Starting in late winter and going on into early spring fish make their runs up Virginia’s rivers and streams. Menhaden, however, put in the earliest appearance via bills in the General Assembly to curtail or deepen the regulations regarding catching them. This year is no exception.
State Sen. Ralph Northam, a Democrat who represents the Eastern Shore and parts of the Norfolk area, has filed this year’s version of his seemingly annual bills to transfer regulatory authority of Virginia’s menhaden industry, which is primarily Omega Protein’s industrial operation in Reedville, from the General Assembly to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.
This year’s version of Northam’s bill would authorize the VMRC to adopt regulations imposed on Virginia menhaden fishermen by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. The federal commission is expected to adopt regulations in 2013 that would drastically reduce the catch allowed to Omega and could put it out of business at the cost of as many as 300 jobs in the lower Northern Neck.
“It’s just another way to get it to VMRC,” State Sen. Richard Stuart said Monday.
Stuart is at the opposite end of the issue. He has filed a bill to have Virginia withdraw from the ASMFC, which it can do under the provisions of the compact that created the commission.
Sen. Richard Stuart
Stuart said that if his bill becomes law, “I will depend on the Attorney General to defend us with regard to our fisheries.”
Stuart no longer represents Reedville but said that State Sen. Ryan McDougle who succeeded him in representing the lower Northern Neck as a result of the last redistricting, agrees with his legislation. Both are Republicans.
Read the full article at Northern Neck News