Chesapeake Bay News

Fly tying demonstration/assistance with local Experts
Odd Fellows Hall
511 York Road
Towson, MD 21204
Wednesday November 18 7:30-9:00 PM

While there is still plenty of good fishing left this year, the cold winter evenings will soon be upon us. A great way to pass the cold winter evenings is to spend time at the fly tying bench. Whether tying that big streamer to ply the winter waters for big browns or tying up a batch of Hendricksons in anticipation of the first spring hatches, fly tying is a great indoor activity. That is why you won’t want to miss MDTU’s November General Meeting featuring Fly Tying. Here you will see first-hand some of the area’s best fly tiers. If you want to, bring your vice and materials. Perhaps you may have a great pattern that you would like to demonstrate.

The U.S. EPA will hold a public meeting next Monday, Nov. 16, from 10 a.m. to 12: 30 p.m. in Washington, D.C. to outline the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) – a strict “pollution diet” to restore local waters and the Chesapeake Bay.

The meeting, the third in a series of public meetings between early November and mid-December, will be held at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, 777 North Capitol St., NE, Suite 300. For more information on the full meeting schedule, visit www.epa.gov/chesapeakebaytmdl.

Expanded action and increased accountability by the federal government are the focus of a draft strategy for restoring and protecting the Chesapeake Bay required by President Obama’s Executive Order. To accelerate efforts and track progress, federal agencies are committing to meet milestones every two years, leading to all activities needed to restore the Chesapeake Bay and watershed being in place no later than 2025.

The draft strategy, released, 11/9/2009, contains a comprehensive package of federal initiatives to restore clean water, conserve treasured places, protect fish and wildlife, and adapt to the impacts of climate change. These objectives will be accomplished by empowering local efforts, making decisions based on science and forging a new era of federal leadership and accountability. Close collaboration of efforts with the six states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and the District of Columbia will also be critical.

“President Obama has declared that the Chesapeake Bay is a national treasure and committed to a robust cleanup effort. Setting two-year benchmarks for progress will ensure that our actions are getting the results the President and the public expect,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “This is the broadest and most publicly accountable cleanup effort ever seen on the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. It’s time for a new era of decisive federal leadership, and new partnerships with state government, nonprofits, the private sector and residents who have all been working to create a cleaner Bay.”

Public comment on the draft strategy is important to the federal agencies and will shape the final strategy. The formal public comment period is from November 9, 2009 to January 8, 2010. The draft strategy can be accessed at http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net and the public can click on “provide comments” to formally submit feedback through www.regulations.gov. The draft strategy will evolve significantly through public comments, state consultations and agency revisions before the final strategy is published in May 2010.

To restore clean water, EPA will create a framework for performance and accountability to guide federal and state pollution control programs, and expand regulatory tools to reduce pollution from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations and urban and suburban runoff. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will intensively target voluntary conservation incentives at high priority areas. New emphasis is also placed on improving stormwater management on federal land and reducing polluted runoff from transportation infrastructure.

“Maintaining healthy, sustainable farms and forests is an essential component to protecting and restoring the Chesapeake Bay,” said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. “Our focus is on increasing economic viability, strengthening markets for local foods, improving water quality and protecting the natural landscape.”

The draft strategy contains numerous initiatives to conserve natural places, animal habitats and fish and wildlife. For example, the Department of the Interior will pursue development of a Chesapeake Treasured Landscapes Initiative to support state and local efforts to conserve and restore the environmental, historic, cultural and recreational value of many of the region’s wetlands, river corridors and open spaces. The department will look for opportunities to expand or create new units of the National Park System, National Wildlife Refuge System, National Wild and Scenic Rivers system and National Historic Trails system.

“Our proposed initiative will build upon the existing partnerships with states, local communities, conservation organizations and other stakeholders to undertake projects that will not only conserve the Chesapeake Bay but will lead to its restoration as one of the great natural wonders of our country,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “We have a big toolbox full of conservation actions and we plan to use it.”

One challenge to restoration is climate change, which scientists project will have a variety of impacts on the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed, including rising sea levels, warmer water and air temperatures, and stronger storms. NOAA and the U.S. Geological Survey are leading the development of the federal strategy for adapting to climate change impacts in the Bay.

