To download a printable version of the proposed yellow perch regulations as they were submitted to AELR on Oct. 17, click here.
The purpose of this action is to implement fishery management measures that ensure the sustainability of tidal yellow perch populations and equitably allocate a sustainable harvest of yellow perch between recreational and commercial fishermen while also affording yellow perch the opportunity to migrate to historical rivers and streams as directed by the Maryland General Assembly Bill SB 702 (amended Natural Resources Article, §4-215.2, Annotated Code of Maryland) in 2007.
In response to this legislation, the Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Service completed a new assessment of yellow perch stocks and conducted a series of focused meetings with recreational and commercial fishermen, including most recently, a public scoping meeting with the Department’s Sport Fish and Tidal Fisheries Advisory Commissions on October 1, 2008. Scientific findings of the yellow perch assessment were used to define population status and safe fishing mortality targets and limits for the upper Chesapeake Bay, and provide the rationale for managing yellow perch in other Chesapeake Bay areas. Stakeholder meetings were designed to define objectives for the recreational and commercial fisheries and obtain input to develop potential management options. Among the objectives identified by recreational fishermen were: maintaining a viable and sustainable fishery, preserving and improving access, improving angler satisfaction, improving catch rates, and minimizing conflicts between recreational and commercial fishermen. For commercial fishermen, objectives included: maintaining a viable and sustainable fishery, expanding seasonal opportunities, enhancing the economic value of this fishery, and minimizing user conflicts.
Using the scientific information from the new assessment and objectives from the user groups, Fisheries Service developed a range of potential management options that would achieve the objectives for these fisheries over time. The proposed action will repeal the existing yellow perch regulation and replace it with a new chapter. The proposed action establishes a requirement to determine a target harvest for the commercial fishing areas. Where appropriate, the target harvest determined by the Department is based upon a 50% recreational and 50% commercial allocation. Definitions are created for clarity, egg restrictions remain unchanged, and references to yellow perch and gear in other chapters are clarified.
Specifically for the recreational yellow perch fishery, the proposed action maintains the existing recreational size limit and year round open season; increases the daily creel limit from 5 fish to 10 fish per person per day in both tidal and nontidal waters; opens all closed areas; and includes a requirement for angler accountability in order to obtain estimates of recreational harvest.
Specifically for the commercial fishery, the proposed action maintains the size limits and creates several new sections for the fishery. The action creates a season, fishing areas, daily catch limits for hook and line and the Patuxent River fishing area, a harvest permit, the method of registration for a permit, a tagging system that includes an exemption and process for the live yellow perch market, a reporting system to account for all of the yellow perch harvested, a public notice provision, and a penalty provision for failure to report. In order to alleviate user conflict, the action extends the fyke net prohibition through March 31 and establishes new lines with latitude and longitude coordinates to exclude fyke nets from upstream tidal areas in locations open to the commercial harvest of yellow perch and of importance to recreational yellow perch fishermen.
Maps Showing Proposed Fyke Net Restrictions - Click on River Names to view map.
| Bird & Gunpowder River |
Bohemia River |
Bush River |
Elk River |
Northeast River |
| Sassafras River |
Patuxent River |
Allens Fresh |
Chester River |
Choptank River |
| Marshy Hope |
Nanjemoy Creek |
Tuckahoe Creek |
|
|
| Striped Bass - Housekeeping and Recreational |
Permanent |
January 30, 2009 |
N/A |
March 2, 2009 |
April 6, 2009
|
The Secretary of Natural Resources proposes to amend Regulations .03, .08, .09, and .12 under COMAR 08.02.15 Striped Bass and Regulation .02 under COMAR 08.02.05 Fish. The purpose of this action is to make corrections and clarifications to the striped bass regulations. The action corrects the Spring Recreational and Charter Boat Fishery season dates; adds geographic coordinates to the description of a location; replaces an error in the striped bass definitions, and replaces an incorrect citation. The proposed action corrects the Spring Recreational and Charter Boat Fishery season dates to match those dates approved by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). ASMFC approved the proposed Spring Recreational and Charter Boat Fishery season at their October 20, 2008 meeting. The action adds geographic coordinates to the description of the Susquehanna Flats area. The action adds a public notice authority for season closures in order to clarify that a season can be modified or closed. Lastly, the action corrects a citation in Regulation .09, replacing “§D”, with the intended citation “§B.”
Click here to view the regulations.
|
| Sharks |
Permanent |
January 16, 2009 |
N/A |
February 17, 2009 |
March 23, 2009
|
The purpose of this action is to implement the management measures of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Coastal Sharks. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently updated the shark regulations for federal waters and believes that coordinated state management is a vital step towards establishing healthy self-sustaining populations of Atlantic coastal sharks. Eliminating inconsistencies in shark management will address enforcement concerns and strengthen shark rebuilding efforts at the federal and state levels.
