Maryland Department of Natural Resources Archives - Page 2 of 5

Maryland Rockfish Spawn Sinks to Lowest in Four Years

October 21, 2020 — The results of Maryland’s most recent rockfish spawning survey are in, and they aren’t good. Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced that the 2020 juvenile striped bass index is 2.5, well below the average of 11.5, and even worse than last year’s 3.4.

The “young-of-year” survey tracks the reproductive success of rockfish in a given year. These juvenile fish are an important indicator because they are the fish that will grow to fishable sizes in three to four years. The surveys provide a glimpse of long-term trends in the striped bass population.

DNR, who has been collecting young of year data since 1954, collect fish with 100-foot beach seine net in 22 sites along major spawning areas in the Choptank, Nanticoke, and Potomac rivers and the Upper Chesapeake Bay.

Read the full story at the Chesapeake Bay Magazine

CARES Act Funding Available for Maryland Fishing Industry

October 20, 2020 — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announces applications will be available Nov. 4 for economic relief funds for the commercial seafood industry through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), for those who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The application will be available to eligible members of the seafood industry on the Maryland OneStop website. The deadline to apply is Feb. 28, 2021.

In May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that Maryland would be receiving about $4 million. Maryland has dedicated $3 million of that for direct payments to commercial, for hire, aquaculture, and seafood processing operations whose 2020 revenue has suffered a loss of greater than 35% due to COVID-19. The remaining $1 million will fund seafood marketing and business support for individuals in the seafood industry. Maryland worked with NOAA to develop this spending plan based on the provisions of the CARES Act and federal guidance. Funds will be distributed through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Read the full story at The Bay Net

Maryland’s wild oyster harvest doubles from last year

June 16, 2020 — Despite having fewer days to work, Maryland watermen harvested nearly twice as many wild oysters last season as they did the previous year, state officials report. Even so, a new study finds the state’s population of bivalves is in much better shape now than it was two years ago, with abundance up and overfishing down.

As a result, state fisheries managers say they’re weighing whether to maintain catch restrictions put in place last season or relax them for the next wild harvest season, which normally begins Oct. 1.

Data presented Monday night to the Department of Natural Resources’ Oyster Advisory Commission indicates that the overall abundance of adult, market-size oysters in Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay has rebounded considerably since 2018 and is now at the fifth highest level since 1999.

Preliminary figures indicate the wild harvest last season topped 270,000 bushels, a nearly 90% jump from the 145,000 bushels landed in the 2018–19 season.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

MARYLAND: Override of Hogan veto sets new course for MD oyster management

February 3, 2020 — Overriding a veto by Gov. Larry Hogan, Maryland lawmakers enacted legislation Thursday requiring a more consensus-based approach to managing the state’s beleaguered oyster population.

The new law is the latest round in a years-long tug of war between the Hogan administration and legislators over oyster management. It directs the Department of Natural Resources to work with scientists, mediators and an expanded roster of stakeholders to seek agreement where little has existed to date on how to increase the abundance and sustainability of the Chesapeake Bay’s keystone species.

The bill cleared the House by a vote of 95 to 43. That was a few votes less than it got when originally passed last year but still more than the three-fifths majority needed for a veto override. The Senate quickly followed suit, voting 31-15 to make it law despite the governor’s objections.

Supporters of the measure said it was needed to direct the DNR to revamp the oyster management plan it had adopted last year. Environmentalists and their allies in the General Assembly have complained that the administration has favored watermen’s interests in seeking to open oyster sanctuaries to harvest and is not moving forcefully enough to end the overfishing found in a 2018 scientific assessment.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

REVISED: States Schedule Public Hearings on Atlantic Croaker and Spot Draft Addenda (Public Hearing Webinar Moved to January 18th)

December 4, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Commission’s South Atlantic State/Federal Fisheries Management Board (Board) releases two documents for public comment: Draft Addendum III to Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Croaker and Draft Addendum III to the Omnibus Amendment to the Interstate FMPs for Spanish Mackerel, Spot, and Spotted Seatrout. The states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina have scheduled their hearings to gather public input on the Draft Addenda. The details of those hearings, as well as an ASMFC Public Hearing webinar, follow.

