MARYLAND LEGISLATORS STALL STRIPED BASS SEASON RESET

 

When the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board adopted Addendum III to Amendment 7 to the Interstate Fisheries Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass last October, it included a provision that allowed Maryland to either retain the recreational striped bass seasons that it already had in place, or to replace them with a new set of seasons, described in Addendum III, which would supposedly have the same conservation impact.

Amendment III justified taking such action by saying,

“Since 2015, Maryland has modified regulations for Chesapeake Bay recreational striped bass fishery seven times, with changes including size, bag limit, and season modifications as well as gear and targeting restrictions.  These changes have built off regulations that were previously in place for each action, resulting in newer regulations becoming increasingly complicated through time, including a complex suite of season closures throughout the year.  In addition, the current understanding of release mortality rates and environmental stressors within Chesapeake Bay has resulted in some Maryland stakeholders’ desire to adjust seasons to better take advantage of fishing opportunities when conditions are favorable to lower striped bass release mortality (i.e. cooler water with less hypoxia).”

After Amendment III was approved, Maryland initiated a state rulemaking on the proposed new seasons.  If the rule is finally adopted, the end of the spring catch-and-release season, which begins on January 1, would be pushed back a month, from March 31 to April 30.  The current April 1-May 15 and July 16-July 31 no-target seasons would be eliminated and replaced with an open season that ran from May 1-through July 31, to be followed by a new no-target closure that ran for the full month of August.  Harvest would then resume on September 1 and run through December 5, with only catch-and-release allowed through the rest of the year.

The new seasons would provide anglers with 187 fishing days when they were allowed to retain a striped bass, along with another 146 fishing days when only catch-and-release was permitted.  The state’s hopes to increase the amount of time when anglers could participate in the striped bass fishery, while also minimizing release mortality by imposing a no-targeting closure during August, when the warmest, most hypoxic waters increased the likelihood that a released bass would not survive.

Maryland calculated that the new seasons would not impact fishing mortality, based on the assumption that the number of fishing trips made each day would be the same as it was in 2024.  However, as noted in Addendum III,

“The [ASMFC’s Striped Bass Technical Committee] noted that an increase in effort would be expected with a season opening from no-targeting to allowing catch and release; however, the [Technical Committee] agreed that it is very difficult to predict how much effort would increase, especially with out an applicable historical reference period.  In the past when April was open to fishing, there was no harvest allowed for part of the month, not just catch-and-release fishing as proposed here.  Additionally, effort has varied from year-to-year even under the same regulations.  The [Technical Committee] could not develop a quantitative assumption about how effort would change when the season is opened from no-targeting to catch-and-release that was any more defensible then the assumption of constant effort, and so accepted the use of that assumption in this case.”

Anglers are generally supportive of the new seasons, although a few are concerned that the extended spring catch-and-release season might have an adverse impact on the striped bass spawn.  On that point, Addendum III could only note that

“There is also uncertainty around the effect of catch-and-release fishing on spawning success (from the proposed opening to catch-and-release in April) given the very limited information on this topic.”

So there remains a possibility that the new April release season could have an impact on the spawn, although there is no strong evidence that it would.

The possibility was apparently unlikely enough that the Chesapeake Bay Foundation urged the public to support Maryland’s proposal.  The Foundation advised,

“mature striped bass are experiencing high rates of catch-and-release mortality in the hot summer months.  Low oxygen levels and heat-induced stress make striped bass most vulnerable during this time.

“DNR’s proposed August closure could help reduce that stress.  The proposed change would also add a few more days for catch-and-release fishing in April when air and water temperatures are cooler and fish are much less likely to die.

“Lastly, the proposed season adjustment would simplify Maryland’s fishing schedule.  The current calendar is a complex patchwork of some harvest days, some catch-and-release, and some closed entirely for a few weeks at a time.  Simplifying to a sngle month-long closure would leave less margin for error and help angler compliance with fishing regulations.”

Nevertheless, there was also some strong opposition to the proposed new seasons when they appeared in a draft of Addendum III.  That opposition primarily came from the owners, operators, and organizations representing the “traditional” Maryland charter boats, which typically take customers out with the intention of killing a limit of bass and then immediately returning to the dock.

Thus, the Delmarva Fisheries Association, which had already brought unsuccessful litigation against Addendum II to Amendment 7, opposed any change in the Maryland seasons, arguing that

“The proposed closure from July to August [sic] will be detrimental financially, not only to the Charter industry and the recreational industry but will also devastate tourism throughout the state of Maryland…Another issue is bringing in catch and release of the spawning stock in Maryland from January 1^st to May 15^th.  Part of addendum 6 [sic].  And the most important part is to protect the spawning stock biomass.  This Catch and release will not only harm the biomass, but studies have shown that handling and catching these fish in the spawning cycle is detrimental to their egg production and breeding capability…”

The Solomons [MD] Charter Captains Association also feared that the extended spring catch-and-release season would cause harm to the stock, saying

“We are opposed to Maryland’s Comment Atlantic Striped Bass Draft Addendum III porposals [sic]. 