The ASMFC Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Coastal Sharks was adopted in August 2008. The goal is to promote stock rebuilding and management of the coastal shark fishery in a manner that is biologically, economically, socially, and ecologically sound. The following objectives are designed to help reach the goal: (1) reduce fishing mortality to rebuild stock biomass, prevent stock collapse, and support a sustainable fishery; (2) protect essential habitat areas such as nurseries and pupping grounds when sharks are particularly vulnerable; (3) coordinate management activities between state and federal waters to promote complementary regulations throughout the species’ range; (4) obtain biological and improved fishery related data to increase understanding of state water shark fisheries; and (5) minimize endangered species bycatch in shark fisheries.
The proposed action will repeal the existing shark regulation and replace it with a new chapter. Specifically for the recreational shark fishery, the proposed action: (1) lists the species of shark that a recreational angler may harvest; (2) creates a season closure for certain species of shark from May 15 through July 15; (3) creates a minimum fork length of 4.5 feet for certain species; creates separate shore-angler and vessel-fishing catch limits; (4) lists gear that a recreational angler may use to harvest sharks; and (5) creates a general section to prohibit anglers from selling or trading shark pieces, include the prohibition on finning, and clarify vessel-fishing limits.
Specifically for the commercial shark fishery, the proposed action: (1) lists the species of shark for each of the federal groups (prohibited, research, smooth dogfish, small coastal, non-sandbar large coastal, and pelagic); (2) creates a season closure for species of shark in the non-sandbar large coastal group from May 15 through July 15 that does not allow harvest from state waters during this period, but does allow transport if the vessel is not fishing in closed waters and gear is stowed; (3) creates catch limits for each group of shark; (4) lists gear that a commercial tidal fish licensee may use to harvest sharks; (5) lists federal methods of stowing gear; and (6) creates a general section for license requirements and finning prohibition.
Click here to view the regulations.
|
| Crabs - General corrections and Housekeeping |
Permanent |
January 16, 2009 |
January 27, 2009 at 6:00 P.M. in the meeting room of the Queen Anne's County Library Kent Island Branch, 200 Library Circle, Stevensville, Maryland 21666 |
February 17, 2009 |
March 23, 2009
|
The purpose of this action is to make general corrections and clarifications to the crab regulations and to add a crab pot distance from a particular fishing pier in Calvert County. The proposed action clarifies the definition of a collapsible crab trap to allow the use of a wider variety of collapsible crab traps currently sold in Maryland. The action prohibits crab net rings greater than 24 inches in diameter. The action clarifies that a licensee cannot possess more than 1200 feet of trotline on a vessel. This correction will aid in the enforcement of the trotline limit. The action also clarifies that a person cannot set a trotline within 100 feet of another persons gear. The regulation was never intended to prevent a person from setting their trotline near their own gear. The action creates a crab pot distance of 100 yards from the Flag Ponds Park fishing pier in Calvert County. This is to alleviate a longstanding user conflict situation surrounding that pier.
Click here to view the regulations.
|
| Snapping Turtles |
Permanent |
January 16, 2009 |
N/A |
February 17, 2009 |
March 23, 2009
|
The purpose of this action is to amend the snapping turtle regulations. Fisheries Service reconvened the snapping turtle workgroup to discuss existing regulations and improvements to better manage snapping turtles. The scientists on the workgroup recommended protecting a minimum of 50% of the females. Fisheries Service personnel discussed several options for achieving this level of protection with the workgroup and at two public scoping meetings. The option chosen was to increase the minimum size from 9 ½” to 11”.
The snapping turtle regulation is currently in place as an emergency. The emergency text is not available for amendment. Therefore, in order to adopt permanent regulations we need to start over with the original text. The actual proposal looks like we are making a lot of changes, but the proposal is the same as the current (emergency) 2008 regulation except for:
1) The minimum size now applies to all snapping turtles harvested and in possession, not just those harvested from Maryland’s tidal waters. The reason for making the minimum size applicable to all turtles is for conservation. All literature suggests that turtles cannot sustain a commercial fishery. However, Maryland may be unique in that we have the nontidal population completely protected. With the right management measures, scientists believe we can have a sustainable snapping turtle fishery;
2) The current (emergency) regulation allows for the transfer of a harvest permit. This proposal removes that provision and states that harvest permits may not be transferred. A harvest permit is available to anyone so there is no reason to allow transfers. It simply gets too difficult to follow where the permit is and who is responsible for reporting;
3) A new provision requires a float to be placed inside a trap in order to provide airspace for trapped turtles; and
4) A public notice provision is being proposed to modify size limits, or to open, close or modify a season.
