Virginia Saltwater Fishing

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) will implement a free state saltwater angler identification program in January of 2011 in order to exempt saltwater anglers from having to register yearly with the National Saltwater Angler Registry and pay an annual federal registration fee.

The Virginia Fisherman Identification Program (FIP) will require unlicensed saltwater anglers age 16 and older to register for free with the VMRC and receive an identification number annually. If someone plans to saltwater fish without needing to buy a license, they’ll need to register with VMRC.

Adult anglers who fish for anadromous or marine species in Virginia’s freshwaters will need to register as well.  Anglers that only fish on licensed charter boats you do not have to register.

Anglers can register online at www.mrc.virginia.gov/FIP or call toll-free 800-723-2728. Phone operators can only take registrations and cannot look up FIP information or answer program questions.

For more information on the FIP, visit www.mrc.virginia.gov or call the VMRC at 757-247-2200.

NOAA has announced that the annual fee for registering with the National Saltwater Angler Registry will be $15.00 as of Jan. 1, 2011.

Virginia’s saltwater anglers, however, will not have to pay the fee or sign up with the national registry. Virginia has been exempted through the efforts of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

In order to maintain that exemption, the VMRC will collect contact information when anglers buy an annual saltwater fishing license as of Jan. 1.

Anglers who do not need to buy a license under state law must register with the new Virginia Fisherman Identification Program FOR FREE and supply their contact information before they fish every year.

The Virginia Fisherman Identification Program will begin Jan. 1, 2011. Anglers may register annually by going to www.mrc.virginia.gov/FIP or by calling toll-free 800-723-2728. Registration will be quick, easy, and without charge.

The intent is to create a Virginia-wide “phone book” of saltwater anglers, which will be given to NOAA 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 with a valid Virginia saltwater fishing license, or a Potomac River Fisheries Sport Fishing License, do not have to register with the state FIP. Their contact information will be collected when they buy a license. Anglers under the age of 16 also are exempt from registering.

Virginia anglers who must register each year with the Fisherman Identification Program: Those who fish legally without a license (such as on a boat licensed to cover all anglers; from a commercial pier or private property; who are age 65 and older) or who fish in tidal freshwater for anadromous species such as striped bass or other marine species. They will be issued an identification number to keep with them while fishing to prove they have registered.

In effect, as of Jan. 1, 2011, all Virginia adult saltwater anglers will need either a valid saltwater fishing license or to register with the Fisherman Identification Program every year.
Virginia is one of 22 of the nation’s 24 coastal states that now have saltwater angler registries or licenses and have been exempted from the federal requirement because they are providing registry information to the National Saltwater Angler Registry.

The National Saltwater Angler Registry is an important tool that enables NOAA to better estimate the health of marine fisheries so that more effective regulations can be established to preserve recreational fishing for the anglers, fishing businesses, coastal communities and millions of Americans whose lives and livelihoods are connected to saltwater fishing. Congress created the registry, a national phone book of anglers, through the Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Act of 2006 to improve surveys of fishermen used to assess the health of fish stocks and the economic contributions of anglers.

The law authorized NOAA’s Fisheries Service to charge a fee for the annual registration beginning in 2011.

The National Saltwater Angler Registry is part of a major initiative to improve how NOAA’s Fisheries Service gathers, analyzes and reports recreational fishing data. The goal of the Marine Recreational Information Program, or MRIP, is to ensure that the data scientists, managers, stock assessors and others need to effectively conserve our nation’s ocean resources is available, accessible, held to the most exacting scientific standards, and broadly trusted by our partners and stakeholders in the fishing community and others.  For more information or to register, visit www.CountMyFish.noaa.gov or call toll-free (888) MRIP-411.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission manages Virginia’s saltwater fisheries, both recreational and commercial, and is based in Newport News, Va. The Fisherman Identification Program is authorized by state law, and annual registration of non-licensed saltwater anglers is required.

source: VMRC press release

With the summer fishing season starting to wind down, Virginia and Federal officials are reminding people who have been or are planning to go saltwater fishing this year to register with the National Saltwater Angler Registry if they’re required to do so.

A new Federal law that went into effect in January says that, with a few exceptions, fishermen must register if they’re in Federal waters, or if they are targeting or might catch anadromous species–fish like stripers, shad and river herring that live in saltwater but spawn in fresh water.

Although registering is the law, officials stress that the Registry – a new tool that will help NOAA and anglers work together to conserve our oceans – is intended more as a benefit than a burden to fishermen. According to NOAA Fisheries’ Gordon Colvin, it is important for three major reasons:

First, as a national “phone book” of saltwater fishermen, the Registry will make it possible to collect better data about who’s been fishing and how often. Second, better data ultimately means better decision-making when it comes to setting regulations that affect recreational fishermen, ocean enthusiasts, coastal communities and the thousands of Virginia residents whose lives and livelihoods are connected to fishing.

