December 20, 2013: Commission main office holiday schedule:
Closed Monday, Dec. 23 through Wednesday, Dec. 25, open Thursday, Dec. 26,
Friday, Dec. 27, and Monday, Dec. 30 8AM-5PM. Closed Tuesday, Dec. 31
after Noon and closed on Wednesday, Jan. 1. Open Thursday, Jan. 2,
8AM-5PM, Open Friday, Jan. 3, 8AM-3:30PM. Resume normal office schedule on
Monday, Jan. 6 (M-Th 8AM-5PM, Fri 8AM-2:30PM).
December 10, 2013: The Virginia Marine Resources Commission voted today to raise the size limit on eels used as bait by recreational anglers from six to nine inches, and to lower the possession limit from 50 to 25 eels per person per day.
The changes were required by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission because the coast-wide eel stock is in poor shape and the species is being considered for listing as endangered.
The Commission also revoked the licenses of three watermen for either oyster violations or for failing to report their catch while on probation, and placed four other watermen on probation. <Meeting
Summary>
November 27, 2013: Effective 6:00 P.M., Eastern Standard Time (EST), Wednesday, November 27, 2013, the commercial purse seine menhaden reduction sector will close. Based on Captain's Daily Fishing reports , it is projected that Virginia will have caught 100% of the 286,396,768 pounds of allowable menhaden landings allocated to the purse seine menhaden reduction sector, by the above date and time. See attached memorandum for further information. <Memorandum>
November 27, 2013: Effective 6:00 P.M., Eastern Standard Time (EST), Wednesday, December 4, 2013, it is projected that the Directed Virginia Offshore Summer Flounder Fishery will have harvested 100% of the quota. Therefore, after 6:00 P.M., EST, Wednesday, December 4, 2013, it shall be unlawful for any person harvesting Summer Flounder outside of Virginia’s waters to land flounder in Virginia. Please refer to the notice for more information and requirements. <Notice>
November 18, 2013: Governor Bob McDonnell announced today that Virginia’s most recent oyster harvest has greatly exceeded recent years, reaching the highest level since 1987. The 2012-2013 harvest of 406,000 bushels was also 60 percent greater than just one year prior. The harvest boom came from both wild-caught oysters and from dramatically increased yields in oyster aquaculture operations on privately leased water bottoms. <Press Release>
November 18, 2013: The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission releases its Draft Strategic Plan for 2014 — 2018 for public review and comment.
The Draft Plan revises the Commission’s long-term vision to "Sustainably Managing Atlantic Coastal Fisheries" and proposes seven major goals and related strategies to pursue this vision.
The Strategic Plan will guide the Commission’s activities over the next five years and will be implemented through Annual Action Plans.
Public comment must be received by January 10, 2014, 5:00 PM EST and should be forwarded to Deke Tompkins, Legislative Assistant, at 1050 N. Highland, Suite 200A-N, Arlington, VA 22201;
703-842-0741 (fax) or
comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Strategic Plan).
The Commission is scheduled to take action on the final Plan in February at its Winter Meeting in Alexandria, VA.
<Draft Strategic Plan>
November 12, 2013: Governor Bob McDonnell has appointed James Close of Mathews to the board of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. Mr. Close is a commercial waterman, and will hold the seat designated to represent commercial watermen. He will serve a four-year term. He replaces former Associate Commissioner Joseph Palmer, who passed away in July.
October 30, 2013: Virginia Marine Resources Commission Associate Commissioner Ken Neill has received the prestigious 2014 International Game Fish Association Representative Conservation Award for this many years of contributions to tagging studies and sample collection efforts. Of the dozens of scientific projects he has assisted aboard his boat, Healthy Grin, Dr. Neill says some of the most rewarding are the ones that led directly to fishery management decisions, such as Atlantic Bluefin Tuna tissue sampling and tagging that helped scientists better understand the relationships between the western and eastern stocks of that species. Since 1993, the IGFA has been recognizing superlative achievements in fishing conservation with annual conservation awards. Dr. Neill was appointed to the Commission in July 2013 by Governor Bob McDonnell. <International Game Fish Association>
October 22, 2013: The Virginia Marine Resources Commission voted unanimously today against a proposal to reopen the blue crab winter dredge fishery in a limited, tightly controlled pilot program that would not have increased the overall crab harvest.
