ANNAPOLIS – Maryland lawmakers are trying to combat the growing population of blue catfish in the Chesapeake Bay by passing an emergency bill that aims to protect the waterways from the invasive fish.
“We’re worried about impacts to the species of conservation value, ones that are imperiled and ones we’re trying to recover here in the bay, such as American shad and river herring,” said Joseph Love, the statewide operations manager for freshwater fisheries hatcheries division at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
The bill would extend the Invasive Blue Catfish Pilot Program through 2030 and introduce the Blue Catfish Gill Net Program. The Senate and House passed the bill Wednesday. It has been sent to Gov. Wes Moore.
The pilot program gives the state Department of Natural Resources authority to explore new ways to address the catfish problem, Love said. Last year, the program created the Invasive Catfish Advisory Committee to give public feedback. The committee suggested the gill net program.
The invasive species, originating from the Mississippi River Delta and introduced to the Chesapeake Bay in the 1970s, has no natural predators in the region and can grow to more than 100 pounds. The aggressive fish feed on some of Marylanders’ favorite seafood like Maryland Blue Crabs and mussels, according to the Natural Resources agency.
“We are learning new things all the time, though,’’ Love said. “That’s the other unfortunate side of invasive species is that it’s almost a moving target.”
The bill also would give watermen tools to expand the harvest of blue catfish and curb the spread of the invasive species.
Allison Colden, the Maryland executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, raised concerns about the emergency bill. Colden said the gill net pilot program, as it was initially written, would allow anyone with a trotline license to use the small, mesh nets to catch the fish.
“Gill nets are a gear that, if you don’t have familiarity with them and you don’t know how to use them properly, they can catch a lot of fish that you’re not intending to catch,” Colden said.
Colden added that if someone lost their gill net in the water, there’s a high risk it could become “ghost gear” and continue to catch and kill other species. Colden said she testified against the bill at a House Environment and Transportation Committee hearing in February to caution that expanding the use of gill nets shouldn’t be done without serious consideration.
The bill has been amended to only allow licensed watermen to participate in the gill net pilot program.
Love said the gill net program would also allow the Natural Resources agency to better study bycatch, or the unintentional catching of non-targeted fish.
“We have to use the best scientific tools we have at hand to explore what those consequences are before making any firm decisions,” Love said. “The pilot program allows the department to explore those questions before making any firm decisions.”
Love and Colden said beyond legislation, one way to help address the problem is for Marylanders to eat their way out of it.
“They’re really good to eat, but they’re also just really fun to fish for,” Colden said.