April 11, 2024 — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed into law “The Right to Fish” bill, (Virginia House Bill 928) to protect commercial watermen from interference, said state Delegate Hillary Pugh Kent.
Kent, who represents Virginia’s Northern Neck and Caroline County in the state legislature, was primary sponsor of the measure, inspired by reports of Virginia commercial fishermen being harassed while working on the water.
Kent says the new law “recognizes the importance of our state’s seafood industry by creating protections for commercial watermen and deterring unlawful interference.”
“This new law will provide restitution against those who purposefully inhibit fishing and destroy the property of commercial watermen,” she said. “It will reinforce the continued viability of our fishing and seafood industries, which are necessary to the economic and cultural fabric of the Northern Neck and all of the Commonwealth.”