The Commission sited low stock abundance, an anemic crab harvest so far this year, and opposition from the public and from commercial crab potters as factors in their decision to shelve the proposal for the time being.
The Commission did vote unanimously to extend this year’s crab pot season until Dec. 15, for the harvest of both male and female crabs, with a reduction in the daily bushel limit next
year to off-set the increased fall harvest. <Meeting
Summary>
October 21, 2013: Effective 12:01 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
Monday, November 11, 2013, the Directed Virginia Offshore Summer Flounder
Fishery will re-open for vessels with a Virginia Summer Flounder Endorsement
License. The 2013 commercial offshore quota allocation was 2,438,592
pounds. Virginia landings through October 16 total 1,946,208 pounds.
The available remaining offshore summer flounder quota is projected to be
650,000 pounds. Please review the Opening
Notice for more information.
October 17, 2013: A 311-pound bigeye tuna, caught on September 25th by Vic Gaspeny, of Tavernier, FL, has been certified as the new Virginia State Record by the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament. Gaspeny’s catch surpasses the existing record of 285 pounds and 12 ounces, caught 10 years earlier in August 2003 by Melvin Bray of Dumfries, VA. Gaspeny made his record-setting catch off Virginia Beach, at the Norfolk Canyon, while fishing with Captain Justin Wilson aboard the charter vessel Just Right. Gaspeny, a well respected light tackle fishing guide and outdoor writer, operates out of Bud N’ Mary’s Marina in Islamorada, FL, where he is best known for his ability to put clients on tarpon. Gaspeny also helped pioneer "day dropping" for swordfish off the Florida coast and in the process caught his 200th swordfish last July. <Press Release>
September 26, 2013: The Virginia Marine Police will combat oyster theft by air, land and sea in an intensive effort to crush what has become an epidemic of poaching. The public oyster season opens tomorrow, Oct. 1. The Commission comes armed to this fight with a renewed commitment to revoking violators’ commercial fishing licenses and with a new tool: Revocation of all saltwater fishing privileges, as allowed by a new state law that went into effect on July 1. The Commission recently adopted new sanction guidelines that call for the revocation of commercial fishing licenses for even a single egregious offense. This is a tougher standard from prior guidelines, which called for a license suspension hearing on a third court conviction of fishery regulations within a calendar year. <Press Release> <New Sanction Guidelines> <Law Enforcement Subcommittee Report>
September 26, 2013: This memorandum is to inform states that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) will close the blacknose, non-blacknose small coastal shark, large coastal shark and hammerhead shark fisheries on September 30, 2013. Therefore, in accordance with Section 4.3.4, Quota Specification, of the Interstate Fisheries Management Plan for Atlantic Coastal Sharks (FMP), effective 11:30 p.m. local time September 30, 2013, states are required to prohibit the commercial landing, harvest, and possession of these shark species. State water commercial fisheries for these shark species will reopen when the NMFS reopens federal waters for commercial fishing. ASMFC will issue notice of the opening dates once they become available in the 2014 shark quotas and seasons final rule. <Memorandum>
September 24, 2013: The Virginia Marine Resources Commission today sent a clear signal it will have no tolerance for oyster poaching, or other serious oyster violations, and unanimously voted to revoke the commercial fishing licenses of three watermen who were convicted of repeated oyster violations for two years, the maximum allowed under state law. The Commission also suspended the commercial fishing licenses of two other watermen for one year, followed by a year of probation, for repeated oyster violations. In fact, Commissioner Travelstead said he intended to vote in the future in keeping with a state law, section 28.2-528 of the Code of Virginia, that requires six month to one year license revocations for anyone convicted of unlawfully taking oysters. He said the Commission takes no pleasure in revoking licenses but will do what is necessary to curb the theft of oyster stocks that have rebounded in recent years. <Meeting Summary>
August 29, 2013: The Secretary of Natural Resources and Commissioner Jack Travelstead have approved new operating hours for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission's main office, 2600 Washington Ave., Newport News. Effective Thursday, August 29th, our main office's hours of operation will be 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Friday hours of operation will be 8:00 a.m. with closing at 2:30 p.m.