Click here to view the regulations.
|
| Crabs - Commercial |
Permanent |
January 16, 2009 |
January 27, 2009 at 6:00 P.M. in the meeting room of the Queen Anne's County Library Kent Island Branch, 200 Library Circle, Stevensville, Maryland 21666 |
February 17, 2009 |
March 23, 2009
|
In 2009, the Department is committed to maintaining the blue crab fishery at or below the target removal level of 46% of the total crab population as estimated by the annual Bay-wide winter dredge survey. Therefore, regulations may change on an annual basis, so that harvest can increase when abundance grows and decrease when abundance declines. The proposed 2009 regulations are crafted to achieve the target fishery removal of 46% of the crab population based on results of the 2007-2008 winter dredge survey. This survey which is conducted December through March, samples overwintering crabs throughout the Bay in Maryland and Virginia and provides an estimate of the total number of crabs available to be harvested in the coming season. Regulations will be adjusted annually to ensure that 46% of the total crab abundance estimated by the survey is available to harvest.
Click here to view a complete summary of changes being considered by the Department.
Click here to view the commercial regulations.
|
| Crabs - Recreational |
Permanent |
January 16, 2009 |
January 27, 2009 at 6:00 P.M. in the meeting room of the Queen Anne's County Library Kent Island Branch, 200 Library Circle, Stevensville, Maryland 21666 |
February 17, 2009 |
March 23, 2009
|
The purpose of this regulatory proposal – proposed pursuant to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ management authority under Section 4-215(g) of the Natural Resources Article and its regulatory authority under Section 4-803(a) of the Natural Resources Article – is to alter the requirements for registration or licensing of recreational crabbers in order to provide a sampling framework that will allow surveys to be conducted that will provide reliable estimates of recreational catch. There are presently so many exemptions for obtaining a license that surveys designed to sample those people identified from license applications may be missing 2/3 of the crabbers in Maryland.
Click here to view a complete summary of changes being considered by the Department.
Click here to view the recreational regulations.
|
| Striped Bass - Commercial |
Permanent |
January 30, 2009 |
Hearing is being scheduled |
March 2, 2009 |
April 6, 2009
|
The purpose of this proposal is to amend striped bass regulations in order to improve quota monitoring, harvester accountability, and enforceability of the commercial striped bass harvest regulations.
The commercial striped bass fishery is managed under a limited entry system with only 1231 permits available to eligible commercial fishermen. The harvest in this fishery is tracked through allocation permit cards issued to the harvester and check station reports. Harvesters must have their catch counted and weighed at a check station within 3 hours of harvest and by 9 p.m. Check stations call in harvest each day and report on written forms each week. In addition, harvesters must tag each fish with a numerical tag that can be traced to the harvester. These tags are gear specific, but they are proposed to be limited in number for the pound net and Atlantic fisheries. Harvesters using all other gears may request more tags during the season if their harvest records report the need for more tags.
In this fishery a number of enforcement and harvest monitoring problems have recently developed. Out of concerns for accountability and compliance in the commercial striped bass fishery, Maryland is taking action to address enforcement and harvest monitoring problems. The proposed action provides two separate periods during the year in which transfer of striped bass allocation permits may take place with certain restrictions. A revised process for issuance of tags will improve accountability of the harvest monitoring tags. In addition, modified time restrictions have been proposed to improve enforcement efforts. The proposed changes will prevent the untrackable transfers of harvest permits and provide for a regular audit of striped bass harvest tags.
These measures will hold watermen and related businesses accountable for their actions and ensure protection of striped bass for current and future generations. These efforts are critical to maintaining respect for Maryland’s fishery with our partner states along the Atlantic Coast and fairness among our fishing industry in Maryland.
Click here to view a complete summary of changes being considered by the Department. Click here to view the proposed regulations.
|
| Fishing Licenses-Point Assignment, License Revocation and Suspension Schedule and Criteria, and Hearing Procedure |
Permanent |
January 30, 2009 |
N/A |
March 2, 2009 |
April 6, 2009
|
The purpose of this action is to correct citations and add new points and suspensions to commercial fishing violations. The proposed action fixes inaccurate citations in the point assignment schedule. The action adds points for violations of yellow perch, crabs, and striped bass regulations. The Department has submitted extensive changes to each of these species’ regulations. This proposed action adds a penalty to a violation of these new provisions. The action adds two automatic suspension provisions for possessing untagged striped bass exceeding 200 pounds above permitted quota and for tagging striped bass harvested by one gear with a tag indicating another gear type. The automatic suspensions were added for these two specific violations which were considered so egregious that an automatic suspension was warranted.
Click here to view the proposed regulations.
|
|
CURRENT
FISHERIES SERVICE REGULATORY PROPOSALS
