermen in Maryland and Virginia who were caught in a Sting operation for illegally taking thousands of pounds of stripers in the Bay?

And, this yoyo wants the VMRC to have more commercial watermen/fishermen on the board. Why bother? They do not pay attention to the regulations anyway.

 

[Kevin Smith]

Keep Spreading the Word

Fellow TFer's,

Thanks for the replies so far and please continue to spread the word to your fishing friends and the clubs that you belong to via email, newsletter, phone, fax, word of mouth.

This bill will very likely come up for a vote in the legislature this week, so please let you opinions be heard. Call every member of this board and your legislative representative and let us know their reply.

If you are a Virginia resident, you can identify your delegate by going to Welcome to the Virginia General Assembly - Who's My Legislator?

House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources

Delegate Harvey Morgan (Chair), Gloucester, (804) 698-1098,
[email protected]
Delegate M. Kirkland Cox, Chesterfield, (804) 698-1066,
[email protected]
Delegate Beverly J. Sherwood, Winchester, (804) 698-1029,
[email protected]
Delegate R. Lee Ware, Jr., Powhatan, (804) 698-1065,
[email protected]
Delegate Thomas C. Wright, Jr. Victoria, (804) 698-1061,
[email protected]
Delegate Robert D. Orrock, Sr., Thornburg, (804) 698-1054,
[email protected]
Delegate Christopher B. Saxman, Staunton, (804)698-1020,
[email protected]
Delegate Clarke N. Hogan, South Boston, (804) 698-1060,
[email protected]
Delegate Edward T. Scott, Culpeper, (804) 698-1030,
[email protected]
Delegate Daniel W. Marshall, III, Danville, (804) 698-1014,
[email protected]
Delegate Matthew J. Lohr, Harrisonburg, (804) 698-1026,
[email protected]
Delegate Charles D. Poindexter, Glade Hill, (804) 698-1009,
[email protected]
Delegate Brenda L. Pogge, Yorktown, (804) 698-1096,
[email protected]
Delegate Kenneth R. Plum, Reston, (804) 698-1036,
[email protected]
Delegate James M. Shuler, Blacksburg, (804) 698-1012,
[email protected]
Delegate Albert C. Eisenberg, Arlington, (804) 698-1047,
[email protected]
Delegate Stephen C. Shannon, Vienna, (804) 698-1035,
[email protected]
Delegate Lynwood W. Lewis, Jr. ,Accomac, (804) 698-1000,
[email protected]
Delegate David L. Bulova, Fairfax Station, (804) 698-1037,
[email protected]
Delegate Margaret G. Vanderhye, McLean, (804) 698-1034,
[email protected]
Delegate Robert W. Mathieson, Virginia Beach, (804) 698-1021,
[email protected]
Delegate Joseph F. Bouchard, Virginia Beach, (804) 698-1083,
[email protected]

If you are interested in getting periodic email information about Virginia's Fisheries from the CCA VA, please send a board mail to Kevin Smith. (Your information remains confidential to the CCA VA, it will not be sold or given away.)

 

[litehook1]

Dam ya ll guys are scared as hell about these 2 seats for waterman,
is it because sporties only have 1 seat?

 

[duncanish4]

It's small pieces of wood that build a gallows.

 

[litehook1]

Or Rome wasn't built in a day,kinda of thinking,
well we still have a couple of months befor these
2 waterman destroy the bay!Well i am over this topic.
Tight lines everyone,catch em up!

 

[Kevin Smith]

Adding 2 Commercial Watermen

Lite Hook,

Yes the addition of the two VA Watermen is not fair, but it's not what those two will do, but what the commission will likely be pushed to do when 5 on the commission of 10 have some form of commercial fishing interests. It could seriously damage the fisheries and marine resources of the Chesapeake Bay and Virginia's tidal rivers.

A lot of work, by a lot of people, for many years, has finally gotten the commission balanced enough that they took action to stop the winter dredging of crabs, despite years of warnings of a population collapse and years of declining catches.

Take a look at what Ocean View Kid wrote and then consider how such an extrememly close knit community of the commercial watermen families will demand their representatives act once they get on the board of the VMRC.

 

[spotking]

Just the usual CCA BS keep the watermen down and take anything from them they can

 

[johnfish]

Just the usual CCA BS keep the watermen down and take anything from them they can

This type of attitude amazes me. I fully understand the loss of lively hood concerns the watermen have. But if a resource is completely used up there will be no more income for them anyway. I am going to be out of work tomorrow. The company I worked for was mismanaged to the point of self destruction. I now have to move on, perhaps lose a house etc. Is this any different than what the watermen are going through? I think not. They are going to destroy thier own livelyhood just as the managers at my former company destroyed mine. The only hope is true conservation measures. Things are already at the brink lets not let it be pushed over the edge. I fully support the CCA of VA and hope to God they will prevail for both the watermen and the general public!

John

 

[Al B]

So, am I to understand that everyone feels the current VMRC make-up has managed our fisheries well? I'm not saying that adding two watermen to the council is the answer... but, I feel strongly that the comission could do a better job. I just can't believe that they're able to do a good job managing stocks of fish that they have no current data on... "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it". If nothing else, the commercial fishermen have current data to measure.

johnfish - do you feel that the workers who were managed to the point of self-destruction may have made better decisions that would not have lead to the current situation?