August 28, 2013: A skeptical Virginia Marine Resources Commission has agreed to consider reopening the winter crab dredge fishery, which has been closed for stock-rebuilding purposes since 2008, provided a reopened dredge fishery is with a limited number of participants, in a tightly controlled and enforced manner, performed on mud bottoms in order to limit damage to the environment and crab stocks, with maximum allowable landings of 1.5 million pounds of crab. Every pound of crab landed in that fishery would be offset by substantial reductions in the daily bushel limits on crab potters the rest of the year so that the overall crab harvest level does not increase. The Commission voted unanimously to advertise for a public hearing and vote at its Oct. 22 meeting, after the public weighs in and all licensed commercial crab potters are surveyed for their input. <Meeting Summary>
August 21, 2013: The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Spiny Dogfish and Coastal Sharks Management Board has approved Draft Addendum III to the Atlantic Coastal Sharks Fishery Management Plan for public comment. The Draft Addendum proposes changes to the coastal shark species groupings for hammerhead and blacknose sharks, the establishment of a new commercial quota for hammerhead sharks and to increase the recreational size limit for hammerhead sharks.
[Notice]
August 16, 2013: NMFS announces public hearings during August and September related to whales. The hearings are an opportunity for public to provide feedback on proposed conservation measures intended to reduce the risk of serious injury and mortality of large whales due to entanglements in vertical lines.
The Virginia hearing will be held August 27th, 6-9 pm at The Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library, 4100 VA Beach Blvd, VA Beach.
[Notice]
August 2, 2013: Effective 6:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT),
Saturday, August 3, 2013, the Virginia horseshoe crab trawl fishery will close.
Based upon landing reports from Virginia seafood buyers and horseshoe crab
harvesters, it is projected that Virginia will have caught 100% of the horseshoe
crab quota allocated to harvest by trawl, by the above date and time.
Therefore, after 6:00 P.M., EDT, August 3, 2013, the possession or landing of
any horseshoe crabs in Virginia caught by trawl shall be prohibited (Chapter 4
VAC 20-900-10 et. seq.). <Notice>
July 30, 2013: Effective 6:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), Tuesday, July 30, 2013, the Virginia scup commercial fishery for the Summer Period will close. Based upon landing reports from the National Marine Fisheries Service and Virginia seafood buyers, it is projected that Virginia will have harvested 100% of the Summer Period quota of 13,085 pounds, by the above date and time. Therefore, after 6:00 P.M., EDT, July 30, 2013, it shall be unlawful for any person to harvest or land any scup for commercial purposes, or any buyer of seafood to receive any scup for commercial purposes in Virginia until November 1, 2013. <Notice>
July 23, 2013: Oyster Replenishment Officer Jim Wesson told the Marine Resources Commission’s board today that this year’s oyster harvest is on pace to be as good if not better than last year’s harvest, which was the largest in almost 25 years. Virginia’s oyster harvest has increased 10-fold over the past year, and he told the Commission he intends to recommend only minor changes to the upcoming fall/winter public oyster fishery. <Meeting Summary>
July 19, 2013: Governor Bob McDonnell today announced his appointment of A.J. Erskine of Kilmarnock and Dr. Ken Neill of Seaford to the board of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. Mr. Erskine is a past-president of the Virginia Seafood Council and a scientist with a long record of success in the oyster aquaculture industry. Dr. Neill is a dentist who has achieved master angler status for his many accomplishments as a saltwater recreational angler. Their terms are for four years. They replace Associate Commissioners Carter Fox and Rick Robins, who each served two four-year terms and, as a result, were ineligible for reappointment.