“Science shows that Chesapeake Bay habitats and living resources are already being affected by climate change,” said Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator. “We need to adapt to climate change to ensure that the places and things we care about – like wetlands that serve as nurseries for fish and crabs and coastal communities that are vulnerable to sea level rise – can be addressed in our restoration efforts.”

NOAA and the Army Corps of Engineers will also lead a revitalized effort to recover native oyster reefs and establish self-sustaining native oyster reef sanctuaries in key tributaries by 2020.

The draft strategy emphasizes the need to empower local efforts because local governments, watershed organizations and residents have a great interest and ability to restore the environment. Federal agencies will expand technical assistance and resources, and support development of innovative technologies to reduce pollution and economic markets for ecosystem services. A Chesapeake Conservation Corps will be pursued to increase citizen stewardship, and public education will engage people in protecting local waterways.

Federal agencies have also developed a suite of accountability and transparency measures, led by ChesapeakeStat, an online tool that will identify restoration projects, funding and progress, and be publicly accessible. The draft strategy also calls for an annual plan for spending; reporting on environmental health and restoration progress, potentially through the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Bay Barometer; and an independent evaluation of federal efforts.

On May 12, President Obama issued Executive Order 13508 on Chesapeake Bay Restoration and Protection, the first-ever presidential directive on the Bay and the first environmental Executive Order by President Obama. The order established a Federal Leadership Committee, chaired by EPA, and with senior representatives from the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, Interior and Transportation. These agencies generated draft reports in September 2009 with recommendations for addressing issues such as water quality, public access, landscape conservation, climate change, scientific monitoring and the protection of living resources. These draft reports were integrated into the draft strategy, which must be finalized by May 12, 2010.

The 2009 Atlantic striped stock assessment update indicates that the resource remains in good condition with female spawning stock biomass (SSB)  percent of the SSB target and 185 percent of the SSB threshold. Estimated fishing mortality rates (F) in 2008 are equal to or less than 0.21 and below the target (0.30) and threshold (0.34) rates. The assessment provides stock status for the combination of the three primary stocks (Hudson River, Delaware River, and Chesapeake and tributaries).  The striped bass stock complex is determined to be not overfished with overfishing not occurring.

Although spawning stock and total biomass have remained relatively stable over the last several years, stock abundance declined from 2004 to 2007 with a small increase in 2008. The decrease in abundance is reflected in a decline in coastwide landings in 2007 and 2008. The decline is more prevalent in areas largely dependent on contributions from the Chesapeake stocks (such as Maine) than areas that are dominated by the Hudson stock (such as New York). The spawning stock has remained relatively stable due to the growth and maturation of the 2003 year class and the accumulation of spawning biomass from year classes prior to 1996. The latest results of the statistical catch-at-age model also exhibit an increasing retrospective bias where F is overestimated and abundance and biomass underestimated. Retrospective bias may be the result of error in catch estimates, natural mortality, unequal stock mixing, and changes in catchability or selectivity. Analysis of tag data also suggests an increasing natural mortality in Chesapeake Bay, likely the result of the mycobacteriosis.

Recruitment estimates have averaged 12.5 million fish since 1995 when the stock complex was declared restored. The 2006 and 2007 estimates were the lowest in recent years at 7.4 million and 5.8 million fish, respectively. The 2003 cohort remains the largest since 1982 at 22.8 million fish. Recruitment in 2008 of 13.3 million fish was slightly above the recent average.

Striped bass are one of the most sought after species by recreational anglers along the Atlantic coast. In 2008, recreational anglers landed over 2.2 million striped bass weighing 12,310 metric tons (mt). Recreational landings have ranged from a low of 336 mt in 1989 to a high of 13,814 mt in 2006. The coastwide landings in 2008 reflect a 17 percent decline from a high of 2.7 million fish in 2006. Changes in landings have varied by state, with MA, CT, and NY showing an increase in landings and the remaining states showing a 32% decrease on average. Recreational discard mortalities (assuming an 8 percent mortality of releases) in 2008 were 950,000 fish, a 64 percent decrease from a high of 2.1 million fish in 2006.

Landings from the commercial striped bass fishery have been consistently lower than the recreational catch. Commercial landings increased from 63 mt in 1987 to 2,679 mt in 1997 and have remained steady due to quota restrictions. Landings in 2008 were 3,281 mt. Gill nets are the dominant commercial gear used to target striped bass. Other commercial fishing gears include hook and line, pound nets, seines, and trawls.

