Article on VA crab plan

Daily Press on July 27th

Virginia wants to buy back crab licenses

The state of Virginia wants to buy back an undetermined number of crabbing licenses in a bid to sustain a recent surge in Chesapeake Bay blue crab.

The program, under review by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, would be a first in the state's 100-plus years of commercial fishing regulation.

The state would hold a "reverse auction" in which crabbers would submit a bid stating how much money they would be willing to surrender their licenses for. The state would then either accept or reject the offer.

"This is not a negotiation," said John M.R. Bull, a spokesman for the commission. "It's an effort to reduce the number of watermen, full time, who are crabbing."

The offer would be available to crabbers who hold the state's 2,034 active commercial licenses, plus the 527 licenses the state suspended last fall due to inactivity.

Ken Smith, president of the Virginia State Waterman's Association, said watermen won't oppose the program.

"Before, they went ahead and just took people's licenses from them," he said referring to last year's suspensions. "At least now, they're offering money."

The state would pay for the program using part of the $10 million it received last fall from Congress after the crab fishery was declared a "disaster." Bull declined to say how much money is available for the buyback, saying that bidding could be slanted as a result.

Depending on the number of crab pots attached to them, licenses are selling for $1,500 to $5,000 on the commission's Web site.

The state would likely pay more money for licenses that are heavily fished as opposed to the suspended licenses, Bull said.

Commission members will discuss the matter today and, possibly, set a public hearing next month to implement the program.

At least one member, J. Carter Fox, voiced support for the idea.

"I think it's a good plan," he said, adding he will make a decision after hearing from commission staff members and the public.

State officials in Maryland adopted a similar program earlier this month. They hope to reduce the number of small-scale crabbers — 3,676 waterman with licenses for 50 pots or less — by 50 percent.

The buyback program is the latest in a series of state measures — canceling winter dredging, paying crabbers to retrieve abandoned crab pots from the bay — to help resuscitate the bay's crab fishery.

The fishery, devastated by pollution, overfishing and disease, grew 49 percent last year — fruits of those measures, state officials say.