July 8, 2013: Governor Bob McDonnell today announced that the state has begun an operation to mine fossilized oyster shells from beneath the James River as part of the largest oyster replenishment initiative in state history.
<Press
Release>
July 5, 2013: Effective 6:00 p.m. today, Friday, July 5, 2013 is shall be unlawful for any person to harvest or land more than 6,000 pounds of menhaden per day, for commercial purposes, by use of a haul seine in Virginia, for the remainder of 2013.
<Notice>
July 2, 2013: Effective 6:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT),
Thursday, July 4, 2013, the Virginia horseshoe crab pound net fishery will
close. Based upon landing reports from Virginia seafood buyers and horseshoe
crab harvesters, it is projected that Virginia will have caught 100% of the
horseshoe crab quota allocated to harvest by pound net, by the above date and
time. Therefore, after 6:00 P.M., EDT, July 4, 2013, the possession or
landing of any horseshoe crabs in Virginia caught by pound net shall be
prohibited (Chapter 4 VAC 20-900-10 et. seq.). The trawl fishery for
horseshoe crabs will remain open until further notice. <Notice>
June 25, 2013: The Virginia Marine Resources Commission repealed all oyster taxes, effective July 1, as part of a reform initiative that instead requires oyster harvests, shuckers, packers and shippers to pay an annual resource user fee. This is required under a bill passed by the Virginia General Assembly. Details of the user fee program are posted on this website. In other action, the Commission suspended a waterman’s license for one year for repeated violations of oyster catch regulations. <Meeting Summary>
June 24, 2013: Effective 6:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), Wednesday, June 25, 2013, the Virginia horseshoe crab landing limits will be reduced by 50%. At that time, it is projected that Virginia will have landed more than 80% of the state-wide quota. This triggers the landing limits of horseshoe crab harvesters to be cut by 50%. Therefore, after Tuesday, June 25, at 6:00 P.M., EDT, horseshoe crab endorsement licensees will be limited to 1,250 horseshoe crabs per day, restricted horseshoe crab endorsement licensees will be limited to 500 horseshoe crabs per day, and bycatch harvesters will be limited to 250 horseshoe crabs per day (Chapter 4 VAC 20-900-10 et. seq.). The pound net and trawl fisheries for horseshoe crabs will remain open until further notice. <Notice>
June 13, 2013: Effective 6:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), Friday, June 14, 2013, the Virginia horseshoe crab hand harvest fishery will close. Based upon landing reports from Virginia seafood buyers and horseshoe crab harvesters, it is projected that Virginia will have caught 100% of the horseshoe crab quota allocated to harvest by hand, by the above date and time. Therefore, after 6:00 P.M., EDT, June 14, 2013, the possession or landing of any horseshoe crabs in Virginia caught by hand shall be prohibited (Chapter 4 VAC 20-900-10 et. seq.). <Notice>
June 5, 2013: Effective 6:00 P.M., Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), Monday, June 10, 2013, the commercial menhaden gill net fishery will close. Based on landing reports from mandatory harvest reporting and Virginia seafood buyers, it is projected that Virginia will have caught 100% of the 1,521,108 pounds of the menhaden gill net quota, by the above date and time. Therefore, after 6:00 P.M., EDT, June 10, 2013 it shall be unlawful for any person to harvest or land more than 6,000 pounds of menhaden per day, for commercial purposes, by use of gill net in Virginia, for the remainder of 2013. <Notice>
May 28, 2013: The Virginia Marine Resources Commission has voted unanimously to hold a June public hearing and vote to repeal all oyster taxes on July 1 and, in their place, to enact an annual user fee on all oyster harvesters on public and privately leased grounds, as well as on packers, shuckers and shippers. The user fees are required under a bill passed unanimously by the Virginia General Assembly. The fees will be used for oyster replenishment, which provides a variety of ecological and economic benefits to the oyster industry. The new user fees go into effect July 1, but may be paid for 2013 as of June 1. <Meeting Summary> <Oyster Resource User Fee FAQ>