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

December 3, 2019 at 6 PM

Tawes State Office Building
C1 (Lobby) Conference Room
580 Taylor Avenue, Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Contact: Lynn Fegley at 410.260.8285

December 16, 2019 at 6 PM*

Wor-Wic Community College
32000 Campus Drive, Hazel Center Room 302, Salisbury, MD 21804
Contacts: Lynn Fegley at 410.260.8285 and John Clark at 302.739.9914
- * Held jointly with the DE Division of Fish & Wildlife

Virginia Marine Resources Commission

January 7, 2020 at 6:30 PM
380 Fenwick Road, Ft. Monroe, VA 23651
Contact: Adam Kenyon and Somers Smott at 757.247.2200

North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries

December 5, 2019 at 6 PM
N.C. Department of Environmental Quality Southern Regional Office
127 Cardinal Drive Extension, Wilmington, NC 28405
Contact: Chris Batsavage at 252.808.8009

REVISED: ASMFC Public Hearing Webinar

January 8, 2020 at 6 PM
Webinar link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3538748890460954125
Conference Call #: 1-888-585-9008 (enter Conference Room: 275-479-282 when prompted)
Contact: Mike Schmidtke at 703.842.0740

The Board initiated the development of the Draft Addenda for Atlantic croaker and spot to incorporate updates on the annual traffic light approach (TLA) and propose changes to the management program. In the absence of an approved stock assessment, which is the case for both species, the TLA is conducted each year to evaluate fishery trends and develop management actions (e.g. bag limits, size restrictions, time and area closures, and gear restrictions) when harvest and abundance thresholds are exceeded. The TLA assigns a color (red, yellow, or green) to categorize relative levels of indicators on the condition of the fish population or fishery. For example, as harvest or abundance increases relative to its long-term average, the proportion of green in a given year will increase and as harvest or abundance decreases, the amount of red in that year will increase. The Board annually evaluates the proportion of red against threshold levels to determine if management action is required. In recent years, fisheries for both Atlantic croaker and spot have experienced declines in harvest, but not declines in abundance as indicated by fishery-independent surveys used in the TLA. Therefore, management action has not been triggered. The lack of triggering management action with these harvest declines has raised concerns, leading to re-evaluation of TLA methods and the proposal of changes to management.

Both Draft Addenda present updates to resolve issues with the TLA analyses in order to better reflect stock characteristics, based on recommendations from the Atlantic Croaker Technical Committee and Spot Plan Review Team. Each Draft Addendum also presents options for four issues that address the TLA management triggering mechanism, triggered management responses for the recreational and commercial fisheries, and evaluation of the population’s response to triggered management actions.

The Draft Addenda are available athttp://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/AtlCroakerDraftAddIII_PublicComment_Oct2019.pdf and http://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/SpotDraftAddIII_PublicComment_Oct2019.pdf or via the Commission’s website at http://www.asmfc.org/about-us/public-input. Fishermen and other stakeholders are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Addenda either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. Public comment will be accepted until 5 PM (EST) on January 10, 2020 and should be sent to Dr. Michael Schmidtke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at comments@asmfc.org(Subject line: Croaker and Spot Draft Addenda III).

The Board will meet at the Commission’s Winter Meeting in February to review public comment and consider final approval of the Addenda.

