September 23, 2024 — As a reminder that commercial fishing is an important part of the State of Virginia’s economy, Commonwealth’s governor Glenn Youngkin issued a proclamation recently that the week of September 15-21 is “Commercial Waterman Safety Week.”
The proclamation notes that the “Commonwealth’s commercial watermen and seafood industry generate over $1 billion in economic impact to the state and that there are 1,500 commercial watermen who “risk their lives sustaining a tradition passed down through generations.”
It further states that “Virginia stands as the largest seafood producer on the East Coast based on volume of landings,” which includes “scallops, clams, blue crabs, oysters, flounder, mackerel, menhaden and other species integral to the culinary industry . . . around the world.”