Atlantic Fisheries Managers Advance Proposal for Potential Menhaden Protections in Chesapeake Bay

August 7, 2026

The TRCP will be encouraging anglers and conservationists to support stronger protections for menhaden in the Bay during the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s public comment period, starting later this month

Regional fisheries managers will soon be giving the public an opportunity to provide input to help shape the future of the Chesapeake Bay’s critically important menhaden fishery.

At their Aug. 5 meeting, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC)’s Menhaden Management Board voted 16-2 to publish a document exploring possible menhaden management changes into an official public comment period, which will be open late-August through October. The proposal will include options to reduce the Bay’s industrial menhaden harvest by up to 50% and additional options to more evenly distribute reduction fishing pressure across the fishing season. By advancing Draft Addendum II to Amendment 3, the Board has taken another step toward strengthening protections for Atlantic menhaden in the Bay.

Atlantic menhaden provide the foundation for a healthy Atlantic coast food web. They serve as essential fuel for striped bass, bluefish, tuna, whales, ospreys, and countless other predators, while also supporting commercial and recreational bait fisheries along the East Coast. Chesapeake Bay is the primary nursery area for Atlantic menhaden, making responsible management of this migratory species within the Bay essential to sustaining healthy fisheries and ecosystems along the entire Atlantic coast.

Initial Document Enhanced Through Collaboration

Since the Board first reviewed Draft Addendum II in May, the Chesapeake Bay Work Group and ASMFC’s Plan Development Team met several times to refine the document before bringing it back for consideration. Their work resulted in a stronger draft by clarifying management options, improving the organization of the document, and expanding the problem statement to better explain why additional management measures are being considered.

The revised problem statement recognizes that the availability of menhaden in Chesapeake Bay may be changing because of a combination of commercial fishing pressure, environmental conditions, habitat changes, and predator-prey dynamics. It also acknowledges growing concerns stemming from below-average fisheries landings and troubling population trends for several predator species that depend on menhaden as forage. While the document notes that sufficient Bay-specific science is not yet available to fully understand these changes, it concludes that precautionary management remains appropriate while additional research is undertaken over the next few years.

Importantly, the revised document identifies three management challenges the Board is seeking to address:

The Chesapeake Bay Reduction Fishery Cap is currently not linked to coastwide total allowable catch (TAC) changes, meaning the proportion of coastwide harvest occurring in the Bay can increase even as the TAC decreases. And it was indeed decreased by 20% last fall, with no corresponding change to the Bay fishing cap.
The Bay Cap is currently set only as an annual tonnage, rather than one segmented by season, which allows harvest to become concentrated over relatively short periods of the season. This potentially negatively affects forage fish availability for predators like osprey that rely on menhaden during their spring breeding season and other small-scale commercial fisheries in the Bay who harvest menhaden throughout the year.
There is currently no regular timeframe for revisiting the Bay Cap, which may become even more important as new Bay-focused science becomes available in the near future, after state and federal funding sources will finally be dedicated to examining the Bay’s menhaden population and related fishery.

Lack of Science Warrants Precautionary Management

Here at the TRCP, we believe the board’s choices for final action this November should more fully reflect both the ASMFC’s ecosystem-based management framework and the original purpose of the Chesapeake Bay Reduction Fishery Cap.

The Bay Cap was originally established 20 years ago as a precautionary management measure to mitigate reduction fishing impacts in Chesapeake Bay while scientists worked toward developing a more scientifically based approach for Bay management. Today, the ASMFC and Commonwealth of Virginia are investing in research to better understand menhaden abundance, distribution, and ecosystem dynamics within Chesapeake Bay. But that research won’t be completed for years. Until those studies are completed, reducing the Bay Cap represents a prudent, precautionary action that remains consistent with the Bay Cap’s original conservation purpose.

TRCP will be urging the board to adopt a 50 percent reduction in the Chesapeake Bay Reduction Fishery Cap. This approach would provide meaningful precautionary protections for the Bay while ensuring the proportion of coastwide harvest occurring within the Bay does not increase if the board adopts additional coastwide catch reductions in November.

