Fishery

In a surprise move, the Department of Natural Resources yesterday declared a third extension of the fall recreational fishery for rock. It will coincide with the previously announced two-day reopener of the charter season Saturday and Sunday.The daily limit in both fisheries will be two a day between 18 and 36 inches, and no permits are needed. The unexpected extension of the recreational fishery is attributed to poor weather last weekend that cut into the expected catch. DNR said both fisheries have not reached their quotas, and reserved comment concerning yet another addition to the recreational fishery should weather once again sour catches to keep anglers short of their total of 456,747 pounds.

From Virginia, New Jersey and points in between, busloads of fishermen are coming to Baltimore for a showdown Friday over how much to curb the industrial-scale harvest of a small, oily fish that figures prominently in the seafood industry, though no one eats it directly. It also is an important food source for fish and wildlife in the Chesapeake Bay and beyond. After decades of study and debate, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates near-shore fishing, is meeting here to adopt a first-ever plan to limit the catch of menhaden, the most intensely harvested fish on the East Coast and second-biggest catch nationwide.

The Potomac River from the Route 301 bridge north to Washington has been the best largemouth bass fishery in the region for a number of years, and a recent six-month study by the Department of Natural Resources shows that it is continuing to improve.The creel survey, conducted by DNR's Freshwater Fisheries Division, showed that 70 percent of all anglers fishing above the Route 301 bridge target bass and had an average catch rate of .465 fish per hour. Of the fishermen surveyed, 81 percent said they release their catch.

As fish farming grows to feed a world hungry for protein, there's a hitch - the seas are being scoured of the little wild fish to feed the big captive ones destined for the dinner table. Researchers in Baltimore think they may have hit upon a remedy, one that moves aquaculture closer to truly being sustainable. Working at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, a branch of the University System of Maryland, scientists have developed a plant-based fish food that even finny meat eaters like striped bass gobble up. The fish raised on such a nearly vegetarian diet also are healthier to eat, they say, with fewer of the worrisome chemical contaminants that show up in wild or even many farm-raised fish.

The Department of Natural Resources opened a series of public meetings on proposed changes in blue crab regulations here Tuesday night, proposals that were met with mixed opinions from about three dozen recreational and commercial crabbers.Dave Blazer, assistant to the director of DNR's Tidal Fisheries Division, opened the meeting at Annapolis High School by saying DNR wants feedback from the public so that the proposed regulations can be fine-tuned to meet the needs of the user groups.The goals of the proposals, Blazer said, are to allow a "reasonable" fishery for all crabbers, to be conservative in the size of the crab harvest and to ensure that Maryland and Virginia regulations on crabbing work in concert for the benefit of the fisheries.

The FisheryWhere: 1717 Eastern Ave., Fells Point.Hours: Open 11:30 a.m. to midnight Mondays to Thursdays, 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Sundays.Credit Cards: AE, CB, DC, MC, V.Features: seafood, Spanish cuisine.Non-smoking section? Yes.Call: 327-9340.** 1/2We liked everything on our plates at the Fishery. The seafood was fresh and abundant. Oysters were available, even out of season, and were enormous. Lump crab was laid on with a generous hand.So what's the problem?

Let's hope today's a washout. Tomorrow, too. Heck, it could rain from now until the end of the mourning dove season's first split on Oct. 19 as far as I'm concerned. That's what we need to help keep Prettyboy Reservoir afloat, put water back into the Gunpowder River tributaries and perk up the trout stock. To look at the Gunpowder right now, you'd swear things were hunky dory. Water gushes over rocks and races downstream. Wading fly fishermen need stout hiking sticks to fight the current.

For a short time last October, rockfish again captured the fancy of Maryland fishermen. In the time since, there has been much ado about a recreational season for stripers this year. It would be split between dates in May and October or November.A fall recreational fishery is virtually certain. What will transpire this spring, however, is questionable.Under the Maryland management plan, which has been submitted to and approved by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the spring season must be held between May 1 and May 31 -- and fishing efforts must be limited to minimal catches of trophy-size stripers.

ANNAPOLIS -- The charter-boat season for striped bass will close Saturday at 8 p.m., William P. Jensen, director of fisheries for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Tidewater Administration, said yesterday."

Crabbers, name your price. In an unprecedented move to protect Chesapeake Bay crabs, the state is offering to buy back more than half of the commercial crabbing licenses held by Marylanders. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced Thursday that it wants to retire up to 3,676 of the "limited crab catcher" licenses it has issued over the years and is willing to pay for them. The voluntary buyback is the state's most recent bid to protect the bay's iconic crustacean from overfishing as it recovers from a near-disastrous decline.

Richard N. Novotny Sr., former executive director of the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishing Association who also lobbied on behalf of state recreational fishermen, died Sunday of kidney failure at Ivy Hall Geriatric & Rehabilitation Center in Middle River. The longtime Essex resident was 67. "He was highly regarded, and when Rich was in a leadership role, he helped form a strong relationship between [the Department of Natural Resources] and the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishing Association.

The Chesapeake Bay and our coastal areas have always been a staple of Maryland. Throughout the years, I've witnessed the literal and figurative ebb and flow of the tides in hopes that someone would take the initiative to protect the future of our state's abundant fishing and recreational opportunities. I believe that the recently introduced Fisheries Investment and Regulatory Relief Act of 2012 (FIRRA) would provide the funding needed to ensure that our rich Maryland fishing traditions remain strong and our coastal communities continue to be a place for Maryland residents and visitors to enjoy.

Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler says he's considering going to court if the interstate panel that regulates Atlantic coast fishing for menhaden doesn't cut back enough the catch of a Virginia-based fleet that takes the lion's share of the forage fish. Speaking at a Chesapeake Bay scientific symposium in Baltimore on Monday, Gansler said he was "working with" the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission as it ponders tightening harvest limits on menhaden. Called by some "the most important fish in the sea," menhaden are a food source for many other fish and wildlife, including ospreys and striped bass, Maryland's state fish.

Steamed crabs, cream of crab soup, crab cakes, crab imperial, soft shell crab, deviled crab, corn and crab chowder, crab bisque, crab dip, crab salad, crab fritters, crab ravioli, crab pie, crab quiche - but that's probably enough for the first day. Pardon us while we drool at the news that the Chesapeake Bay crab population has rebounded. The annual winter dredge survey has projected an estimated 764 million blue crabs bay-wide, the highest crab population estimate since 1993 and a stunning two-thirds more than last year's total.

Anglers and watermen are at odds, again, this time over fishing license fees.  With the Maryland Department of Natural Resources facing a looming deficit in funds for overseeing both recreational and commercial fishing, anglers are pushing a bill that would require the state to cover 90 percent of its costs for managing each fishery with license fees from the people engaged in that activity. They testified before the House Environmental Matters Committee in support of HB1173 , while watermen argued that the issue needs more study.

The Maryland chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association is calling on the state to more efficiently manage the costs of commercial fisheries. Under the current structure, only 20 percent of the cost for managing the activities of commercial fisheries comes from license and permit fees, compared to 93 percent of the cost for managing recreational fishing. While federal grants account for another 23 percent of the cost of managing commercial fishing, it means that up to 57 percent comes from Maryland taxpayers.

Worried that blue crabs are in trouble, Virginia's top fishery manager has endorsed a plan to create a network of crab sanctuaries stretching most of the length of the Chesapeake Bay, where the delectable and valuable creatures would be off-limits to watermen.Jack Travelstead, fisheries manager for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, also urged the commissioners meeting in Newport News last night to enact other restrictions on crabbing, amid growing evidence that the bay's last great seafood crop is being overfished.

Maryland's blue crab harvest last month was the worst since the state has kept accurate records and all but ensures the worst season on record. Released yesterday, the figures come a week after a panel of Chesapeake Bay scientists warned that Maryland and Virginia must cut their crab harvests or risk destroying the fishery, and two days before the Bi-State Blue Crab Advisory Committee is to consider such recommendations. "This lends a little more importance, a little more sense of urgency," said Eric Schwaab, director of fisheries for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

We've been slurping Chesapeake oysters, my Chesapeake Bay Foundation buddy Don Baugh and I, for more than 100 years between us. And while we've known the bay in better times, we never had better oysters from it than the dozens we downed - chilled and fat and bursting with taste - over the winter holidays. It was Chesapeake seafood at its finest, and all of it was farmed - some raised in floats in Virginia by Tangiermen Rudy Shores and Mark Crockett; the rest grown in cages in Maryland by Hooper Islander Johnny Shockley.

— A proposal that could have slashed Maryland's annual striped bass catch by more than 50 percent in 2012 was shelved Tuesday morning by the commission that oversees East Coast fisheries. The 9-6 vote by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's striped bass board will most likely postpone any further discussion of a harvest reduction until 2013, when a new population assessment is due. "I think it was appropriate," said Ed O'Brien, an official with the Maryland Charter Boat Association and the National Association of Charterboat Operators.