Virginia can get $10 million for watermen hurt by crab woes

Virginia can receive up to $10 million in disaster relief for watermen and seafood merchants suffering from the blue crab crisis in the Chesapeake Bay, the federal government announced Tuesday.

Maryland also is eligible for $10 million in "fishery disaster" aid, money Congress approved earlier this fall in the wake of strict new harvest rules intended to stop a population crash of the renowned Chesapeake crab.

It is the first time either state has applied for, and will accept, such federal aid.

Before the funds can be released, though, both states must submit plans detailing how they intend to spend the money, and then the government must approve of their intentions, said Monica Allen, a spokeswoman for the National Marine Fisheries Service.

"We're looking for long-term solutions, and we like what we've seen so far" from Virginia and Maryland, Allen said.

She could not say how long the vetting process will take or when money might be distributed to the states. One Virginia official said Tuesday that his office intends to present a state action plan to Washington "very quickly."

John Bull, a spokesman for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, said the state wants to first hire watermen expected to be out of work this winter.

They would collect "ghost pots" and other marine debris that litter the Bay and pose navigational and environmental risks, Bull said. The pots are old, abandoned crab traps.

Bull said letters already have been sent to 53 watermen who normally spend their winters dredging for crabs along the bottom of the lower Bay, asking them to apply for the cleanup program.

Virginia is banning crab dredging this winter for the first time in more than 100 years, arguing that it targets mostly pregnant females and hurts chances for rebuilding overall crab stocks.

Some dredgers, however, are suing to overturn the ban, which would keep them off the water from Dec. 1 through March. Their case has yet to be heard in Norfolk Circuit Court.

To assist the dredgers should they lose in court, the state is prepared to pay each of them $300 per day, plus fuel costs, to scour their local waters and remove debris, Bull said.

Researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science are working with the state to come up with other environmental tasks that watermen could do, Bull said. Options include planting sea grasses on vacant bottom, assisting scientists with field research and ferrying equipment, officials said.

Ken Smith, president of the Virginia State Waterman's Association, said he would like to see part of the money help commercial fishermen start oyster hatcheries and "get into oyster aquaculture in a big way."

Shifting to native oyster cultivation, Smith said, would relieve harvest pressures on crabs and give watermen a new and important role in restoring oyster stocks in the Bay.

Like crabs, oyster populations are sharply declining in the Bay. Virginia and Maryland have struggled to turn the tide in reviving both storied species.

Congress this year appropriated $75 million for federal fishery disasters. The biggest recipients, of $47 million, will be Louisiana and Texas. Hurricanes severely damage fish and shellfish stocks in their parts of the Gulf of Mexico.

Virginia and Maryland officials first asked for federal aid because of the crab crunch in June. U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez declared a federal disaster in the crab fishery in September.

Virginia watermen have been wondering why the process is taking so long. They say they need the money right away because some will be without any crabbing income for four months beginning Dec. 1.

Without any federal aid in sight, they lobbied the state to partially reopen crabbing season. The state marine commission rejected the move last month, voting 4-4 against it. The head of the commission, Steve Bowman, cast the tying vote, which negated the proposal.

"Believe me," Bowman told the watermen, "I know this is causing pain, and we take no pleasure in doing this. But we think we need to stick with our plans. We think they'll ultimately work."

Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com