Make Your Voice Heard

The upcoming Addendum II public comment period will offer a critical opportunity for anglers, conservationists, and stakeholders who depend on healthy fisheries to help shape which management measures are chosen by the Menhaden Management Board at their November meeting.

Later this month, we will be providing additional guidance on how best to provide comments on addendum options to the ASMFC so that your voice can be heard. Stay tuned for more information.

Public participation has always helped advance ecosystem-based fisheries management for Atlantic menhaden, and it will be just as important during this comment period. Together, we can encourage the Menhaden Management Board to take precautionary action today while Bay-specific science starts to unfold.

Banner image of shark and menhaden courtesy Joanna Steidle

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by: Ryan Lockwood

posted in: Menhaden

July 22, 2026

In the Arena: Keith Lusher

TRCP’s “In the Arena” series highlights the individual voices of hunters and anglers who, as Theodore Roosevelt so famously said, strive valiantly in the worthy cause of conservation.

Keith Lusher

Hometown: Covington, Louisiana
Occupation: Outdoor writer, photographer, and website designer
Conservation credentials: Lusher has earned a multimedia hat trick as an award-winning outdoor writer, photographer, and website designer, with material centered on Louisiana and the Gulf Coast but that spans national issues. He serves on the Louisiana Outdoor Writers Association board and his work frequently centers on conservation efforts and the need for hunter and angler engagement, including on issues TRCP helps champion like Gulf menhaden conservation and the importance of the Mississippi River to anglers. Lusher uses his voice to keep sportsmen and women updated on legislative and regulatory policy and ways in which they can influence it.

A native of South Louisiana, Lusher learned to throw a cast net and run crawfish nets not many years after he could walk. He created his first website, NorthShoreFishingReport.com, in 2012, which he still owns and operates. That launched a career leading to a weekly column in the Slidell Independent Newspaper called the Northshore Fishing Report, for which he has been writing about freshwater and saltwater angling for 13 years. Lusher also previously hosted the Northshore Fishing Report Radio Show from 2015 to 2020. He has written for many of the nation’s leading outdoor publications – among them, OutdoorHub, Wired2Fish, Mossy Oak, and Coastal Angler Magazine – producing tactical articles that help, in his own words, “anglers and hunters catch more and kill more.” He is an avid fisherman and dedicated photographer who throws caution to the wind to get the right shot.

Here is his story.

My dad introduced me to the outdoors. We had a camp in Laffite, La., and spent many weekends there. The only way to get there was by an hour-long boat ride, so it was definitely a clean separation from society, which was a good thing. I learned a lot out there, including how to read the water as far as tides and current.

Being a Gen Xer, I was left on my own to figure everything out, and I did. I remember getting on a redfish bite near the camp with my dad. They were only hitting live cocahoe minnows. We ran out of bait on the second day of our week there and I was contemplating making a trip back to the marina to buy more. But I thought back to when I had made a walk behind the camp on a prior visit, to where there were numerous duck ponds in the back in the marsh. I remembered seeing BIG cocahoe minnows in those ponds, so I rigged up a very tiny bream hook and broke off a piece of saltwater cork to use as a lightweight, small bobber. So basically I was fishing with a panfish setup. I had a piece of shrimp that I broke into small pieces and fed it onto the hook. It’s no exaggeration to say that on EVERY CAST I caught a cocahoe that was over five inches long.

Within a half-hour I walked up to my dad with a bucket with so many minnows in it they were starting to float up because of lack of air. My dad was floored. He couldn’t believe the quality of “bait” that I caught using a rod and reel. That technique led to part of our future stays at the camp. We no longer need to buy cocahoes. It became part of the routine. When we arrived, I would immediately rig up my pole and head to the back of camp in the marsh to catch cocahoes for bait for the weekend.

“I heard Danny call out, ‘You got a gator coming your way, about 50 yards around that point.’”

