Two Maryland commercial fishing groups have filed a challenge to new striped bass harvest limits imposed on charter fishing businesses and watermen, arguing they are “illegal, unnecessary and ill-founded.”
In a complaint filed on March 8 in the US District Court of Maryland, the Delmarva Fisheries Association and Maryland Charter Boat Association and two of their members allege that the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) violated federal law and the constitution and state in ordering yield reduction. . They warned that consumers would pay more to buy striped bass in markets and restaurants, while the state’s 377 licensed charter fishing outfits could suffer losses of 50–65%, forcing many to go out of business. business.
“Watermen, waterwomen and charter boat operators already face a large and growing number of obstacles in their world,” said Rob Newberry, chairman of the Delmarva Fisheries Association, in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “For them and for all Marylanders, it will be a tragedy of epic proportions if this order stands.”
The Atlantic States commission, which regulates coastal fishing for migratory species from Maine to Florida, voted in January to reduce recreational and commercial catches of the popular finfish, also known in the Chesapeake Bay region as rockfish. Under the rules, set to take effect May 1, the daily catch allowed by recreational anglers—including those paying to fish from charter boats—drops from two fish to one fish. Commercial fishermen who harvest striped bass for sale face a 7% reduction in their annual catch quota.
States have already tightened catch limits in 2019 under commission orders after scientists warned that striped bass were overfished and the number of adult female fish was below what it should have been. the necessary to maintain the population.
The new curbs adopted in January were in response to an increase in recreational harvest in 2022 that scientists said jeopardized efforts to restore species abundance by the end of the decade.
The Bay also saw a fifth straight year of poor reproduction in Maryland waters and below-average reproduction in Virginia. The Chesapeake is the main spawning and nursery grounds for Atlantic striped bass.
Maryland watermen and charter boat captains have argued that they should not be subject to any cuts because the increased loss of striped bass comes mostly from recreational anglers along the Mid-Atlantic coast.
The lawsuit asserts that there is no “scientific or rational basis” for the new harvest reductions to be applied to Bay fishermen. The coastal stock of striped bass is no longer experiencing overfishing, the groups note. And while overall fish harvest and mortality increased 32% along the coast in 2022 compared to the previous year, the groups said it has continued to decline in the Bay since 2017.
Conservation groups and recreational fishing groups insist that all fisheries sectors must make sacrifices to help fish populations recover. They specifically objected to Maryland charter customers being allowed to keep two fish a day, while all other fishermen could only keep one per day.
Maryland and New Jersey opposed the charter fishing reduction but were outvoted by other commission members. The commission then voted to reduce the commercial catch quota by 7%.
The lawsuit alleges that the commission violated its own rules in adopting the charter catch limit by counting the votes of two federal agencies, the District of Columbia and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission, a bi-state body. The commission’s rules say only states with an interest in a fishery can recommend changes, the lawsuit says.
The harvest cuts have been a particularly bitter pill for Maryland charter boat captains. They reported a 17% drop in their striped bass catch last year from their 2021 level, and they warned that their business would drop dramatically if their clients could no longer bring home two fish. In one day.
Brian Hardman, president of the Maryland Charter Boat Association, called on Maryland fisheries regulators to defy the Atlantic states commission order. But Department of Natural Resources officials say a refusal to comply could result in the swift imposition of a federal fishing moratorium on the state. The DNR has taken its own steps beyond the commission’s directive, such as canceling the spring trophy season, and it has said it intends to impose more limits for the summer, when warm weather increases the risk. that fish die even when released after being hooked.
Ken Jeffries, a charter boat captain from Severna Park, said in a deposition that 95% of his customers are only interested in fishing for striped bass and that the fish have “never been more plentiful” than they are now in his area of Bay. He said several customers have already canceled planned outings with him because of the pending cutback from two to one fish per trip.
Maryland watermen also oppose a 7% reduction in their allowable yield. They say this is more than the 14% cut imposed a decade ago.
Brian Nesspor, a Rock Hall fisherman who joined the lawsuit, said in a deposition that striped bass have been plentiful in the Bay for the last three to five years. But watermen have been squeezed by rising fuel and gear costs, falling prices for their catch and tightening red tape. He warned that “there will be no livelihood in the future if current trends continue.”
The lawsuit asks the federal court to set aside the ordered yield reductions either entirely or as they apply to the plaintiff groups. Tina Berger, spokeswoman for the Atlantic states commission, said she could not comment on the lawsuit.