Finally, the Registry is the lynchpin in a massive effort to improve the way NOAA collects and reports the information about recreational fishing that managers use to determine such things as fishing seasons, size limits and catch limits. An incomplete registry could mean substantial delays in making improvements that everyone agrees are necessary.

“When you get right down to it, registration is as important to fishermen as their bait and their tackle,” said Gordon Colvin of NOAA Fisheries. “So we’re telling everyone: Even if you’ve put away your rod and reel for the year, if you remembered to fish, remember to register.”

Registration is quick, easy and FREE in 2010. To learn more or to register, visit www.countmyfish.nooa.gov, or call 1-888-MRIP-411.

NOTE:

In 2011, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) will implement its own free saltwater registration program, under a new state law that went into effect July 1.

The Virginia Fisherman Identification Program will collect the information necessary to exempt saltwater anglers from having to register annually with the federal government and pay any future federal registration charges. The free, annual state registration will be in place by Jan. 1, 2011.

If you operate a motorboat or PWC in Virginia, you need to you know about Virginia’s boating safety education requirements.

In 2007, the Virginia General Assembly enacted a law to establish a boating safety education compliance requirement. This requirement will be phased in over the next several years and by 2016, all operators of PWCs (Personal Watercraft such as jet skis, Sea Doos, Wave Runners) and operators of Motorboats with a 10 hp or greater motor, will be required to have a boating safety education course completion card on board when operating a PWC or Motorboat.

As of July 1, 2009, all PWC operators 20 years old and younger must complete a boating safety course. This is the beginning of the phase-in of the Education Compliance Requirement for all Virginia boaters.

Beginning July 1, 2010, all PWC operators 35 and younger must complete a boating safety course.

For more information, visit:

http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/boating/education/requirement/

Saltwater recreational fishermen have long expressed concerns about the data used to estimate the effects of recreational fishing on ocean resources and the nation’s economy. The National Saltwater Angler Registry, which launches on Friday, will help address that concern by providing a comprehensive list of the nation’s saltwater anglers that will be used to improve surveys of fishermen. These surveys are used by NOAA scientists to assess the health of fish stocks and to estimate the economic contributions of anglers.

Many saltwater recreational fishermen will be required to register before fishing in 2010. The registry is open for registrations starting Friday, January 1. But if you have a state saltwater fishing license, you may already be part of the registry.

“By registering, recreational anglers will make their catch count,” said Jim Balsiger, acting NOAA assistant administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service. “The National Saltwater Angler Registry is an important tool that will enable us to better estimate the health of marine fisheries so that we’re able to preserve the pastime of recreational saltwater fishing for generations to come.”

“Recreational fishers need the registry,” says Capt. Monty Hawkins, a party boat operator and recreational fishing advocate based in Ocean City, Md. “People’s lives depend on the quality of the government’s information. It’s the basis for management decisions on everything from creel limits to whether to shut down whole sections of the coast. I’ve been harshly critical of recreational fishing data in the past, but I welcome the registry as a way to improve upon the current system.”

Gordon Colvin, a biologist with NOAA’s Fisheries Service and interim senior policy advisor on recreational fishing to Balsiger, who has spearheaded the registry implementation, said that many anglers will not need to take any action to register, because their coastal states already have agreements in place with NOAA to share state saltwater fishing license information.

Who Needs to Register:

Recreational saltwater fishermen will need to register if they:

• Hold a license from one of 10 coastal states or territories which do not currently have comprehensive saltwater angler license or registration requirements—Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Virginia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

• Fish for or are likely to catch anadromous species in tidal and salt waters; these are fish like river herring, shad, smelt and striped bass that live in the oceans but spawn in fresh water, OR

• Fish in the federal waters more than three miles from the ocean shore or from the mouths of rivers or bays

Who Doesn’t Need to Register

Some anglers don’t have to register if they:

• Hold a license from one of 15 coastal states with comprehensive licensing or registration — Alabama, Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Washington;

• Are not required under state law in one of these 15 states to hold a fishing license as is sometimes the case with seniors or active-duty military;

• Are under age 16;

• Pay to fish on licensed charter, party or guide boats;

• Hold a Highly Migratory Species Angling permit or subsistence fishing permit;

• Fish commercially under a valid license.

National Saltwater Angler registration is free in 2010. To register beginning Friday, anglers can visit http://www.countmyfish.noaa.gov and click on the Angler Registry link, or call the toll-free registration line at 1-888-MRIP411 (1-888-674-7411) from 4:00 am to 12 midnight EST daily.

