Items of Note

The Secretary of Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) pursuant to Code of Maryland Regulation 08.02.10.01 F(5) announces that the commercial horseshoe crab fishery for the Chesapeake Bay, its tributaries and the Atlantic Ocean, its coastal bays and their tributaries will close effective midnight, 12:00 p.m., Tuesday, August 26 , 2008. The annual quota of crabs is projected to be caught by this date.

The Secretary of Maryland Department of Natural Resources pursuant to Code of Maryland Regulation 08.02.05.13(E) has announced that the Atlantic weakfish fishery for gill nets and other gears, except trawl nets, will open at 12:01 am, Wednesday, March 26, 2008 and continue to 12:00 pm midnight, Friday, April 25, 2008. This fishery for gill nets and other gears will reopen at 12:01 am Wednesday, September 3, 2008 and continue to 12:00 pm midnight, Friday, November 14, 2008. A licensee using gill nets and other gears in the Atlantic may not catch or land weakfish on Sundays during these open seasons.
The Atlantic weakfish trawl net fishery will open 12:01 am, Friday, October 17, 2008 and continue to 12:00 pm, midnight, Monday, December 29, 2008. A licensee using a trawl net may not catch or land weakfish on Saturdays or Sundays.
The Chesapeake Bay commercial weakfish fishery for all gears will open at 12:01 am, Tuesday, August 5, 2008 and continue to 12:00 pm, midnight, Tuesday, September 30, 2008. A licensee may catch and land weakfish from the waters of the Chesapeake Bay on any day during the open season.
During the closed weakfish season, a commercial licensee targeting species other than weakfish with gear other than hook and line may possess or land in any one day no more than 150 pounds of legal-sized weakfish as by-catch, provided that there is at least an equal poundage of species other than weakfish on board the vessel. During the closed weakfish season, a commercial licensee using hook and line may not land weakfish as by-catch.
All other current rules and regulations remain in effect for each weakfish season. The allowable harvest days for the commercial weakfish fishery are consistent with the Weakfish Fisheries Management Plan approved by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

The Secretary of Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), pursuant to the Code of Maryland Regulations 08.02.05.24, announced that effective 12:01 a.m., Friday, February 1, 2008, the commercial spiny dogfish fishery will be closed. All commercial landings, harvest and possession of spiny dogfish will be prohibited to all Maryland commercial license holders and federally permitted ealers until 12:00 a.m. Thursday, May 1, 2008.

The Patuxent River - Broadneck Oyster Harvest Reserve Area described below for the will be closed to harvest effective December 10, 2006.

Beginning at a point defined by Lat 38º 27.781' N and Long 76º 39.017' W; then running approximately 327º True to a point defined by Lat 38º 27.876' N and Long 76º 39.095' W; then running approximately 29º True to a point defined by Lat 38º 27.928' N and Long 76º 39.059' W; then running approximately 145º True to a point defined by Lat 38º 27.804' N and Long 76º 38.948' W; then running approximately 247º True to the point of beginning.

Effective Thursday, June 1, 2006 the Secretary of Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announces amended delineations of the submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) beds in the Worcester County that supersede preceding delineations. Click HERE to see the new published delineations.

Senate Bill 274 was passed by the 2006 session of the General Assembly and it was signed into law by Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.. Effective July 1, 2006, this bill removes the two year minimum requirement in the program and modifies the practical experience requirements by crediting past experience in certain circumstances. Past experience may apply only to:
(1) An individual that served as a crew member to a tidal fish licensee within the past 10 years;
(2) An individual that held a Maryland Provisional Charterboat permit in accordance with Natural Resource Article 4-210.2;
(3) An individual that held a tidal fish license within the past 10 years and has not permanently transferred a tidal fish license within the past twenty four months;
(4) An individual that held a temporary transfer of a tidal fish license within the past 10 years; or
(5) An individual that harvested fish from the waters of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and landed the fish in Maryland.

Click here to view the entire bill in PDF format.

MD DNR is working with various agencies to explore the potential introduction of C. ariakensis. You can research progress on the Nonnative Oyster News Page.

This is an opportunity for watermen to become directly involved in the management of the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab fishery. To learn more about the program, click HERE!