I have so many fishing memories, but the really exciting memories have been during photo-shoots with anglers that I write about. One memory that sticks in my head is a trip I made with Danny Hunter of New Orleans Best Charters. I was writing an article about fishing for speckled trout in the marsh and after catching a limit of specks, I wanted to get a few “over-under” photos – those that capture the fish under the water as well as the angler in the boat fishing. We stopped in a duck pond just off the Intracoastal Waterway and I jumped in and swam to the marsh where I could stand and operate the camera to get a photo of the fish underwater and Danny in the background. After about 10 minutes of getting photos, I heard Danny call out, “You got a gator coming your way, about 50 yards around that point.” He pointed to the right and I shrugged it off.

I continued to take photos from different perspectives and then heard him say, “About 30 yards now.” I continued to work. Then I saw him put down his pole and walk over to his center console and open the door. He took out a pistol and loaded it, then set it down near the steering wheel. He then picked up the pole and we continued to work. I took a few more shots but knew the gator must have been close so I told him I was done and would swim over to him. He hollered back, “No, I’ll come get you,” as he cranked up the motor and idled over. Danny was relieved after I was in the boat. He then yelled out in relief, “Hardest working photographer in the industry!” Which was better than the usual, “Man, you’re crazy.”

When I got home to look through the photos, I was so happy that I took the time to get out in the marsh as I got some spectacular shots that were published along with my article. Danny liked the shots as well, as he’s used several of them for his charter business, including as the backboard for his cleaning table and serves as a great advertisement.

I normally fish the waters of Southeast Louisiana and that’s probably the best fishing that one could experience, but I really wish I could wade-fish the streams up north, like the Madison River in Montana, with a fly rod. I don’t ever get to fish cold, clean streams or rivers and I’d like to start doing that more.

Down here in Southeast Louisiana, there’s never a dull moment. Right now, the pogy boat ordeal is in the spotlight. Over the past few years, I’ve watched this battle over menhaden and am discouraged to watch how much power the commercial fishing industry has battling an extended buffer zone that was enacted to keep industrial fishing vessels after menhaden (referred to locally as pogy boats) away from the coastline. The commercial fishing industry clearly has more power than the recreational fishermen and that is evident in how you’ll see tighter limits being thrust onto the recreational anglers but not on the commercial fishermen.

Conservation is important for everyone because it protects the hunting and fishing traditions that we enjoy today and have enjoyed for decades. I’ve always said the best conservationists are the people who hunt and fish. While we do harvest fish and game, we also know how important every species is and that the future of fishing and hunting depends on using some sort of conservation strategy to make sure a species continues to have a strong population. Conservation is important for me personally because I have a large audience. I try to use my voice to keep all sportsmen and women updated on all the relevant new bills in Congress and all of the conservation efforts that could use their support.

We set an example for the next generation. It’s not complicated. Protect the fish and game that you enjoy fishing and hunting and the next generation will have it to enjoy as well.

Banner image courtesy Keith Lusher

by: Ryan Lockwood

posted in: Menhaden

June 24, 2026

$1.5 Billion in Annual Economic Output Generated From Recreational Angling That Involves Atlantic Menhaden as Bait

As the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission prepares to set a new menhaden catch limit and considers whether to initiate a reallocation process among states, a new study shows that recreational anglers rely on this keystone species as one of the most important baitfish

Atlantic menhaden are often called the “most important fish in the sea” because of the vital role they play in supporting striped bass, bluefish, tuna, ospreys, and countless other predators. But menhaden are more than a critical forage fish – they are also one of the most important bait sources for recreational and commercial fisheries along the Atlantic.

A new study conducted by Southwick Associates provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of how recreational anglers use Atlantic menhaden and the value they place on access to this critical resource.

The study estimates that recreational Atlantic fishing trips involving menhaden generated approximately $804 million in angler spending and supported more than 7,200 jobs nationwide in 2025. But the economic effects of angler spending extended well beyond direct purchases.

“Atlantic fishing trips involving menhaden generate more than $1.5 billion in annual economic output,” said Ben Scuderi, lead economist at Southwick Associates. “That figure represents the full spectrum of spending that occurs for fishing trips where menhaden are used as bait, from direct purchases of equipment, food, fuel, and the many other items needed for a day of fishing, to the downstream effects that spending has on retailers, manufacturers, and countless other businesses.”