Anglers will need to provide their name, date of birth, address and telephone number, and will receive a registration number that will allow them to begin fishing immediately. They will receive a registration card in the mail in about 30 days.

Steve Medeiros, executive director of the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association and a leading advocate for a saltwater fishing license in his state, said the registry is an important step. “While it’s true that some fishermen don’t like the idea of having to register to participate in a sport they’ve taken for granted their whole lives, anyone fishing today knows that increasing pressures on the ocean are having a real effect,” he said. “If we’re going to pass the sport down to our children and grandchildren, we’re going to need sound management based on good data.”

The registry will be used as the basis for conducting surveys of saltwater recreational fishermen to find out how often they fish. It will eventually replace the use of random-digit dialing to coastal households, a system NOAA has had in place since the 1970s. The goal is to improve survey efficiency and reduce bias by making calls only to homes where people fish, and reaching saltwater anglers who live outside coastal counties.

While the registry is among the most visible aspects of NOAA’s Marine Recreational Information Program, it is only one component of this rigorous multi-year, multi-phased overhaul of the system NOAA uses to collect and report recreational fishing data. Each piece of its design and implementation has been guided by close working relationships among NOAA personnel, fisheries managers, state partners, independent scientists and the recreational fishing community.

source: NOAA press release

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission will buy back 359 commercial crab licenses, in a historic action to take more than 75,000 crab pots off the water as part of a multi-year species rebuilding effort.

The licenses will be retired permanently. The removal of 75,441 licensed crab pots represents an almost 20 percent reduction in the number of pots permitted for use in Virginia waters.

“This far surpassed our expectations,’’ said VMRC Commissioner Steven G. Bowman. “This is a great long-term benefit for this environmentally and economically important species.”

The license buyback program closed on Nov. 1. A total of 664 bids were received, in the first ever so-called reverse auction in which crabbers submitted non-negotiable bids and gave the lowest offer they would accept for the purchase of their licenses.

The bids were analyzed and matched to the harvest histories of each bidder. Purchase priority was given for the licenses used most often, and number of pots permitted for each license, in order to reduce the fishing effort in the most cost-efficient manner.

Acceptance letters to the holders of the 359 licenses accepted for the buyback were mailed on Nov. 20. Checks will be written within the next few weeks.

Payments will be made from a pool of $6.7 million appropriated by the federal government as part of a blue crab disaster designation by the National Marine Fisheries Service last year. The VMRC’s license buyback program was enthusiastically approved by NMFS.

License buyback offers were accepted from 59 full-time commercial crabbers, 131 part-time crabbers and 169 crabbers who had not used their licenses since 2004 and were put on a waiting list until the crab population rebounds and stabilizes at high levels for three consecutive years.

Those full-time crabbers held licenses that permitted the use of 14,299 crab pots; 27,733 pots for part-timers; and 33,409 for those on the waiting list.

“It is especially important to ensure the long-term viability of our rebuilding efforts to retire licenses held by those on the waiting list. When the overall crab population returns to abundance, those licenses could significantly undermine the stability of the stock if they were put back in use,’’ said VMRC Fisheries Chief Jack Travelstead. “This is money well spent for the future of this fishery.”

Removing 75,441 crab pots from circulation is a reduction of 18 percent of the 423,000 crab pots that had been licensed for use in Virginia waters.

Retiring 359 crab licenses from the books will leave 1,649 licenses in circulation, including 314 licenses that cannot currently be used because they are on a waiting list. The number of crab licenses issued was capped in 1998.

The bids received varied widely. Full-time crabber bids ranged from $5,000 to $600,000; part-timer bids ranged from $500 to $634,000; and bids from those on the waiting list ranged from $500 to $300,000.

The accepted bids ranged from $500 to $175,000.

Last year, the VMRC and Maryland officials confronted a dangerously low crab population and enacted a bay-wide 34 percent harvest reduction strategy in an effort to rebuild a stock in danger of crashing in the event of a single poor year of reproduction.

At that point, the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab population had plummeted 70 percent since 1993.

The VMRC banned the winter dredging of crabs last year and this year, shortened the season for harvest of female crabs, required larger escape rings on crab pots, and enacted a waiting list for inactive licenses.

Within a year, the bay-wide adult crab population doubled, according to a scientific crab population survey that has proven over decades to be highly accurate. Results of this winter’s survey will guide the VMRC in future crab management decisions.

“We are stewards of our marine resources and we take our jobs seriously,” said Bowman. “We will do what is necessary.”