I am a resident of Northampton County Virginia and witness first hand every season multiple instances of Purse seine netting off our beaches in 40 ft of water or less. Our area (from the Hungars Creek out to the Cell and the shipping lanes and down to Cape Charles is mostly 42-45 feet in depth. It is also newsworthy for fish kills, broken nets and destruction of many large red drum last year by the practice of netting in too shallow water. Though I would like to see the entire practice eliminated in the Chesapeake Bay, limiting the use of these nets to their appropriate depths is a good step. Over the 20 years I have lived here the fishery has progressively declined and the menhaden keep getting smaller.

Lets fix this situation.