Photo Credit: Chris Crippen/Virginia Institute of Marine Science

The report also estimates that recreational anglers used menhaden on 13.9 million fishing days in 2025, demonstrating the species’ widespread importance as a bait source throughout the Atlantic Coast. Those fishing days occurred across the region:

6.3 million fishing days in the Mid-Atlantic
5.1 million fishing days in the South Atlantic
2.5 million fishing days in New England

The study showed that menhaden bait supports fisheries targeting some of the Atlantic Coast’s most popular recreational species, including striped bass, bluefish, tuna, weakfish, flounder, red drum, and cobia. Researchers also found that anglers depend heavily on access to menhaden products beyond live or dead fish as bait, such as menhaden chum or menhaden-based scent products.

“Together, these findings paint a clear picture. Atlantic menhaden are clearly not a niche bait source used by a small segment of anglers,” said Jaclyn Lunaas, forage fish program manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “They are a foundational component of recreational fishing across much of the East Coast.”

The report findings suggest that anglers view menhaden as more than just a single option for bait. The data indicate that for many fishermen, menhaden are a preferred and highly valued tool for pursuing the species they care most about.

The findings come at a pivotal moment for Atlantic menhaden management, as the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission prepares to make major decisions about the future of the fishery this fall. In November, the ASMFC’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board is expected to establish a new coastwide total allowable catch (TAC) for Atlantic menhaden for 2027-2028. The Board may also decide whether to formally initiate a process to reallocate state menhaden quotas. Current state allocations are largely based on historical harvest and have remained mostly unchanged, despite major changes in fish availability, bait supply, and public demand for the resource.

“As the ASMFC considers updating the menhaden state allocation system, properly weighing the importance of menhaden as bait in recreational and commercial fisheries is essential,” said Mike Waine, Atlantic fisheries policy director for the American Sportfishing Association. “Atlantic tackle retailers, charter businesses, and recreational anglers generate hundreds of millions of dollars through the use of menhaden as bait, but those investments have not resulted in meaningful consideration of the recreational sector’s needs.”

Virginia currently receives approximately 75% of the coastwide allocation, with most of that harvest supporting a single foreign-owned reduction fishery. In contrast to the economic benefits provided by menhaden as bait for recreational angling, according to the reduction industry, “Omega Protein and Ocean Harvesters together generate over $100 million in economic activity” from their Virginia-based operation.

Historically, Atlantic menhaden management discussions have focused on stock assessments, harvest levels, commercial landings, and ecological reference points, all critically important and central to management decisions.

“What has often been missing, however, is a coastwide understanding of how recreational anglers use menhaden and the role the species plays in supporting recreational fisheries,” said Lunaas. “This study helps fill that gap.”

Allocation decisions are ultimately about determining how access to a public resource is shared among competing user groups. To make those decisions effectively, managers require a clear understanding of the benefits the resource provides across all sectors. This new research could provide important information about recreational use that has historically been absent from allocation discussions at the ASMFC.

While the study does not prescribe a specific allocation outcome, it demonstrates that recreational anglers are a major stakeholder group whose reliance on Atlantic menhaden in different regions deserves consideration as ASMFC evaluates whether the current allocation system still reflects use of the resource.

“This study reinforces the enormous economic value that recreational fishing brings to our coastal communities, but it also highlights something that is often overlooked: the importance of menhaden as the foundation of both healthy fisheries and healthy recreational and commercial fishing businesses,” said David Sikorski, executive director of CCA Maryland and CCA Virginia. “This key information should now help shape decisions that support the broader ecosystem, the anglers and watermen who depend on it, and the coastal economies that benefit from bait to fuel fishing opportunity.”

Banner image courtesy Sergio Diaz

by: Jaclyn Lunaas

posted in: Menhaden

June 16, 2026

It’s Time for Menhaden Quotas to Follow the Fish

New petition and video call for more equitable Atlantic menhaden commercial catch allocations to East Coast states as the ASMFC considers initiating a reallocation process in November

Atlantic menhaden are one of the most important fish on the East Coast. They feed striped bass, bluefish, tuna, whales, ospreys, and countless other predators. They provide bait for commercial fisheries harvesting lobster and crab as well as for recreational fisheries, sustaining coastal economies from Maine to Florida.

