VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — There are plenty of fish in the sea and starting Friday, charter fisherman in Virginia can reel them in. It is part of Governor Ralph Northam’s Forward Virginia "phase one" plan.
Charter captains who keep their boats at the Virginia Beach Fishing Center said Wednesday they're ready to head out to sea. The boats have been moored at the docks for about two months.
“It’s been long waited for. I’m very glad it’s opening up earlier, rather than on June 10th,” said Skip Feller, a charter captain for Rudee Tours.
Feller and a few other charter captains said they're more than ready to start their engines. High Hopes Charter Fishing Captain, David Wright, said he’s looking forward to helping others cast some lines from his boat.
However, Wright said his boats gets inspected every year by the U.S. Coast Guard, and they're not open right now to do inspections. He said he would like to have the boat inspected before he takes guests out to sea.
“It’s legal," Wright explained. "We are cleared, it’s just we don’t want to have inspectors come down and we go through every little thing right in the middle of the short summer we already get. That is why we plan these inspections way in advance.”
He said the COVID-19 shutdown happened during a slow period for charter fisherman. Wright said the water off the Virginia coast is too cold for fish right now, but it should get warmer by the end of this month.
That's when it's important for business to start back up for these captains.
“Friday, we do open, but under very restricted guidelines,” Wright said.
Before a boat can head out to sea, operators and guests must follow the Virginia Marine Resources Commission’s COVID-19 guidelines. Wright said one of the rules is to keep a record of everyone who gets on the boat, at least for a year.
“Having to screen each person before they come on, when some of the things like the temperature gun are not even available, but we are supposed to be able to it. There are some really tough obstacles,” he said.
Wright and other charter captains, like Feller, said they’ll do whatever it takes to get business back.
Feller said the plan for his company is to take it slow; to not operate every single day.
He said on Tuesday, staff opened reservations for a fishing boat to go out on Saturday morning. So far, 20 people are already signed up, he said.
“We went around and marked the rails every six feet, so people will basically be able to see where they can be, and we can take 30 people on here," Feller said. "Typically, the boat is licensed for 136.”
Feller said he’s received a lot calls about dolphin tours.
“We are still looking into where that is classified - and the same thing with that, we have taken all kinds of precautions,” Feller said.
Both charter captains say they hope COVID-19, doesn’t scare the tourists from visiting Virginia Beach.
“That’s our biggest hurdle," Wright said. "We hope by early summer that we are back to quite normal."