ANNAPOLIS (February 22, 2011) — With an estimated 200,000 pounds of the State’s February quota remaining, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will reopen the February striped bass gill net fishery on Friday, February 25, and Monday, February 28; all normal harvest restrictions will remain in effect. The fishery has been closed since February 4, after 10 tons of illegally captured rockfish were confiscated from the Chesapeake Bay south of Kent Island. In all, 12.5 tons of illegally captured rockfish have been found by Natural Resources Police this month.
“While we continue to aggressively search, we have not found any additional illegal gill nets since last Wednesday, and at this time, we are not sufficiently close to the quota to justify penalizing the honest watermen who depend on this fishery during the winter months,” said DNR Secretary John Griffin. “That said, those who continue to violate the public trust should be forewarned: We will be stepping up patrols on the water and at check stations as we continue to vigorously investigate these crimes. And, once apprehended, we will prosecute these offenders to the fullest extent of the law.”
Maryland’s commercial striped bass fishery is managed on a quota system, in cooperation with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission; commercial and recreational restrictions are used to keep the harvest at or below a target fishing mortality rate. Maryland’s commercial gill net quota for February is 354,318 pounds; the State’s annual commercial quota is 2 million pounds.
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