http://hamptonroads.com/2013/07/mcdonnell-names-two-state-fishing-board
McDonnell names two to state fishing board
Ken Neill is going to be forced to cut back on his fishing. But he’s doing it for fishing’s sake.
Neill, a dentist from York County, has been appointed by Gov. Bob McDonnell to the board of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.
A.J. Erskine of Kilmarnock also was appointed. Erskine is a former president of the Virginia Seafood Council and a scientist.
Neill will be one of the board’s recreational fishing representatives.
The positions are four-year terms, and appointees can serve two terms. They replace Rick Robins of Suffolk and Carter Fox of Reedville.
“Yep… it will eat up a lot of my fishing time,” said Neill, 50. “I’ll have to rearrange a lot of my dentistry, but we’ll make it happen. This is an important job, and it’s important that the job gets done.”
Neill is familiar with the workings of the commission, which is charged with governing Virginia’s saltwater fishing – both commercially and recreationally.
He has served on its Finfish Management Advisory Committee and Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament Committee. He also is a representative to the International Game Fish Association – an organization that keeps track of world records.
Neill is familiar with such records. Anglers fishing on his boat, Healthy Grin, have caught 10 IGFA world records and set six Virginia records.
He also is on the National Marine Fisheries Service Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel and a lifelong member of the Peninsula Salt Water Sport Fisherman’s Association.
He has been involved in research projects for the VMRC, Old Dominion University and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science – from which he received the 2012 Robert Freeman Volunteer of the Year award.
A longtime angler raised in Yorktown, Neill said he accepted the position because he wants to continue to help the commission’s conservation efforts.
“I would not be my first choice for this job,” he said with a laugh. “But I’m going to do my best. This is a huge honor and very humbling. Serving on the commission is a thankless job, but the commission has become much more responsive to conservation efforts for both commercial and recreational interests. Everybody at the VMRC is going a great job.
“And conservation is the most important thing. We have to protect Virginia’s marine resources so that we have them for the future.”
Lee Tolliver, 757-222-5844, [email protected]