As a reminder that commercial fishing is an important part of Virginia’s economy, the commonwealth’s governor, Glenn Youngkin, issued a proclamation recently that the week of Sept. 15-21 was “Commercial Waterman Safety Week.”
The proclamation notes that the “Commonwealth’s commercial watermen and seafood industry generate over $1 billion in economic impact to the state and that there are 1,500 commercial watermen who risk their lives sustaining a tradition passed down through generations.”
It further states that “Virginia stands as the largest seafood producer on the East Coast based on volume of landings,” which includes “scallops, clams, blue crabs, oysters, flounder, mackerel, menhaden and other species integral to the culinary industry… around the world.”
Watermen’s safety
The proclamation addressed an attack on menhaden fishermen on Sept. 23, 2023, when a recreational watercraft rider circled inside a purse seine and barely maneuvered the watercraft out of the net as two purse boats were coming together, just escaping a disaster.
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