Game Department Task Force sent for assistance

By Jim Brewer For the News & Messenger
Published: September 12, 2008

When Hurricane Gustav approached Louisiana, a special law enforcement task force was dispatched from Virginia. Thirty Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries law enforcement officers and two wildlife workers equipped with 27 boats, generators and fuel were authorized to provide support for search and rescue efforts. Not only was this gesture a neighborly act, one state helping another in a time of great need, it was an opportunity for Virginia people to better prepare themselves if and when a hurricane or similar disaster strikes the Commonwelath.
Game Department officials say that there expenses were itemized and sent to Louisiana officials in advance and were approved for payment, so sportsmen and VDGIF will not have to eat those costs. And who better to help with search and rescue operations in floods than the Game Departmaent, frequently called on in search for missing people in water accidents?
Governor Kaine had activated the Emergency Management Assistance Compact on August 29, to help states on the Gulf Coast prepare for and respond to the potential impacts of Hurricane Gustav. EMAC is a national interstate mutual aid agreement that enables states to share resources during times of disaster.
Fortunately, Gustav was not as serious as first projected and the task force returned earlier than was planned.
It is comforting to know that Virginia has an outstanding team of highly trained and dedicated emergency responders should the need arise for their services here in the Commonwealth.
Save the Horseshoe Crabs
For once, I am siding with the birders. Even though I’m still tossing a few temper tantrums in the direction of the “plover watchers” who helped close down miles of beaches to fishermen at Hatteras, concerning horseshoe crabs, I think they’ve got it right this time.
Recently, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) voted against a moratorium on horseshoe crab fishing in several key states. The horseshoe crab fishermen, naturally, were against the moratorium. Horseshoe crabs serve two vital purposes. For crabbers, the strange looking creatures are primo baits for conch pots. Conchs, by the way, are also being threatened by massive over-harvesting.
But horseshoe crabs are also important in the survival of certain shorebirds, which feed almost exclusively on the crab eggs during migration.
The Red Knot, for example, relies almost entirely on horseshoe crab eggs during its annual stopover on an arduous 10,000 mile migration from the tip of South America to the Arctic. Without the fat-rich diet of horseshoe crab eggs, the bird’s ability to successfully complete its long-distance migration to its breeding grounds in the Arctic is severely compromised.
A drastic increase in the take of horseshoe crabs in the mid-1990s for use as bait in conch pots has significantly diminished their numbers in the Bay, and consequently the bird’s food supply. The decrease has jeopardized the Red Knot to the point where scientists have predicted that it could go extinct as soon as 2010.
It seems to me that the commercial crabbers are directly or indirectly hurting three species – the horseshoe crabs, the conchs and the Red Knot, plus many other shore birds, which feed on the eggs.
The ASMFC has previously been a champion of fishermen and conservationists, helping to protect and revitalize striped bass, which were being over-fished by both commercial and recreational anglers. By allowing the crab harvest, the board opted to maintain current fishing quotas, still permitting each state to take 100,000 male crabs per year.
If the pendulum at ASMFC swings back toward the direction of commercial interests, many saltwater species that are important to fishermen could be in serious jeopardy.