Evening star., 1949-03-18
Lanes Oyster Plan
Goes 10 Assembly,;
Virginia Veto Seen
SpseioI Dispotch 10 The Stor

ANNAPOLIS. Mar. 18.- Gov.
Lanes plan for settlement of the
bi-State Chesapeake Bay and Po-
tomac River fish and oyster prob
lem is before the General Assem-
bly, today-along with prediction
that the proposal will be rejected
by the Virginia Legislature.
The Governors version of how to
settle the long-standing dispute
was presented last night in mes.
sage to both houses and in the
language of three bills introduced
in the Senate by President Byrnes.
One of the measures would re-
vamp the TideWater Fisheries
Commission and another would ef-
feet reorganization of the Board
of Natural Resources. A third.
not mentioned in the message. pro-
vides for establishment of a Mary
land Virginia Chesapeake -Poto-
mac authority with broad powers
over fishing and oystering in both
bay and river.
/ The last measure conflicts with
bill recently offered by Senators
from four tideWater counties
which would require that Chesa-
peake Bay and Potomac River con-
Servatlon problems be divorced and
considered separately.
Conference Held.
Introduction on the measure
followed series of conferences
between legislators from the
tideW ater counties of both States
and was based on the premise
that Virginia would not concur
In any proposal in which bay and
river problems were Jumped to-
gether.
| Immediately after the Gov
ernors plan was made known, a
source close to the Virginia
administration told The Star by
telephone that legislation in
cooperating joint consideration of
both questions has little or no
chance in Virginia.
! Most of the Governors message
concerned the States oyster prob
lem. and virtually all the en-
phaSis was placed on what he
described as the need for reorgani-
Zation of the Tidewater Fisheries
Commission, of which Il find a
general lack of confidence"
In referring to the fisheries
commissions admitted failure to
gain the confidence of watermen,
the Governor said a proposal ad-
vanced by commission headed
oy DR.. Isiah Bowman urging
leasing of barren oyster bottoms
TO individual oystermen had been
scrapped. The Bowman Com
mission had termed this the heart
of their program.
Leasing Plan to be Studied.
The Governor said, however,
that the revamped fisheries COM
mission would study the leasing
plan, which would operate on
crop p-mortage basis and submit a
report in 1850.
The fisheries commission shake
up would replace the present
three member setup with an un-
paid e-member group headed by
a full-time paid director. Two
commissioners would be residents
of Eastern Shore tideWater coun-
ties, two would come from the
Western Shore and one from an
other section of the State.
ion of the State.
| Gov. Lane proposed that oyster
dealers be required to sell to the
State not less than so per cent Of
shells instead of 20 per cent as
present law provides. Revenue
measures to produce funds for
rehabilitation would include in
creased license fees for all per-
sons in the oyster industry and an
increase in inspection taxes Of
from 2 to 5 cents a bushel on
domestic oysters and from 4 to 10
cents a bushel on imported
oysters.
The Governor said he had
recommended in the supplemental
budget $376,500 to carry out the
program in fiscal 1850 and def
cheney appropriation of $4,000
for 1949 to pay for shells already
purchased. These amounts would
be offset by an estimated $4,000
income from revenue measures.