Potomac River Fisheries Commission Meeting
Posted November 20, 2015

Colonial Beach, VA — Chairman William L. Rice, Sr. announced today the Potomac River Fisheries Commission will hold its next regular meeting to include an advertised public hearing on Friday, December 4, 2015 at 9:00 a.m. in the John T. Parran Hearing Room of the Potomac River Fisheries Commission (The Carpenter Building), 222 Taylor Street, Colonial Beach, Virginia. Chairman Rice invites all interested persons to attend this open public meeting.

The advertised public hearing will include the following: to establish an assistant license in the public oyster fishery, to allow unlimited, unlicensed crew members and/or possess up to fifteen (15) licenses per licensee for the hook and line fishery, to repeal senior license fees for commercial licenses, to address prepayable offenses and a uniform fine schedule, to allow striped bass tags to be transferred through the Hook and Line Tag Exchange Program, to identify that a crew member is entitled to a share of the harvest in the Oyster Management Reserve Program, to allow a participant to purchase a helper license at any time for the Oyster Management Reserve Program, and to include a helper as part of the Oyster Management Reserve Program. The full text of the proposals can be found at www.prfc.us or by calling 800-266-3904

Items on the agenda include: reports on the crab and oyster harvest, and the annual oyster survey. The Commission will adopt Orders to establish the 2016 recreational and commercial striped bass seasons, gear and size limits as well as most other finfish species. There will be an update on the ASMFC annual meeting.

Other items on the agenda include but are not limited to: reports on the Cownose ray workshop, the Oyster Management Reserve Program, and the Rotational Natural Oyster Harvest Program. There will be presentations on Hot Island and Kitt’s Point Reef dives and NOAA sonar survey. There will be an appointment of the nominating committee, and the announcement of advisory committee vacancies. There will also be a delinquent seafood catch report hearing.

PRFC does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities; therefore, if you are in need of reasonable accommodations due to a disability, please call (804) 224-7148 no later than three workdays prior to the meeting date and identify your needs.

The Potomac River Fisheries Commission coordinates regulations with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) and the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, (DGIF) and with the other Atlantic coastal states through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC).