STEVENSVILLE — When First Officer Steph Shields received the text message, it felt like more of the same.
He was a customer who typically booked striped bass fishing trips on his boat, the Kent Island-based Chasin’ Tail, once or twice a year. But when he told the fisherman about this year’s regulations, which limit customers to one fish per person, he said he would have to come back to her.
“That’s what everyone says: ‘We’ll get back to you,’” Shields said. “And then you don’t get a response.”
This year in Maryland, rules on harvesting the state fish, known by the nickname rockfish, are among the strictest in recent memory, not counting a moratorium in the late 1980s that spurred a resurgence of the exhausted species.
Maryland charter boat crews, who make their living guiding anglers to the prized sport fish, say harvest restrictions have dampened enthusiasm and diminished stocks.
But they come amid worrying population data for the species, including five consecutive years of below-average counts of rockfish fry in the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay, the birthplace of most of the Atlantic rockfish population. the species. The population is considered overexploited.
This year, the single-fish limit applies to all recreational anglers in the bay, whether fishing aboard private boats or charters, which can cost more than $125 per person. And each goalie must fit within a narrow size limit of 19 to 24 inches long. Maryland officials also canceled trophy season, a two-week period that previously opened the spring season, during which anglers targeted the largest striped bass after they arrived in the bay to spawn.
Limits for commercial boaters were reduced this year by 7% in the Chesapeake and the Atlantic Ocean. But in Maryland, that fee reduction will not apply until 2025.
In March, two organizations representing boat rental companies and other boaters filed a lawsuit against the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the multistate compact that determines fishing regulations for rockfish and a host of other species. close to the coast. A federal judge in Baltimore rejected his request for an injunction against the rules; They have appealed to a higher court.
Charter captains argue that the impact of the regulations on charter flights is excessive.
“Some people straight up say, ‘Man, I’m not coming for one fish,’” Shields said.
Steph Shields, first officer of the Kent Island-based Chasin’ Tail, speaks at Kentmorr Marina about changes to regulations for the rockfish season, which began May 16. (Kim Hairston/Staff)
Some captains said they anticipate that season bookings could be cut in half, dealing a hit not only to their businesses but also to the hotels, tackle shops and bars and restaurants frequented by their customers.
“The economic impact was not taken into account,” said retired Capt. Robert Newberry, president of the Delmarva Fishing Association, which represents local fishermen.
Delmarva Fisheries is a party to the lawsuit against the Atlantic States commission, along with the Maryland Charter Boat Association.
“We haven’t lost,” Newberry said. “We haven’t lost until we run out of gas, and we still have three-quarters of a tank.”
In fact, Maryland officials fought the single-fish limit at the Atlantic States commission, said Mike Luisi, associate director of Fisheries and Boating Services at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Luisi proposed that charter boats, unlike regular recreational fishermen, could have two fish per person. But other states rejected the proposal, and Maryland did not appeal.
“We had a goal and it was a challenge, to say the least, when we came back, explaining to people that this is what the rules are going to be like,” Luisi said.
For some clients, the lure of a day on the bay is still enough. Marc Combs, a resident of Taylorsville in Carroll County, crossed the Bay Bridge to Kent Island for his charter trip on the second day of the season, with three friends.
“Right now, you’re doing it just for fun, to get away from work, instead of coming here to try to get fish to put in the cooler,” he said, pulling four freshly filleted pink-striped Ziploc bags from a cooler at the checkout. of his truck.
“A 19-inch fish isn’t going to feed too many people,” he said.
Marc Combs, of Taylorsville, removes rockfish fillets from a cooler after returning to Kentmorr Marina. (Kim Hairston/Staff)
The story of this year’s limits dates back to a 2019 stock assessment, which found rockfish in the Atlantic and Chesapeake were overfished, said Emilie Franke, fisheries management plan coordinator for the Atlantic States commission. . That triggered a goal: recover the species by 2029.
A few years later, rockfish appeared headed for a 10-year recovery. But in 2022, the commission noted a worrying increase in recreational harvest, Franke said: an 88% increase relative to 2021 data. The high mortality sharply reduced the likelihood of a resurgence by 2029.
The probable cause? Rockfish coming of age hatched in 2015, the last time there was a truly solid hatch year for stripers in the Chesapeake.
“When there are more fish available to the fishery, often that can lead to greater effort,” Franke said. “However, what is unexpected here is the magnitude of that increase.”
The number of spawning-age females has been declining primarily since 2010, when it was 230 million pounds, he said. In 2021, the most recent year for which data is available, it was £143m, against a target of £235m.
Still, “we are not in the dark days of striped bass depletion like the 1980s,” said Dave Secor, a professor and fisheries scientist at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory on Solomons Island.
But new dangers have entered the fight against stripers.
Invasive blue catfish could be “a big smoking gun,” Secor said. These ever-hungry predators have taken over the tributaries of Maryland Bay, arriving from Virginia where they were introduced, and are known to devour large numbers of young striped bass.
“I hope to be wrong. I hope we have a strong year class. A solid annual promotion is still very feasible,” Secor said. “It’s just that this constant, serial, low recruitment year after year suggests the actions of a dominant predator: the blue catfish.”
Capt. Tilghman Hemsley watches May 12 as a Maryland DNR police officer verifies the capture of the Breezin’ Thru at Kentmorr Marina. (Kim Hairston/Staff)
Warming waters in the Chesapeake could also be playing a role. Rockfish spring migration is driven by water temperature, and with recent warm winters and less snowmelt, adult rays arrive earlier to spawn when juvenile food sources, such as zooplankton, are less abundant.
The availability of prey for older striped bass, such as Atlantic menhaden, a small bait fish caught for the production of fishmeal and fish oil, is another critical factor in the survival of the species. And bay pollution, which creates low-oxygen “dead zones,” can threaten beloved fish.
Meanwhile, some sailors and charter boat captains are skeptical about the data behind the limits. Maryland’s annual “young of the year” survey, which estimates the number of hatchling rockfish in the bay, has been conducted at mostly the same locations since the survey began in 1954.
Since fish behavior can change, some anglers want the survey to expand to new locations, where rockfish may be more abundant than before.
“It’s tough, because we know where the fish are and we see them there,” said Capt. Brandon Moore of Chasin’ Tail Charters.
But maintaining survey locations is key to making solid comparisons from year to year, Luisi said. The state could keep the original list intact and examine additional sites, but doing so would cost the department time and resources, she said.
Still, aboard charters, some things haven’t changed. For customers who catch a silver striped bass within the limits, the thrill remains.
“I cast the rod and after two minutes I had the first bite,” said Rodolfo “Rudy” Burgos Salazar, who caught three rockfish during a recent trip, although he was new to fishing.
Kneeling down, Burgos Salazar pulled folded dollar bills from his sock.
“I wanted three fish, so I put in three dollars,” he said, laughing.
striped bass
A Maryland biologist holds a juvenile striped bass collected in the 2004 “youth of the year” study in state waters. (File photo)
But the tight time frame causes a lot of disappointment, especially for young children or first-time anglers, Capt. Tilghman Hemsley said. It’s a dramatic decrease from last year, when anglers could keep fish up to 31 inches.
“You’re throwing away the big fish,” Hemsley said. “People have never caught such a big fish before.”
Not all released fish survive. As waters warm, the catch-and-release process becomes even more arduous for rockfish. Maryland has instituted a two-week summer closure this year, as in previous years, and has opted not to extend it further.
When their charter boat reaches its limits, the crew turns their attention to other species, including baitfish like spot, Hemsley said. When waters warm, crabbing can fill the time or fishing for Spanish mackerel and bluefish.
Aboard the Breezin’ Thru, a 75-year-old charter boat, customers are served a menu of fresh Chesapeake food to while away the time, including crab cakes, steamed crabs and fried fish.
“The real value is that we’ll take you away from what you do for a whole day,” Hemsley said. “And you don’t have to travel to Mexico to do it. You can do it right here in Maryland.”
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