Tim Anderson says he’s a conservative, and that means protecting Virginia’s natural resources.
“It is our core, as conservatives, to make sure that we are treating the environment correctly.”
His new district will include the Eastern Shore where harvesting tiny, oil-rich fish is controversial. A large company called Omega Protein uses airplanes to spot schools and nets to scoop up millions of menhaden.
“It is the most important fish in the food chain of the Chesapeake Bay, and we have a company that’s pulling them out," he explains. "They grind them up for cheap omega fish oil, mostly used for livestock feed and dog food.”
Meanwhile, Anderson says, bigger fish, birds and marine mammals go hungry.
“They used to have striper bass fishing tournaments on the Eastern Shore in December, and all the hotels filled up in Cape Charles," he recalls. "It was a big tournament. There’s no more tournament because the fish are gone.”
And people are subject to occasional spills.
“The thing about tourists – they don’t like swimming in dead fish,” he jokes.
Anderson says other east coast states have banned menhaden fishing in their waters.
“You can’t do it in the Delaware Bay. You can’t do it in the Chesapeake Bay on the Maryland side. You can’t do it anywhere on the east coast except for Virginia.”
He’s got a bill that would impose a 2-year moratorium here. That, he says, would give scientists time to assess whether the state should implement permanent protections.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
