Virginia HB 1049

Marine Resources Commission; Chesapeake Bay; menhaden reduction fishery; quota periods; observers. Directs the Marine Resources Commission to develop and maintain a quota period management system for the menhaden reduction fishery Bay Cap, as defined in the bill, that is designed to ensure that the removal of menhaden from the Chesapeake Bay is more evenly distributed throughout the harvest season and to mitigate the negative impacts of concentrated, high volume menhaden removals from the Bay. The bill directs the Commission to establish either a monthly-based system or a trimester-based system and provides that no unused or underutilized portion of a quota period may be carried or rolled over into the following quota period. Finally, the bill requires the Commission to ensure that (i) 10 percent of all trips for the menhaden reduction fishery carry at least one trained observer to document the composition and weight of the actual catch and (ii) such observers report such documentation to the Commission.