“Catch-and-release in April goes against the very statements Maryland’s DNR (M. Luisi) publicly supported last year…The Maryland Y.O.Y survey has not shown successful spawns.  A single female can carry millions eggs [sic] each year.  Catch and release during the Spring migratory season will impact tens of thousands of juvenile fish each season forward.  Maryland DNR doesn’t address any impact their new proposal may have on failed spawns.

“For every one SSB fish that is killed during the Spring catch and release season, millions of eggs are lost!”

And a Captain Mike Smolek, apparently representing another charter boat group, stated that

“The Upper Bay Charter Captains Association is against Addendum III and does not support the Maryland Chesapeake Bay Recreational Baseline Season that has been proposed by Mike Luisi DNR.”

Local politicians also tried to intervene on behalf of the charter boats.  The Calvert County Board of County Commissioners opined, after objecting to any reductions in commercial landings, that

“Equally concerning is the proposal to reopen catch-and-release fishing from January through May, directly targeting spawning fish in the Chesapeake Bay at their most vulnerable stage.  This period has been closed for the past six years to protect the spawning stock, and reversing that protection contradicts the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ own recommendations.  In addition, the proposed non-targeting closure for recreational and charter boats from July 15 through August 31 would compound the damage, undermining the charter industry during its peak season and further destabilizing Maryland’s fishing economy.”

The County Commissioners of Kent County made similar objections, writing

“on the recreational and charter boat side of the issue, it is proposed to open up catch and release from January through May, specifically, targeting spawning fish pre-staged and spawning in the Chesapeake Bay Region.  Historically, this time has been closed for the past 6 years specifically to protect the spawning fish, which completely goes against what the Maryland Department of Natural Resources proposed last year, and to protect the spawning stock biomass of striped bass to accomplish their [stock rebuilding] goal for 2029.  The recreational and charter boats will have a non-targeting closure next summer from July 15^th to August 31^st.  As proposed, these reductions are unnecessary and will cause significant financial hardships for the industry, economic tourism in the County, and income generated by people who fish in Maryland.”

Those sentiments were echoed by the Commissioners For Somerset County and the Commissioners of St. Mary’s County, who also argued against the proposed seasons.

And that seems to be where the Maryland proposal stands now—with the politicians, and not with the Department of Natural Resources, nor with the people of the State of Maryland. 

For the Department has done what the law required it to do.  It took the question of new recreational striped bass seasons out to the public for scoping.  It printed the proposed rule in the Maryland register on January 23 of this year, opening the 30-day public comment period.  That comment period has now closed, and the state was in the process of reviewing the comments and, if it ultimately decided to adopt the proposed seasons, have them in place by April 1.

But now politicians, working to protect special interests invested in the status quo, have intervened.  Jay A. Jacobs (R-36^th District), a member of Maryland’s House of Delegates representing four counties on the state’s Eastern Shore, is doing his best to block the proposed rule.  He has prevailed upon Delegate Samuel Rosenberg (D-41^st District), the House Chair of the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review, to delay the final adoption of the new seasons by imposing a “hold” on the rule.

Delegate Rosenberg can do that because, under Maryland law,

“Proposed state agency rules are reviewed by the [Administative, Executive, and Legislative Review] Committee with regard to the legislative prerogative and procedural due process…

“Copies of all regulations of each State agency are received by the Committee.  Unless submitted to the Committee, certain regulations or standards may be invalid…  [citations omitted]”

While submission of regulations to the Committee is usually a routine matter—little more than checking off a box—in this case, because of Delegate Jacobs’ pandering to the Eastern Shore charter boat community, the rulemaking process has been stalled for as much as 60 days, far longer than needed to ensure that there will not be an extended spring catch-and-release season this year.  But beyond that, it will accomplish nothing. 

If the Maryland Department of Natural Resources decides to implement the new seasons, it will—just 60 days later than it would have had the Committee not invoked a hold.  In that case, August 2026 will still be closed to all striped bass fishing in Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay; the catch-and-kill charter fleet will not have gained a reprieve.  The hold just allows them to spite the new fleet of light-tackle charters who encourage catch-and-release and haven’t made dead striped bass an essential part of their business model, by taking away their spring season this year—but only this year, if the new seasons are ultimately put in place. 

That’s no way to manage striped bass—or any other fishery. 

It’s not impossible that those who believe that the spring fishery will harm spawning striped bass are right, at least in part.  And if that’s what Delegate Jacobs is worried about, then instead of placing a temporary and ultimately purposeless hold on the proposed regulations, he ought to be doing his job as a legislator, and fighting to fund a study that might provide the proof.

Otherwise, he ought to get out of the way and let Maryland regulators do their jobs.

Folks who agree might want to send a message to Delegate Rosenberg, at samuel.rosenberg@house.maryland.gov, asking him to release the hold on the proposed season change.  If enough emails are sent, he might even agree.