A plan by Maryland to reopen fishing for striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay during their spring spawning season has raised questions about whether it’s a good idea amid a six-year slump in reproduction by the prized migratory fish species.
The Department of Natural Resources wants to lift its current ban on fishing for striped bass, also known as rockfish, during April and the first two weeks of May. It proposes to allow catch-and-release in April, and then, starting May 1, keeping one fish a day measuring 19 to 24 inches.
To offset that change, DNR said it would close fishing for striped bass altogether for all of August, a change from the previous two-week closure in late July. The monthlong closure aims to reduce the heat-related deaths of fish that can happen even if they’re promptly released after being caught.
DNR has asked the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to include this change in Maryland’s fishing seasons beginning in 2026, as it weighs new steps to speed rebuilding of the striped bass population from past overfishing. The commission, which regulates near-shore fishing for migratory fish species, aims to decide by the end of the year.
DNR said it wants to simplify its regulations and align the state’s striped bass fishing season more closely with Virginia and the separately regulated Potomac River. It also wants to give anglers more incentive to fish in the spring. Mike Luisi, DNR’s fisheries assessment manager, said the closures currently in effect in Maryland have essentially driven all anglers off the water and hurt the business of tackle shops and some fishing guides.
The Maryland proposal, though, has rekindled long-standing friction between commercial and recreational fishing interests. At the Atlantic States commission’s May 6 meeting in Crystal City, VA, Brian Hardman, the head of the Maryland Charter Boat Association charged that Maryland’s proposal would expand striped bass fishing greatly for anglers who practice catch-and-release while further restricting those who want to bring their catch home to eat. Charter captains have reported declines of up to 70% in bookings in 2024 after a rule change deprived their customers of the ability to keep two striped bass per trip.
David Sikorski, executive director of the Maryland chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association, countered that it was the charter industry that had enjoyed an unfair advantage for five years, because their customers could bring home twice as many fish per day as individual anglers. The Atlantic States commission put a stop to that practice in 2024, decreeing there would be no exceptions to the one-fish daily catch limit.
Hardman and others, though, have raised an additional concern about allowing even catch-and-release of striped bass during spawning season. He noted that five years ago, DNR officials justified their decision to close all striped bass fishing in April by saying it was a precaution to reduce disturbance of the fish as they prepared to release and fertilize eggs in Bay tributaries.
The charter fishing group leader cited anecdotal reports of female striped bass prematurely discharging their eggs before they were returned to the water. He warned that if April was reopened to anglers for catch-and-release, the amount of fishing pressure on striped bass during their spawning runs would “explode.”
Recreational catch-and-release is generally considered more protective of fish populations. But scientists say the stress of being caught and released is killing a significant number of striped bass, particularly in summer when they are suffering from high temperatures and lack of oxygen in the water.
Reid Nelson, a fisheries ecologist with George Mason University, studied the issue in the Patuxent River and estimated that as many as 11% of striped bass released back into the water in summer died within about eight weeks, compared with a 6.8% death rate in spring, when temperatures are lower. The risk of killing fish before they could spawn under those circumstances is relatively low, he said.
There have been no similar studies, however, to see if being caught and handled impacts spawning behavior and success.
Dave Secor, fisheries ecologist with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, said he thinks that “catch-and-release of fecund females does [increase the risk] of failed reproduction for that fish. It’s a very energetically taxing period [of] provisioning eggs, migrating and courtship behaviors.”
Nelson said he had proposed such a study to DNR before it reopened spring fishing for catch-and-release. But even if the state goes ahead without waiting, he said the research is warranted. A couple of studies of other species showed that fish stressed by catch-and-release produced poor quality eggs and poor quality larvae, he said.
“That’s one of the biggest unknowns about this kind of fishery,” Nelson said. “If this fishery blows up [with a lot more catch-and-release in spring] even if the fish continue to spawn, does that impact quality of larvae?”
The big problem with striped bass right now, he pointed out, is that there have been six straight years of poor spawning success in the Bay, which is the main spawning ground and nursery for the coastwide population. Though scientists have theories about the reasons, they don’t really know why.
Even if fishing is allowed to resume in April and early May, DNR’s Luisi said certain areas where spawning activity is traditionally most intense will remain closed.
He acknowledged in a brief interview that permitting catch-and-release in April is less protective of spawning than keeping the fishery closed. But he said he believed the impact would not be significant, and he maintained that the trade-off of keeping anglers engaged is worth it.
“Allowing access through catch-and-release when the conditions are much better in the spring is a win-win for both the fish and for people who have an interest in fishing,” Luisi told the Atlantic States commission.
Some members of the commission, however, weren’t so sure. At their May 6 meeting, they only tentatively approved the Maryland proposal, pending a staff review before the next meeting in August. That is when the commission plans to adopt a list of new potential coastwide fishing regulations for 2026, which will be put out for public comment this fall.