For Immediate Release
Oct. 23, 2008

Contact: John M.R. Bull
757-247-2269 (office)
757-509-0969 (cell)


NEWPORT NEWS, VA. - Virginia Marine Resources Commission member Richard B. Robins, Jr. of Suffolk has been elected chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, an important position overseeing fishery management in federal waters off Virginia's coast.

The council is responsible for the conservation and management of many migratory fish species within the federal 200-mile limit in the mid-Atlantic region, and includes representatives of seven coastal states from North Carolina through New York.

Robins was appointed to the council in 2007 by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and has since served on numerous council committees as well as the New England Council's Scallop Oversight Committee.

"I look forward to working with council members, staff, scientific advisors and constituents to build upon the council's record of accomplishment in sustainable fisheries management," Robins said. "We are blessed with a council that has a remarkable range of fisheries experience, expertise and perspective; strengths that will serve the council well as we work together to meet the requirements of the [Magnuson-Stevens] Reauthorization Act."

Robins has been an associate member of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission since his 2004 appointment by former Gov. Mark Warner. He heads the Commission's Blue Crab Management Advisory Committee and has been deeply involved in recent regulation changes to rebuild the state's blue crab population.

Robins manages Chesapeake Bay Packing's seafood exporting operations in Newport News and owns a whelk processing business on Virginia's Eastern Shore. He is also an avid offshore angler.