Hundreds Of Watermen Make Virginia An Offer

STEVE SZKOTAK

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — One-third of Virginia's watermen have offered to sell their licenses back to the state under a buyback program intended to ease pressure on the Chesapeake Bay crab.

The bids, however, far exceed the $6.7 million in federal disaster aid bankrolling the buyback, meaning only a fraction of the watermen who bid will likely be leaving the water.

The 665 bids received by a Nov. 1 deadline totaled $30.4 million, ranging from a low of $500 to a high of $665,000, which was submitted by a part-time waterman. Virginia has approximately 1,800 licensed watermen, most of whom are part-time. Many others rarely go out on the water.

Over the next few weeks, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission will sort the bids with an eye on retiring the most productive watermen. Virginia stopped issuing crabbing licenses a decade ago because of a steady decline in the shellfish.

"We're going to be looking to get the biggest bang for the buck that we can," said John M.R. Bull, spokesman for the commission, who released the bid results Friday. "We're going to be looking at this from the perspective of what's best for the crabs."