Crab Prices Down

I found this article in the Daily Press. The comments found within are similar to some heard here in the 99th District.

Virginia crawling with crabs
By the Associated Press
April 21, 2006 VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- An unusual abundance of crabs early in the season has flooded the Virginia seafood industry with more crabs than it can handle, dropping prices paid to boats to all-time lows and sending watermen ashore to avoid spending more money than they earn. "I didn't make any money today," Mark Sanford said Thursday after pulling his boat into Spots Fish Co. and calculating his costs for fuel, bait, gear, insurance and his two-man crew. "Everything is going up. Everything but the price of crabs." April harvests typically fall below the catches in June and July. The season began April 1. The reasons for the early surge this year are debatable. Watermen credit the warm winter weather for keeping crabs swimming in the Chesapeake Bay rather than burying in the bottom as they would to combat the cold. But a recently released study of the crab population in early 2005 showed a steep increase in the number of juvenile crabs, which would have grown to harvest size by this spring. Some crabbers want state regulators to lower the current daily catch limit from 51 bushels to 25 bushels. The Virginia Marine Resources Commission could consider such a proposal when it meets Tuesday, said Rob O'Reilly, the commission's deputy chief of the fisheries management division. After almost a decade of crab harvest declines, most Virginia picking houses have closed up, leaving just a few to handle the current onslaught of crabs. Those remaining processors don't have enough staff to pick all that's coming in. Graham & Rollins Inc., the largest crab house in the state, has only about 20 pickers working now at its plant on the Hampton waterfront, with more to arrive from Mexico next month. Johnny Graham, the company's vice president, didn't expect to need more pickers until later this season. "Never seen it before," he said of the early harvest. His family has operated the business for more than 60 years. It's the same for the dealers who buy whole crabs and ship most up the East Coast to Baltimore, Washington and New York, where crabs sell for more money. Those markets are saturated at a time well before diners have much of an appetite for crabs, which is seen more as a summer food. "It's crazy because you can't give them away, there's so many of them," said Scott "Spot" MacDonald, who owns Spots Fish Co. "People just aren't buying." He is paying Sanford and other crabbers $10 per bushel, down from about $30 at the start of the season, and some boats are getting no more than $8. Consumers have yet to benefit from the low prices. Restaurants and retail stores won't offer specials before customers are ready to buy crabs or crabmeat. And with inexpensive pasteurized product available year-round from foreign processors, few restaurant owners and large supermarket chains bother switching to domestic crabmeat when it suddenly drops in price.

Legislative Update

It seems these days that the most asked question is, “have we gotten a budget yet?” Unfortunately, the response remains the same, “No, we have not been able to work anything out just yet, but…” However, what comes next has been a bit different. Now I can say that the House adopted a compromise on Wednesday, April 19th, that shows real promise to speed this stalemate to an end. This new compromise was passed with a 90-2 vote, showing strong support from both Republicans and Democrats.

What the House has decided to do is set aside a little over a billion dollars from the budget and hold a special session at a later time to work out the transportation situation. By doing this the House and Senate are free to work on and pass the other items in the budget. We would be able to allocate the money for schools, healthcare, economic development, etc. that are vital to keeping the communities within our state running smoothly. Without this money from the state it is hard for those dependent on state funds to draft their own budgets.

On Wednesday, April 19th, we also held our veto session to go over all of the Governor’s vetoes and recommendations. In the end all of the Governor’s vetoes were upheld and a majority of his recommendations were incorporated into the legislation.

The day before the special session, I had the opportunity to speak with the Warsaw Rotary Club. While there I gave an update on the General Assembly and answered questions about the transportation plans, dog bills, menhaden, and many other issues facing this area.

Functions like this provide me with an opportunity to know what my constituents are looking for. As I said last week I will begin looking for a steady revenue stream to fund the Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts. At this point I am looking to know how constituents feel about this idea and how they would like to fund it (which is why filling out the below survey is so helpful). Once I have established a base consensus I would like to go on the road with the idea. I plan on doing a series of listening tours this fall to refine the research I am doing now. So, if you could please send me your responses to the below questions I would very much appreciate it. You can send them by email, robwittman@verizon.net, or postal service, P.O. Box 995, Montross, Virginia, 22520. Or you can give your responses over the phone to my district office at 804-493-0508. Also, please include your full name, address, phone and email (if available) so I can easily contact you if I need more information. I look forward to hearing your responses.

Do you believe that there needs to be a steady funding source for the Chesapeake Bay cleanup effort?

Do you believe that funds to clean up the Chesapeake Bay should come from money in the General Fund?

Would you support a tax increase designated to funding Bay cleanup?

What type of tax increase would you support?