May 24, 2013: Effective 6:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), Monday, May 27, 2013, the Virginia horseshoe crab dredge fishery will close. Based upon landing reports from Virginia seafood buyers and horseshoe crab harvesters, it is projected that Virginia will have caught 100% of the horseshoe crab quota allocated to harvest by dredge, by the above date and time. Therefore, after 6:00 P.M., EDT, May 30, 2013, the possession or landing of any horseshoe crabs in Virginia caught by dredge shall be prohibited (Chapter 4 VAC 20-900-10 et. seq.). <Notice>
May 23, 2013: You may fish without a license during the second weekend in June. Take advantage of the free fishing days, June 7, 8 and 9, 2013 and enjoy the great outdoors with your family and friends without having to spend money for a fishing license. <Press Release>
May 15, 2013: Effective 6:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), Thursday, May 16, 2013, the Virginia horseshoe crab commercial fishery for any gear other than trawl, dredge, pound net, or hand harvest, will close. Based upon landing reports from Virginia seafood buyers and horseshoe crab harvesters, it is projected that Virginia will have caught 100% of the horseshoe crab quota allocated to harvest by gears other than trawl, dredge, and pound net, or hand harvest, by the above date and time. <Notice>
May 6, 2013: The Secretary of Natural Resources and Commissioner Jack Travelstead have approved alternate summer operating hours for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission's main office, 2600 Washington Ave., Newport News. Effective Monday, May 6th, our main office's hours of operation will be 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Friday hours of operation will be 8:00 a.m. with closing at 2:30 p.m. This operating schedule will conclude with the close of business on Friday, August 30, 2013.
May 1, 2013: At the April 23, 2013 Commission meeting, a user conflict in the horseshoe crab fishery was brought to the attention of the Commission during a public comment period. To appropriately address this issue, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission will hold a horseshoe crab industry meeting to gain industry input on fishery modifications for the 2013 horseshoe crab season on Thursday, May 16, 2013 from 4-7 p.m. at the Chincoteague Community Center located at 6155 Community Dr, Chincoteague Island, VA. <Notice>
April 25, 2013: On April 23, 2013, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission extended the public oyster ground hand tong harvest season in the James River seed area including the deep water shoal state replenishment seed area through Friday, May 17, 2013 for the harvest of seed oysters only. <Notice>
April 23, 2013: The Virginia Marine Resources Commission has scheduled a public hearing and vote next month to repeal the existing oyster taxes and replace them with an annual user fee on all oyster industry participants. The revenues raised by the fees would be used for the agency’s annual oyster replenishment program, which benefits the oyster industry. This reform of the oyster tax system was proposed and unanimously endorsed by an industry panel last summer and is required under House Bill 1400, which was unanimously approved by the Virginia General Assembly this winter. <Meeting Summary>
April 19, 2013: The annual scientific winter dredge survey of the bay-wide blue crab population shows a mixed bag of good, and not-so-good, news that may result in a slight tightening of commercial harvest restrictions. The overall abundance of blue crabs dropped precipitously, from 765 million to 300 million crabs. This was because the number of juvenile crabs plummeted from 581 million to a mere 111 million. This reduction in abundance was not a result of overfishing and may have been caused by increased predation and other factors. <Press Release>
April 15, 2013: The Virginia Marine Resources Commission has adopted a new fee schedule for oyster ground applications, transfers, recording, assignment, restaking and surveying, effective
May 1, 2013. These fees have not been adjusted since at least 1998. <Fee
Schedule>
April 5, 2013: The Virginia Marine Resources Commission is preparing to embark on the largest state-funded oyster replenishment initiative in state history, thanks to a record $2 million appropriated in the budget by Governor Robert F. McDonnell and the Virginia General Assembly.