REVISED: States Schedule Public Hearings on Atlantic Croaker and Spot Draft Addenda (Public Hearing Webinar Scheduled for December 16)

December 2, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

December 3, 2019 at 6 PM
Tawes State Office Building C1 (Lobby) Conference Room 580 Taylor Avenue Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Contact: Lynn Fegley at 410.260.8285
December 16, 2019 at 6 PM*
Wor-Wic Community College 32000 Campus Drive, Hazel Center Room 302 Salisbury, MD 21804
Contacts: Lynn Fegley at 410.260.8285 and John Clark at 302.739.9914
- * Held jointly with the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife

Virginia Marine Resources Commission

January 7, 2020 at 6:30 PM
380 Fenwick Road Ft. Monroe, VA 23651
Contact: Adam Kenyon and Somers Smott at 757.247.2200

Read the full release here

The Baltimore Sun is wrong about Maryland’s oyster rules

September 30, 2019 — Recently, the Editorial Board of The Baltimore Sun weighed in on the issue of oyster management in the Chesapeake Bay, simultaneously insulting the hard-working men and women of the seafood industry and suggesting that the Maryland Department of Natural Resources is unwilling to protect the oyster (“Dwindling supply of Maryland oysters requires stronger response,” Sept. 17). As chairman of the Delmarva Fisheries Association, I take issue with both of these positions and several others blithely laid out for the members of Maryland’s General Assembly to devour with their oyster shooters and clam strips.

It does nothing to represent our side, the side that’s busy trying to make a living ensuring city folks have fresh, local seafood for their fundraising fêtes. For the record, DNR did not “cave” to watermen and seafood processors. They worked with stakeholders from the legislative, scientific, academic, seafood, business and nonprofit community to arrive at a plan to act now to use a multi-pronged strategy to increase the biomass of our iconic bivalve. We proposed several ways to reduce harvest pressure, one of many stressors to the oyster population, as did others. Ultimately, DNR came up with a plan for the coming season that left no one 100% satisfied. It’s called compromise. They are using an adaptive management strategy that will allow them to monitor scientifically what is working and what’s not and then modify their approach until they’ve arrived at a suite of actions that increase the oyster population.

Read the full story at The Baltimore Sun

MARYLAND: DNR secretary defends Oyster management plan and more from readers

September 30, 2019 — While increasing the oyster population and ensuring that “all Marylanders can enjoy the bivalves’ environmental benefits while improving the long-term outlook for the fishery,” is a goal we share, the guest column by Chesapeake Bay Foundation Executive Director Alison Proust tells only half of the story at best, and is deliberately misleading at worst (The Capital, Sept. 22).

CBF cherry-picked a portion of our analysis presented to the Oyster Advisory Commission in April and asserted that removing one day from the workweek would have “little conservation benefit.” Here is what the analysis actually states: “If implemented alone, given current behavior, one day reduction would have little conservation impact.” This is why we are imposing other measures, including a reduction in bushel limits as well as closing harvest areas. These measures together put us on a path toward a sustainable fishery in 8 to 10 years. CBF knows what DNR’s plan is.

The problem is that our plan doesn’t meet their political agenda. CBF pushed for legislation that mandated a stock assessment be conducted and an oyster management plan be developed, but unfortunately for them, the best available science doesn’t support their agenda.

Read the full story at the Capital Gazette

Maryland proposes 30% cut in commercial oyster harvest

September 11, 2019 — Acting to curtail overfishing, Maryland natural resources officials proposed new oyster harvest restrictions Monday night that they said could reduce commercial landings by about 30% in the upcoming season.

The proposed cutbacks, which include shortening the wild harvest season, reducing the maximum daily catch and closing some reefs in the Upper Chesapeake Bay, are aimed at making the declining oyster fishery sustainable in eight to 10 years, according to officials with the Department of Natural Resources.

“We need to start trending in the right direction,’’ DNR Secretary Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio said.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

NEW HEARING ADDED: States Schedule Public Hearings on Atlantic Striped Bass Draft Addendum VI (October 3 MD Hearing added)

September 5, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Please note Maryland has added an additional hearing to be held on October 3^rd. The details of that hearing follow and has been included in the press release link below.

NEW HEARING: Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Service

October 3, 2019 from 6 – 8 PM

The American Legion Dorchester Post 91

601 Radiance Drive

Cambridge, Maryland

Contact: Michael Luisi at 410.260.8341

The revised press release can be found here – http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/5d712d47pr24AtlStripedBassDraftAddVI_PublicHearings_revised3.pdf