Md. must lead on rockfish management, but it doesn’t need another moratorium
Let’s jump right into the choppy waters and address the big question. If the coastwide population of striped bass, also known as rockfish, is dropping, will we need another moratorium such as the one put in place in Maryland from 1985 through 1990?
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation doesn’t think so. Here’s why:
The reality is today’s decline in the rockfish population is far from the level that we saw back in the early 1980s. In 1982, adult female rockfish biomass — the total weight of female spawning fish in the coastwide population — was around 40 million pounds. Today, female rockfish biomass is estimated at about 175 million pounds, according to the latest Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission stock assessment.
However, the assessment indicates the species is overfished following a nearly decade-long decline in rockfish biomass. Meaningful action is needed.
States from Maine to North Carolina are responding to this threat by changing regulations to limit rockfish deaths caused by fishing. Meanwhile, the commission is working on a coastwide fishery management plan that could take two to three more years to put into effect. The management plan will define how rockfish, and the fisheries that depend on it, will be managed for the next decade or more.
This crucial time is when Maryland needs to be a leader in rockfish conservation. Maryland anglers and commercial fishermen catch more rockfish than any other state. Female rockfish from all over the East Coast venture up the Chesapeake Bay each year to spawn in Maryland waters. More than 70% of all rockfish along the Atlantic Coast are spawned in bay tributaries.
The issues up for debate are many, but one of the most important is the current coastwide population target. The current fishery management strategies aim to achieve the goal of about 250 million pounds of female fish.
However, catches have been consistently above the fishing rate needed to reach the biomass target. Put simply, too many rockfish are being caught for the goal to be met.
Some officials may point to this failure to achieve the goal as a reason to lower it. Doing so would in effect “move the goalposts” and accept a lower population in the future. Now is not the moment to do that.
Instead, we are urging officials to plan to reach the goal and aim to keep the rockfish population at or above it within the next 10 years. Climate change is warming the bay’s water, which lowers dissolved oxygen levels and could make certain areas of the bay uninhabitable for rockfish. We need to rebuild the population as much as we can now to buffer against this threat.
Fishermen can do their part by using the right tackle such as circle hooks and practicing safe handling techniques. Better yet, they can target other species during the warm summer months.
Fishing for blue catfish or snakeheads — two invasive species that have no limits on how many you can catch or keep — provides the thrill anglers seek and a good meal.
Continuing to improve water quality and habitat is also an important part of this effort. Each summer rockfish become “squeezed” by low oxygen dead zones on the bottom and high temperatures in the surface water. Reducing pollution that drives the annual dead zones will give rockfish a cooler place of refuge during the warmer months.
All the more reason for anglers to join us in urging federal and state governments to meet the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint goals by 2025. Without meaningful collaboration to reverse the long-term population decline, a moratorium may be the only option left.
While anglers and residents must do their part to save our state fish, Maryland officials must lead by example. State officials need to demonstrate to other states the seriousness of the current situation as well as the steps they are willing to take to restore this population.
Moving the goalposts isn’t one of them. Maryland must support strong conservation measures in the next fishery management plan to ensure rockfish thrive for generations to come.