VA Horseshoe Crab Mgmt Status

birder6@Juno.com
Thu, 21 Jan 1999 12:20:38 -0500


To:  Chris French,  Valley Birders "everywhere",  Richmond Listserv, and
MDOspreyers.....

In response to your query,  the following completely unofficial
chronology 
from a variety of publicly-available materials has been compiled. 

It is TIME NOW for calls, e-mail notes, etc... to voice your concerns. 
The
squeaky wheel needs to get "squeakier"....  Attend the VMRC meetings
(1/26),
etc. if you can.   Why should Virginia do any less than Maryland or
Delaware !
Also,  if anyone has any additional details or more current information, 
we 
would love to hear from you.
    

              HORSESHOE CRAB MANAGEMENT in VIRGINIA 
                            Chronology of Events 1998-99

	Spring 1998.  Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey were sufficiently

convinced by evidence of decreasing horseshoe crab and associated
shorebird 
populations on Delaware Bay to strengthen horseshoe crab harvest
restrictions.

	Crab fisherman began landing crabs in Virginia which were caught 
offshore further north, raising the concern that Virginia's lack of
regulations was undermining those states' efforts.  [The crabs also
provide food for endangered loggerhead turtles swimming near the mouth of
the Chesapeake Bay.]

	May 1998.  VMRC proposed a set of protections that included: a
ban on 
harvesting during May and June, their spawning season; a limit of 1,000
crabs 
per trip for the rest of the year; and a cap on the number of people who
are 
licensed to hand-harvest crabs from beaches.

	June 1998.  VMRC held a public hearing on the proposal on the 
Eastern Shore.

	July 28, 1998.  VMRC held another public hearing, in which its
staff 
(Lewis Gillingham) had altered its recommendation to adopting only the
hand-
harvest restriction.  The Virginia Pilot (7/29/98) reported that VMRC 
commissioners had heard many complaints from seafood merchants and 
fishermen on the proposal.  The VP quotes Gillingham as saying he'd
backed 
off after seeing new data showing that migratory birds and horseshoe
crabs 
along Delaware Bay had increased in 1998.  However, he was reported as 
saying that Virginia appears to be becoming the new landing point for
crabs; 
that Virginia's 1998 harvest may reach 1 million pounds, as compared to
its 
1997 harvest of 87,000 pounds.  The commission voted unanimously to pass 
no restrictions, and to postpone action until November 1998.  Staff had
said 
that by then a federal plan would have been completed (in October), and
that 
the federal plan would be implemented in Virginia by the end of 1998, in 
place for the spring 1999 harvest.

	VMRC and Virginia Governor Gilmore were asked to reconsider by 
the environmental community, in order to prevent a rush for a hugely
expanded 
and potentially damaging fall harvest before the federal plan could be
enacted.

	August 4, 1998.  The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission 
(ASMFC) Horseshoe Crab Management Board approved a Draft Horseshoe 
Crab Fishery Management Plan (FMP).  Virginia is an ASMFC member.  The 
public review and comment period lasted through 9/30/98.  Several
different 
specific management options were proposed, include: maintaining status 
quo in current fisheries; a 50 percent reduction in harvest levels and
effort; unrestricted harvest; and a seasonal closure on harvest from
April 15 through 
June 15. 

	Mid-September, 1998.  NJ, DE, MD, VA held public hearings to 
obtain public comment on the plan.  On 9/21/98 VMRC held its public
hearing.

	October 20, 1998.  The ASMFC Horseshoe Crab Management 
Board met to review public comment and external peer review on their
draft 
plan.  They concluded that there was insufficient data to support
coastwide 
harvest reduction measures.  Instead they approved the following:  "The 
states of New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland must maintain existing state 
laws and regulations pertaining to the harvest and landing of horseshoe 
crabs. Other states are encouraged to implement a two day per week 
harvest prohibition within 1,000 feet of the low mean water line between 
April 15 through June 15."

	October 22, 1998.  ASMFC approved the final "Interstate Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP) for Horseshoe Crab."  Published copies of the FMP, 
stock assessment, and external peer review will be available from ASMFC
by 
the end of the year.  Contact Tom O'Connell, the Horseshoe Crab
Management 
Plan Coordinator for the ASMFC, at Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources,
(401) 
260-8271, toconnell@dnr.state.md.us.

	January 20, 1999.  VMRC's web site indicates there have been no 
further public notices posted related to horseshoe crabs.  The site gives
the 
next monthly VMRC meeting as Tuesday, January 26th, 9:30 a.m., at their
main 
office at 2600 Washington Avenue in Newport News.  The agenda is not
posted, 
but is likely available from VMRC.  The website gives driving directions.

	Recall that VMRC had declined to act, justifying its action by 
assuring the public that Virginia's harvest would be restricted by the
end of 
1998 by the ASMFC, in time to limit the spring harvest.  This however,
did 
not happen.

	To find out whether Virginia has any proposals, meetings, or
actions 
scheduled on this, VMRC lists the primary contact as Jack Travelstead,
Chief, 
Fisheries Management, VA Marine Resources Commission, 2600 Washington
Ave., 
Newport News, VA 23607, (757) 247-2200, email jtravelste@mrc.state.va.us.
 
It's always valuable for them to hear directly from the public.

Larry R. Lynch
Chesterfield Co., VA
birder6@juno.com