 

[johnfish]

So, am I to understand that everyone feels the current VMRC make-up has managed our fisheries well? I'm not saying that adding two watermen to the council is the answer... but, I feel strongly that the comission could do a better job. I just can't believe that they're able to do a good job managing stocks of fish that they have no current data on... "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it". If nothing else, the commercial fishermen have current data to measure.

johnfish - do you feel that the workers who were managed to the point of self-destruction may have made better decisions that would not have lead to the current situation?

Al I'm sure you are correct that the commision could do a better job. But from everything I have read it seems that a majority of the waterman are only interested in making what money they can in the short term with no regard for the long term effects. Just look at the state of the blue crab and now recently the reports of the poaching of stripers by the waterman from Va and MD. It is obvious that measures have to be put in place to save these resources. If the commision does not collect data correctly then that needs to be fixed. But to have the waterman ignore the rules and continue down the path of self destrution is not the answer either.

As for my former company. The workers were never listened to by upper management. It is a long sad story and very complicated. BTW the company is Qimonda for those interested. I and about 1500 other people are being cut loose with no severance and no benefits. I fully believe it was upper management's fault. There are a lot of brilliant people at this plant that were ignored by management. It almost seems as if the present management was put in place to run the place into the ground. Makes you wonder if the same thing would happen if those 2 additional seats are opened up for commercial interests.

John

 

[Al B]

I guess it's my opinion that not all watermen are the enemy. A lot of them have the same conservation/preservation wants as the rest of us... they realize their FUTURE is in/on the water, and are not out for the short term gain. Just as you and your co-workers feel that you could have made a difference in the way your company was managed, the watermen feel the same way. Just as you and your co-workers feel the company was run to the ground by upper management, the watermen feel the same way about the VMRC. I think you'll find that there are just as many recreational offenders as commercial when it comes to fisheries violations.

 

[johnfish]

I guess it's my opinion that not all watermen are the enemy. A lot of them have the same conservation/preservation wants as the rest of us... they realize their FUTURE is in/on the water, and are not out for the short term gain. Just as you and your co-workers feel that you could have made a difference in the way your company was managed, the watermen feel the same way. Just as you and your co-workers feel the company was run to the ground by upper management, the watermen feel the same way about the VMRC. I think you'll find that there are just as many recreational offenders as commercial when it comes to fisheries violations.

As can be said for many situations there is plenty of blame to go around. I for one would not hesitate to call a fellow angler on an offense! I truly want our fisheries to remain healthy. If that meant a moritorium on stripers or what ever I would gladly honor it and try to defend it. The watermen that feel as you do need to step up and make thier voices heard. Let them be the first to condem the acts of the poachers recently caught. They need to have a public presence and need to police their own kind as well. We are all going to have to act together to maintain a healthy fishery.

John

 

[jerryaycock]

After emailing Senator Miller and getting a POOR canned response, Today I emailed my Delagate Tom Gear and asked him
to use any influence he had with the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources to reconsider any changes.
Jerry Aycock

 

[Rob Holtz]

Al, I see what your saying but i'm going to have to step up and disagree. After being involved with the VMRC and its' actions for many years I think I have a firm grasp of its' problems. In my opinion the VMRC has been too sympathetic to the waterman and not concerned enough about the resource.

Let's use Crabs as an example. Roughly 10 years ago the Crabs starting declining, VMRC knew this and was concerned enough to start trying to do the right thing and bring them back. Everytime they proposed to take any meaningfull actions the watermen would show up in force at the monthly meeting with wife and kids in tow and start pleading how this action would put them out of business and they wouldn't be able to keep feeding thier family that's sitting right over there. The commiosioners always caved in to this tactic and never enacted any real regulations that would curtial harvest. They always ended up enacting something that looked good on paper but in reality everyone knew it wasn't going to really save any crabs. So after years of doing something that looked good on paper but had no real cuts we find ourselves with the fishery at a virtual collapse. I knew this is where we were headed 10 years ago, it was just a matter of time. Last year in steps the powers that be and demand that the VMRC take some real last measure actions to save the fishery and low and behold they finally did something meaningfull. This brings us to where we are now. The crabbers still think the new regs are not needed and the fishery is fine so they are trying to increase thier numbers on the commission to try and overturn the first meaningfull regulations that have ever been placed on them and assure that no others other come in the future. This is a recipie for disaster if I've ever seen one.

Bottom line is the hard measures put in place could've been avoided if real smaller measures had started to be enacted 10 years ago. The VMRC has always been too sympathetic to the watermen. It's gottem better in the last few years with a more balanced commission but it's still there to this day. Adding anymore watermen to the commission really will be taking a step backwards.

 

[Al B]

I'm not saying that adding two watermen to the council is the answer... but, I feel strongly that the comission could do a better job.

Rob, I feel they (the comission) are working with a HUGE disadvantage... NO DATA. Until they're supplied with accurate and timely data, they'll continue to make "guesses" as to the best steps to manage fisheries. I'd whole-heartedly support the use of liscense monies to fund stock assessments.