It is not finalized yet, but the newly proposed regulations for yellow perch fishing are all but ready to be set in print after Monday?s listing in the Maryland Register and the time period for public comment, which runs through Dec. 26.
Gina Hunt, Department of Natural Resources assistant director for fisheries, said that yellow perch plans were formulated after long discussions, with input from stake-holders, the public, sportsmen, biologists, administrators, commercial fishermen.
It would be hard to imagine how anyone could develop an alternate plan after these two years of discussion that would cause the DNR to say, “Oops, sorry ?bout that, we?ll just change the plan completely.” It won?t happen.
The result for sport fishermen is that the DNR is acceding to the legislature?s earlier wishes to make the distribution of yellow perch more equitable than the past when 80 percent of the fish were commercially caught with 20 percent going to Maryland recreational anglers.
The plan seeks a 50-50 sharing, with the commercial regs prohibiting the use of fyke nets in tributaries of less than 200 feet in width during February and extending the prohibition on commercial harvest and sale of yellow perch through March 14. The goal is to allow yellow perch to ascend and spawn in historically used rivers and streams.
Recreational fishermen will benefit by the new size limit of 8.5 inches (from 9 inches) and the removal of regs language that required ineffective barbless hooks.
The regs also make McIntosh Run (off Breton Bay in St. Mary?s County) and Northeast Creek (off Northeast River in Cecil County) restoration creeks. No recreational or commercial fishing will be allowed in these creeks from Feb. 1 through March 31. Both rivers have shown signs of recovery, according to Hunt, and the DNR wants to assure and accelerate this recovery. The plans should be permanent ? in print ? and could take effect as early as Jan. 28.
» Marty Gary, DNR biologist and point man on the Bay artificial reef situation, doesn?t know when a particular section of reef went into the water at Point No Point. The section was shown during an Annapolis slide presentation.
“It could have been August 2006 or August 2007,” Marty said at a recent meeting of the Sport Fish Advisory Commission, and added with a smile: “We would have to ?tag? the reef materials to know.” Materials were barged from the Wilson Bridge area to the site during that year-long time period.
No matter. The photo showed life underwater ? tunicates, bryozoans, small gobies, barnacles, mussels, oysters, and yes, stripers. The point is, the Wilson Bridge scrap material is making a difference to the fish and the bottom of the Chesapeake.
Some 24,000 tons of material went to a site at Point No Point, with 9,000 tons at Cedar Point and 7,000tons at Tangier Sound. All are producing the underwater life that makes stripers, croaker, white perch and other game fish happy to take up residence.
While on the site for a November material dumping, Gary noted a Solomons Island charter boat on the scene, having made the run and burning fuel to get down the Bay for a chance at the new reef site. And they were catching stripers. Look for this to get better in the ensuing years, both on these and other sites in the Bay.
On the horizon is similar work off Ocean City, using some 630 stainless-steel street cars that Maryland is bidding on from New York City.