But while New England’s stake in the menhaden fishery has grown, the system used to allocate harvest access among Atlantic states has remained largely unchanged.

That’s why the TRCP has launched a new petition and companion video calling on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) to establish a more equitable allocation of Atlantic menhaden catch quota when it considers reallocation this November.

Fueling Marine Food Webs, Fishing Economies

Atlantic menhaden are often called the “most important fish in the sea” because they serve as a critical base for the marine food web. Healthy menhaden populations support some of the Atlantic coast’s most iconic recreational and commercial fisheries, while providing essential forage for marine predators.

In recent years, menhaden have become increasingly abundant in New England waters, possibly due to climate change, migration patterns, or other factors. Regardless of the cause, as a result of more menhaden (or “bunker”) in the region, anglers are seeing more striped bass and tuna feeding on the large schools. Whales are appearing closer to shore. And commercial bait fisheries are benefiting from greater availability of this important resource.

This shift matters beyond fishing opportunities. Where menhaden are available determines where predators can feed, from striped bass and bluefish to humpback whales and seabirds. Yet despite these changes, harvest access remains concentrated in a system built around historical fishing patterns from decades ago.

A Quota System Out of Step with Today’s Fishery

For nearly two decades, the ASMFC’s state allocation system for the menhaden fishery has given over 75 percent of the coastwide quota to a single state – Virginia – where most of that harvest is taken by a single, foreign-owned reduction fishery that processes menhaden into fish meal and fish oil. These products benefit interests far from local communities where the menhaden are harvested, such as foreign aquaculture production and livestock feed.

Meanwhile, New England states and other regions where menhaden abundance has increased continue to face quota constraints despite growing ecological importance and economic demand. In many cases, bait suppliers and fishermen in the Northeast rely on quota transfers from other states just to meet the needs of lobster, commercial, and recreational fisheries.

For many coastal communities, access to menhaden bait directly supports lobster fisheries, charter businesses, tackle shops, marinas, and other jobs tied to recreational and commercial fishing. More balanced state allocations would strengthen bait supply, reduce dependence on temporary quota transfers, and better distribute the economic benefits of this resource along the Atlantic Coast.

The current state allocation formula was established primarily using historical landing data. Because quotas are tied to past harvest patterns, rather than current ecological distribution or economic dependence, it reinforces a fishery structure that no longer reflects present-day conditions on the water.

The result is a growing disconnect between where menhaden are most abundant, where they are needed to support coastal economies, and where harvest access is allocated.

A Critical Opportunity This Fall

This November, the ASMFC will consider whether to initiate a process to reallocate state menhaden quotas. This upcoming action represents a rare opportunity to address longstanding inequities in the fishery and create a more balanced allocation system moving forward.

The Commission has the authority to revise quota allocations among states, meaning this is not just a debate – it is a decision that will directly determine Atlantic states’ access to a shared public resource. Future changes to the coastwide total allowable catch will make those allocation decisions even more important.

A fairer allocation framework would better recognize New England’s growing role in the fishery, support working waterfronts and bait-dependent businesses, and ensure that the benefits of this public resource are more equitably shared across the Atlantic Coast. Without action, the current allocation structure could remain in place for years, even as the ecological and economic center of gravity for menhaden continues to shift northward.

Make Your Voice Heard

Atlantic menhaden belong to the entire Atlantic Coast. They fuel world-class recreational fisheries, support coastal economies, and sustain marine ecosystems from New England to the Chesapeake Bay and beyond. This upcoming process will help shape how the benefits of this critical resource are shared for years to come.

Atlantic menhaden are a shared public resource. Tell the ASMFC to redistribute the Atlantic menhaden quota so that states with growing ecological and economic dependence on the resource receive a fairer share of harvest, and to relieve pressure on the Chesapeake Bay.

Watch the video, sign the petition, and tell fisheries managers that Atlantic menhaden management should reflect today’s realities – not the conditions of decades past.

