Virginia is touting itself as the East Coast oyster capitol, last year harvesting more than half-a-million wild and farmed oysters valued at nearly $34 million. The growing industry is making it more tempting to poachers.
It's still dark on a cold, windy December morning when three men move quietly through marsh grasses and down to a dock. They lower their boat into the Rappahannock River. But these aren't poachers.
“We're going to do a routine patrol on the Rappahannock. Areas 6 and 7 are open right now, and area nine, which is a hand tongue area. We're going to check those.”
First Sergeant Bell along with two other Virginia Marine Resource Commission police officers head out in their 25-foot boat, slamming across two foot waves, the bitter cold lashing. Days like today are rough, and by 7 a.m. only a few watermen are out dredging for oysters, some working alone on a 36-foot boat. Some of the public grounds are close to those privately held. That's where a poacher moves in.
“Some of the guys will work as close as they can to it. If they don't see us in sight they might be enticed to move in a little bit further.”
Another scheme is one watermen refer to as “poacher's leases.” These are private leases not so great for farming oysters, but next to another waterman's productive private grounds. A poacher can move back and forth between the leases taking from his neighbors without being detected.
Poachers work in a variety of ways, from harvesting in condemned areas and sanctuaries to harvesting after legal hours.
Since July, convicted poachers now face fines and penalties of up to $10,000 and fishing licenses can be revoked for up to five years.
John Bull heads VMRC. He says, “the James River has been a problem and the Rappahannock River has been a problem in particular. We think it's a small number of people. It's a matter of time but this will stop.”
So far this year the VMRC has revoked about a dozen licenses.
