NEWPORT NEWS -- The 55th annual Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament, which opens Jan. 1, 2012 and runs throughout the year, will see no modifications in its popular citation program.
At its annual meeting last month, the tournament committee reviewed the spadefish minimum qualifying standards, as several committee members supported lower-ing the citation minimums. Following this discuss-ion the committee voted to maintain the current qualifying standards for spadefish at nine pounds for a capture and 22 inches for a release.
"The tournament committee once again reaffirmed their stance regarding the current minimum qualifying standards as represent-ing a true trophy catch that warrants recog-nition by the tourn-ament," stated Tourn-ament Director Lewis Gillingham.
The tournament comm-ittee made major changes to the Program in 2004, instituting release citations for all species and increasing the qualifying minimums for more than a dozen species. In recent years, the committee has attempted to fine tune individual minimum qualifying weights and lengths to coincide with historical trophy-fish standards.
The committee did modify the language that describes those persons not eligible to participate to include all paid crew members for the duration of the trip. This situation is rare but it does occur on long range trips in excess of 12 hours where the Coast Guard requires two separate captains and crew members must be present, as none can be on duty for more than 12 hours. The uncertainty in the existing language was whether a paid crew member's catch, made during his "off time" of the trip, would be eligible for citation recognition.
"In such a situation, "the language change clarifies that the intent of the committee is such a catch would not be eligible," said Gillingham.
Other popular programs administered by the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament, such as the Junior Angler Program, and the Expert and Master Angler programs, will return unchanged in 2012.
On another note, anglers should check their current saltwater fishing license for its expiration date before heading out on the water in 2012.
For more information, contact Lewis S. Gillingham, Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament, 2600 Washington Ave., Third Floor, Newport News, VA., 23607, 757-491-5160, 757-247-8014 (fax), or vswft@mrc.virginia.gov.
≈~≈The Daily Catch Team≈~≈
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