Commission Eliminates Cap on Rockfish Harvest

Skip Slomski unhooks a rockfish under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel near Norfolk. Maryland's harvest of rockfish, or striped bass, had been capped in previous years. (2006 Photo By Angus Phillips -- The Washington Post)

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted Monday to set a target of at least 30,000 for Maryland's spring harvest of migratory striped bass, rejecting a proposal by state fisheries managers to let Maryland regulate its own harvest, according to commission and state officials.

That figure is significantly below the catch in each of the past two years.

Anglers hauled in 67,771 migratory striped bass, or rockfish, in Maryland's 2006 spring trophy season -- 63.3 percent more than the cap of 41,488 set by the commission. The cap was also exceeded in 2005.

However, because the commission this year set a target instead of a mandatory cap on the number of rockfish to be taken during the trophy season, Maryland will not be penalized for exceeding the total in the previous two years.

Howard King, director of fisheries services for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said he was pleased that the cap was eliminated. He characterized the caps as "arbitrary" because they depend upon inaccurate reports of the rockfish taken by recreational fishermen.

"We think that harvest is greatly overestimated," King said. Setting a cap based on that estimate "doesn't work very well, it's not very credible, and it doesn't benefit anyone," he said.

King's initial proposal, which would have eliminated caps or targets and allowed Maryland to regulate its own fishery, was rejected by the commission at a meeting in Arlington. His alternative proposal, which set the target, was approved.

Striped bass hatch in the Chesapeake Bay, then migrate to the ocean when they mature. They return to the bay every spring to spawn, giving Maryland anglers their only realistic chance to catch significant numbers of larger fish.

Charter boat captains depend on the spring season for their livelihood, and they had fought strenuously for the removal of the caps. Studies have indicated that the rockfish population, which was severely depleted in the 1980s, continues to rebound.

The final target for 2007 will be established based on population estimates. Maryland could still be penalized for the number of fish by which it exceeded last year's cap, but only if that would not make the target less than 30,000.

King said the Department of Natural Resources will work with charter boat captains to help them meet the target.

"As long as we don't have any cap, they've achieved the main goal they went down there for," said Buddy Harrison Jr., a past president of the Maryland Charter Boat Association Inc. "We're entitled to our share of those fish, and we should catch them."

A quirk in the calendar should help keep this year's harvest down. The trophy season starts on the third Saturday in April, which this year is the latest it could be, April 21.

Harrison stressed that if charter boat captains want to protect their livelihoods, they need to work with regulators to ensure the long-term viability of the rockfish population.

"The ultimate goal is to protect the fishery," he said. "We've got to keep them coming back and spawning."