Banner image of shark and menhaden courtesy Joanna Steidle

by: Jim Kauffman

posted in: Menhaden

June 4, 2026

1 Day, 4 Trotlines, 800 lbs. of Invasive Blue Catfish

TRCP got to help firsthand with hauling in trotlines set to remove this aquatic invasive species from the Chesapeake Bay, as part of larger management efforts that require collaboration and partnerships

It’s one thing to read about the abundance of invasive blue catfish in the Chesapeake Bay. But it’s another thing to experience it for yourself. These voracious predators have now spread throughout most of the Upper Bay and are established in every major tidal river in Maryland.

I recently had the opportunity to spend a day on the water with photographer and waterman Jay Fleming, running a trotline in Maryland to witness first-hand the extent of blue catfish abundance in the Upper Bay. It was enlightening, to say the least. In a few short hours of retrieving lines, our small boat and crew hauled over 800 pounds of invasive blue cats onto the boat – using just four trotlines set in one relatively small area along a single shoreline.

The author with a large blue cat removed from the upper Chesapeake Bay. Credit: Jay Fleming.

The trotlines were already set before we arrived. Each weighted line ran nearly 1,000 feet in length, with circle hooks on mono line attached every 10 feet. Baiting with chunks of gizzard shad, the lines were deployed in relatively shallow waters, rarely exceeding 10 or 12 feet in depth. Retrieval was a fairly straightforward affair – lines are pulled in by hand, removing hooks and fish as they come to the boat. A tug on the line indicates the presence of a protesting blue cat close by in the set. Captured fish are quickly gaffed and brought aboard and the process continues. At the end of the day, we had a boat full of fish and a very long night of fileting ahead of us. But that was one of the best parts, and just one reason why all the work was worth it. Despite their appearance, blue cats make excellent table fare.

Blue Cats Take a Heavy Toll

Introduced to the Bay region in Virginia waters in the 1970s, blue catfish have rapidly expanded their geographic range and numbers throughout the Upper Bay and into Maryland. This aquatic invasive species (AIS) has colonized many of the Bay’s margins, pretty much anywhere salinity levels are tolerable. They are voracious feeders and can attain a size upwards of 100 pounds. As you can imagine, that means they can have a significant impact on native prey species. And these prey species include important species like rockfish (or striped bass), blue crabs, and menhaden – staples of the Bay ecosystem and the center of its cultural and environmental heritage. But the prey items don’t stop there. These catfish also eat shad, herring, mussels, white perch, white clams, razor clams – the list is extensive.

Partially digested menhaden removed from the stomach of a blue catfish. Credit: Jim Kauffman

Blue catfish are now recognized as an existential threat to Bay health. Their prey base is commercially and ecologically vital to the Bay. A culture and economy that is driven by recreational fisheries, commercial fisheries, and blue crabs has a lot to lose from the impacts of blue catfish. And the effects of a non-native, voracious, large predator have created ripple effects throughout the native ecological community, with potentially disastrous consequences. But thankfully efforts are underway to mitigate their impacts.

Solutions Through Federal Policies, Programs, and Legislation

Efforts to encourage increased blue catfish harvest have resulted in federal and state-level initatives that provide resources to incentivize large-scale removals. In March 2026, the House of Representatives passed the Mitigation Action and Watermen Support (MAWS) Act (HR 4294) with bipartisan support. The act, initially sponsored by Reps. Sarah Elfreth (D-MD) and Rob Wittman (R-VA) and now in the hands of the Senate, would help to address barriers that inhibit facilities from effectively processing catfish, due to USDA inspection requirements that are unique to catfish. It would create a two-year pilot program allowing the Chesapeake Bay Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to enter agreements with manufacturers or processors of such products as pet food, animal feed, and aquaculture feed – industries that could potentially utilize these invasive catfish as a raw material – to facilitate the purchase of blue catfish harvested from the Bay’s watershed by watermen, or acquired through seafood processors.

Related grants would incentivize increased harvest of this AIS by supporting the necessary transportation, processing, and manufacturing infrastructure to secure a long-term market. With so many blue cats in the Bay, there is little concern of the resource running out anytime soon. The USDA also recently announced investments in seafood processing facilities that will expand their processing capacity and drive production markets for Bay-area blue catfish. Fish at commercial processing facilities that are intended for consumption are typically inspected by the Food and Drug Administration – with the exception of catfish. This means that these facilities need adequate infrastructure for storing and/or processing invasive catfish separately. Funding these upgrades will allow processors to upgrade their facilities, ultimately leading to the removal of more catfish out of the Bay and into markets.

