Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Episode 91 (12-5-11): Virginia Marine Resources Commission

Click to listen to episode (2:28).

Please see below (after the transcript and show notes) for links to news and upcoming events.

TRANSCRIPT 


From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of December 5, 2011. 



This week we feature a variety of sound and voice to introduce the scope of one of Virginia’s oldest natural-resource agencies.  Have a listen for about 30 seconds.



SOUND.



Streambeds, tidal waters, shellfish, finfish, wetlands, docks, piers, marinas, and other coastal and inland aspects of water resources fall under the regulatory and management responsibilities of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, which you heard in an excerpt from its October 25, 2011, meeting.  As stated by the Commission’s Web site, “The Code of Virginia vests ownership of ‘all the beds of the bays, rivers, creeks, and shores of the sea in the Commonwealth to be used as a common by all the people of Virginia,’ and directs the Marine Resources Commission to manage those natural resources as a public trust.”  The modern Commission was organized in 1968, but its origin dates to Virginia’s creation in 1875 of an Oyster Police Navy and a Fish Commission.  The Commission’s three main areas of work now are fisheries management, habitat management, and law enforcement by the Virginia Marine Police, the successor to the Oyster Navy.  The eight-member citizens’ board that oversees the Commission’s work meets monthly in Newport News.



For other water sounds and music, and for more Virginia water information, visit our Web site at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  From the Virginia Water Resources Research Center in Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.



SHOW NOTES

Acknowledgments: Audio of the October 25, 2011, meeting of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission was taken from the Commission’s Web site at http://www.mrc.state.va.us/calendar.shtm (accessed 12/5/11).  The shorebirds recording was taken from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Sound Clips Web site at http://www.fws.gov/video/sound.htm (available for public use).  Other sounds were recorded by Virginia Water Radio.

Sources: Information on the Virginia Marine Resources Commission's history and activities was taken from the Commission’s home page at http://www.mrc.state.va.us/.  Click the following for information on the Commission’s three main program areas: Fisheries Management, Habitat Management, and Law Enforcement (Virginia Marine Police)


Recent Virginia Water News
            For news relevant to Virginia's water resources, please visit the Virginia Water Central News Grouper, available online at http://vawatercentralnewsgrouper.wordpress.com/.


Water Meetings and Other Events
            For events related to Virginia's water resources, please visit the Quick Guide to Virginia Water–related Conferences, Workshops, and Other Events, online at http://virginiawaterevents.wordpress.com/.  The site includes a list of Virginia government policy and regulatory meetings occurring in the coming week.