by Larry Chowning
NEWPORT NEWS—Members of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) on January 23 extended the public oyster hand scrape season on five harvest areas for seven days due to “unseasonably frigid weather conditions” that kept watermen frozen in for as much as two weeks in December and January. The five harvest areas will remain open through February 9.
The agency’s Shellfish Management Advisory Committee will meet today, February 1, to make recommendations on whether to extend the oyster season in harvest areas scheduled to close February 28.
Two of the five areas, areas six and seven, are on the Rappahannock River. These areas range from Towles Point near Bertrand in Lancaster County to Smokey Point near Water View in Middlesex County. Area one on the York River and two areas on the Great Wicomico River also had the season extended…
