Environment & Energy

unhappycamper

(60,364 posts) Sat Jan 18, 2014, 10:08 AM Jan 2014

(VA) Where's the catch? Anglers rocked by lack of fish

http://hamptonroads.com/2014/01/wheres-catch-anglers-rocked-lack-fish

The leaderboard for the Mid-Atlantic Rockfish Shootout sits inside the parking lot of the Virginia Beach Fishing Center on Jan. 10, 2014. Rockfish have not been as numerous the past two years for a variety of reasons, and that makes things tough for tournaments and economics. Some anglers think they know how to fix the problem or at least help it. This particular tournament had only one fish weighed in last year, and it was good for $100,000, caught in the final hour of the event.

Where's the catch? Anglers rocked by lack of fish
By Lee Tolliver
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 18, 2014

~snip~

He's concerned about marina and hotel owners, restaurant employees and the guy at the tackle shop - and about his welfare and that of other anglers.

"I'm just trying to feed my child," said Hiles, owner and captain of Matador Charters. "My business is down at least 30 percent, and that hurts."

A lack of striped bass - the popular species that has been virtually nonexistent in legal Virginia and North Carolina coastal waters the past two winters - has taken a toll on the area's recreational fishing industry. The Mid-Atlantic Rockfish Shootout - a tournament that held its 11th event last weekend - has seen only one fish brought to the scales in the past two years.

Rockfish, as striped bass also are known, are a huge economic engine this time of year. Anglers travel from up and down the East Coast to fish for them along the coast of Virginia and North Carolina. They charter fishing trips, stay in hotels and eat in restaurants. Anglers and captains buy tackle and fuel, and rent slips from area marinas.