By David Ress for the Daily Press
[dropcap]C[/dropcap]ommercial fishermen asked state regulators Tuesday night to make recreational fishermen tag their striped bass the way commercial operators do, to make sure they’re not taking too many fish.
But the idea died when Doug Jenkins, president of the Twin Rivers Watermen’s group, in Warsaw, outlined his proposal to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission’s finfish management advisory committee.
Photo: A. Derr
“We’re losing our rockfish (striped bass) quota and losing our crab industry,” Jenkins told the committee.
He said the 20 percent cut in striped bass quotas imposed three years ago have hit commercial fishermen hard.
They believe they’re being discriminated against and that there’s a need to be sure recreational fishermen aren’t catching too many striped bass.
Jenkins said there are enough striped bass to allow commercial fishermen to catch more, and that striped bass preying on crabs is one reason why crab populations are down.