Blue catfish filets are firm and flaky, with a taste similar striped bass (rockfish). Credit: Jim Kauffman

State-Level Solutions

Maryland lawmakers recently passed legislation that extends the Invasive Blue Catfish Pilot Program. This extends the program through 2030 and gives Maryland DNR more tools to continue working toward reduction efforts. Expanding commercial markets, destigmatizing catfish as table fare, and incentivizing new methods for removal will combine to promote increased harvest.

Multiple pilot programs in the state have been developed to encourage additional reductions in catfish biomass. The For-Hire/Commercial Blue Catfish Pilot Program, the Mid- and Lower-Bay Blue Catfish Trotline Pilot Program, and the Commercial Electrofishing Chase Boat Pilot Program are all designed to incentivize the sale of catfish and expand eligible equipment that can be used to harvest blue cats. And the Chase Boat Pilot Program allows charter boats to net blue catfish that surface during DNR electrofishing surveys. The boats follow behind DNR electrofishing crews, netting and harvesting stunned blue cats – a great example of an innovative solution to a complicated issue.

Just four trotlines set in one small area yielded 800 lbs. of this invasive. Credit: Jim Kauffman

Blue Catfish Working Groups

The Chesapeake Bay Program has convened an Invasive Catfish Work Group, which brings together scientists, local stakeholders, commercial fishery groups, and processors to develop methods and evaluate impacts of blue cats in the Bay. The workgroup also works toward developing actions that implement the five policy objectives outlined in the 2012 Invasive Catfish Policy Adoption Statement.

The Invasive Catfish Advisory Committee brings together stakeholders like fish dealers, processors, commercial harvesters, recreational anglers, and academics through Maryland DNR, the Sport Fisheries Advisory Commission, and the Tidal Fisheries Advisory Commission. This group discusses relevant issues and develops management recommendations for blue catfish management. Working groups like this stress the importance of collaboration and partnerships between various agencies and stakeholders, working toward a common goal.

Legislators, biologists, and stakeholders are together developing many new and innovative solutions to promote harvest. Blue catfish and byproducts are being promoted as fertilizer, pet food, and even food for zoo animals. Blue catfish are even being used for school lunches, and markets are being developed outside of the Bay region through additional USDA Regional Agricultural Promotion Program grants.

It’s hard to comprehend the sheer magnitude of the Bay’s blue catfish problem. How many are out there? And what will it take to mitigate their impacts on native species? Fortunately, local stakeholders, Bay communities, state and federal agencies, and fisheries managers continue to collaborate in an effort to develop solutions. Even as land managers and legislators work on watershed-wide efforts to improve upstream water quality in my home state of Pennsylvania and throughout the watershed, which would improve Bay fisheries, it could all be for naught if these fish are gobbling up the last blue crabs and juvenile stripers in the Bay. Though total harvest continues to climb annually, it has not yet reached a number high enough to turn the tide. Developing a Bay-wide blue catfish management plan that outlines annual goals for harvest will be invaluable for future management.

Total pounds and economic value of blue catfish harvested in Maryland since 2015. Credit: Maryland Department of Natural Resources

What Can You Do?

Well, if you can’t beat ‘em, eat ‘em! Blue catfish filets are thick and white in color. They broil, grill, and fry really well. Annual events in the region showcase local chefs and dishes featuring blue cats as table fare, such as a sold-out Chesapeake Catfish Cook-Off in Annapolis last month, highlighting just how good these fish taste. Many resources have been developed to promote blue cats for the dinner table, and not just to promote harvest, but because they really are delicious (which I can personally attest to). And there are a ton of ways to prepare them. Whether you purchase catfish from a market or prefer to fish for them traditionally along Maryland’s Catfish Trail, take the opportunity to try them. You won’t be disappointed.

But also remember that the next aquatic invasive species might not be as delicious, so AIS prevention remains key.

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