The program provides significant ecological and economic benefits. A single adult oyster can purge up to 50 gallons of water a day, and every $1 spent by the state to plant oyster shells yields $7 in economic benefits in the form of larger harvests and oyster industry jobs.
<Press
Release> <Funding
History>
April 3, 2013: The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is urging fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide their input on Draft Addendum III to the Interstate Fisheries Management Plan for American Eels. <Announcement | Draft Addendum III American Eel>
March 29, 2013: Effective 6:00 P.M., Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), Friday, April 5, 2013, the Directed Virginia Offshore Summer Flounder Fishery will close. Vessels that have entered Virginia waters and secured to an offloading site prior to 6:00 P.M., EDT, Friday, April 5, 2013, may possess and offload no greater than 12,500 pounds of summer flounder during the April 3 — April 5 landing period. <Press Release>
March 26, 2013: The Virginia Marine Resources Commission today enacted regulations to achieve a 20 percent reduction in the commercial harvest of menhaden, including a 20 percent reduction in the bay harvest, as part of a comprehensive fisheries management plan that was authorized by the Virginia General Assembly. <Meeting Summary>
March 11, 2013: An ongoing Virginia Marine Police operation to protect a resurgent oyster population has resulted in 500 citations issued to commercial watermen over the past two years for violating oyster catch restrictions. The offenses ranged from harvesting too many oysters, poaching them from sanctuaries, stealing them from privately leased ground, and illegally harvesting them at night. <Press Release>
February 13, 2013: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has awarded Marine Resources Commissioner Jack Travelstead with the prestigious Ricks E Savage Award, which has been bestowed only seven times. The Council was established in 1976, and is responsible for management of fisheries in federal waters off the Mid-Atlantic coast. Council Chairman Rick Robins presented the award on Feb. 13, noting that Commissioner Travelstead’s work on the Council began 32 years ago, not long after the Council was formed. He said the Commissioner has been "a true leader and a diplomat for a generation of fishery managers. He has set a very high standard."
February 7, 2013: Online registration for the Fisherman Identification Program (FIP) is open. Toll-free, call-in registration is also available. Saltwater anglers who do not need to buy a license under state law must register for free and supply their contact information before they fish every year. Anglers who buy a saltwater fishing license will be automatically registered. The intent is to create a Virginia-wide "phone book" of saltwater anglers, which will be given to the National Marine Fisheries Service in order to improve fishing effort surveys and to exempt Virginia anglers from having to sign up directly with the National Saltwater Angler Registry and pay the annual $15 federal registration fee. Anglers that registered last year must register again this year; registrations are valid for one year from date of issuance. If you provided a valid email when you last registered a renewal notice will be sent 14 days prior to expiration. Please keep your FIP number with you while fishing. The free FIP registration is not a substitute for a license when the angler is required by law to purchase and hold a saltwater license. <FIP Information Page with Online Registration>
January 31, 2013: Anglers registered 6,071 trophy-size fish for Citation awards during the 55th Annual Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament that ran from January 1st through December 31st 2012. This was only the eighth time anglers had achieved 6,000 or more Citations in any year since the Tournament began in 1958. <Press Release>
January 22, 2013: The Virginia Marine Resources Commission has approved an expansive program to plant oyster shells on a variety of public oyster grounds, anticipating a $2 million influx of funds through Governor Robert McDonnell’s proposed 2014 state budget. If approved by the Virginia General Assembly, this would be the largest appropriation for oyster replenishment in state history. The oyster harvest has increased ten-fold over the past decade, and every $1 spent on oyster replenishment yields $7 in economic benefit when the oysters grow to market size and are harvested. <Meeting Summary>
