Outdoors Bound News & Notes: Moomaw Mystery, New Hunting Regulations, Virginia is for Seafood Lovers

ROANOKE, Va. ( WFXR ) – Here is a round-up of the latest outdoor news from across southwest and central Virginia.

Moomaw Mystery

There have been plenty of recent reports of walleye being caught at Lake Moomaw. Those fish all measured between 10 and 12 inches. Here is the catch, while Moomaw is known for its bass and trout fishing, walleye were never in the stocking mix.

That is, until now.

The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) reports that about 60-thousand walleye fingerlings were stocked into Lake Moomaw in 2023. Fisheries managers want to see how that initial stocking progresses before making a decision to add walleye into the mix permanently.

Walleye have to be a minimum of 18 inches long to be kept from Lake Moomaw.

Hunting & Trapping Regulations

New hunting, trapping, and fishing regulations went into effect July 1. The DWR has published the new hunting and trapping regulations. They are available in print from most locations that sell hunting licenses. You can also view them online at the DWR website.

One change in regulations is that Roanoke, Wythe, and Franklin Counties have been added to Chronic Wasting Disease Management Area Three. That means special regulations will apply to deer harvested during hunting season from those counties to help slow the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease.

Seafood Lovers Rejoice!

Virginia’s food-grade shrimp industry is going to have its range extended. Currently, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) provides permits for the area in the lower Chesapeake and near Virginia Beach. Now, permits for an experimental commercial shrimp season on the Eastern Shore are being made available. Interested parties have until July 22 to apply on the VMRC website.

Until six years ago, there was no commercial food shrimp industry in Virginia. Ocean warming has meant white shrimp have shifted their territory north off the Virginia coast and into the Chesapeake Bay.

While Virginia’s shrimping industry is still in its infancy, a lot of the shrimp harvested when the season opens in the fall are sold right from the dock. Many of the shrimpers dock at the Rudee Inlet Marina in Virginia Beach.

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