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2009 SESSION

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092342333
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 311 Offered January 14, 2009 Prefiled January 12, 2009 Memorializing the Congress of the United States to examine the equitability of the allocation of licenses to harvest blue crabs among states bordering the Chesapeake Bay. ---------- Patron-- Stuart ---------- Referred to Committee on Rules ----------

WHEREAS, on September 22, 2008, the Secretary of Commerce, Carlos M. Gutierrez, issued a disaster declaration for the blue crab fishery in the Chesapeake Bay; and

WHEREAS, the continued depletion of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay over the past decade has shown a population decline by as much as 70 percent; and

WHEREAS, in 2008, the Commonwealth issued 1,775 eligible crab pot licenses while the State of Maryland issued 6,200; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth issues a license permitting as many as 350 pots on a single rig while the State of Maryland issues a license permitting as many as 900 pots on a single rig; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the Congress of the United States be urged to examine the equitability of the allocation of licenses to harvest blue crabs among states bordering the Chesapeake Bay so that one state does not inordinately bear the sacrifices necessary to ensure the success of conservation measures for the blue crab fishery; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the members of the Virginia Congressional Delegation so that they may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia in this matter.