Copies of the stock assessment update will be available via the Commission’s website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking News. For more information, please contact Nichola Meserve, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator at (202) 289-6400 or nmeserve@asmfc.org.

source: ASMFC press release

The ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Management Board approved Addendum IV to Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden. Addendum IV extends the Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery harvest cap, established through Addendum III, for an additional three years (2011 – 2013). Under the Addendum, the Board will annually review measures to determine if they are appropriate given the most recent information available about the stock and fishery. At any future meeting, the Board can initiate development of additional or alternative management measures.

The Board’s action was requested by the Commonwealth of Virginia in order to accommodate its legislative process as well as ensure that the current management program is extended while menhaden research efforts continue. Virginia’s legislature, which convenes in January each year, is responsible for regulating the menhaden reduction fishery in state waters. With Addendum IV in place this year, Virginia state administrators can work with the legislature in early 2010 to amend Virginia law to extend the harvest cap without the current cap expiring.

Addendum III established the current annual cap of 109,020 metric tons on reduction fishery harvests in Chesapeake Bay as a precautionary measure while research was conducted to address the question of menhaden abundance in the Bay. The cap was first instituted in 2006 to extend through 2010. With adoption of Addendum IV that cap will be extended through 2013 with the following provisions.  Harvest for reduction purposes is prohibited in Chesapeake Bay when 100% of the cap is landed. Over-harvest in any given year will be deducted from the next year’s quota. Under-harvest in one year will be credited only to the following year’s cap, not to exceed 122,740 metric tons. Since 2006, reduction landings of menhaden from Chesapeake Bay have not exceeded the cap of 109,020 metric tons.

A copy of Addendum IV will be available via the Commission’s website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking News by November 13, 2009.  For more information, please contact Braddock Spear, Senior FMP Coordinator for Policy, at (202) 289-6400 or bspear@asmfc.org.

source: ASMFC press release

As of October 29, 2009, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has purchased and permanently retired more than 530 Limited Crab Catcher (LCC) commercial crabbing licenses through its LCC buy-back program.   To further reduce latent effort (fishing effort that is not currently deployed) the agency is also proposing a change in regulations governing the LCC License.

“With the purchase of more than 530 licenses, the buy-back program is certainly meeting our expectations,” said DNR secretary John Griffin. “However, while retiring these unused licenses is an important component of our efforts to rebuild the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab population, additional actions are needed to ensure a sustainable fishery.”

The license program, which was launched in July, works on a first-come, first-served basis. With $3 million in Federal disaster funding dedicated to the program, the agency will continue to pay $2,260 per license until the budget is exhausted, or until it has purchased 1,327 — more than one-third — of the 3,676 existing LCC licenses.

“Buying back these licenses is just one step we’re taking to improve the management of the blue crab fishery,” said Fisheries Service Director Tom O’Connell. “We are also looking at ways to improve harvest reporting and working closely with Natural Resources Police to improve enforcement. These actions, along with the Bay wide reduction in female harvest will help maintain a healthy blue crab population in the Chesapeake.”

DNR is proposing new regulations that will require holders of inactive LCC licenses to choose between two options if they do not want to sell back their licenses.  DNR developed these options based on extensive public input on the issue of unused commercial crabbing licenses.

1. An inactive licensee can declare the license frozen until the crab population reaches a target abundance, at which time the Department will develop a process for re-entry into the fishery. These licenses will not be permanently retired, and can be transferred during the time it is temporarily frozen.  There will be no annual renewal fee for these licenses during the temporary freeze.

2. An inactive licensee can declare the LCC license a “male only” license, allowing only the harvest of male crabs.  The licensee will be able to transfer the license only to a family member or leave it to a beneficiary, and the male only license will not revert back to a full license regardless of the abundance of the crab population.

Once a license is declared ‘frozen’ or ‘male only’ the status of the license cannot be changed, even through the transfer process.   Currently an LCC holder may use up to 50 crab pots, trotlines, nets, dip nets, traps, pounds and scrapes to harvest crabs for sale.

Over the past year, Maryland was awarded $15 million in Federal Blue Crab Disaster Funds from NOAA‘s National Marine Fisheries Service, in response to a request from Governors O’Malley and Kaine, and advocacy by the Maryland Congressional Delegation under the leadership of Senator Barbara Mikulski.

Maryland’s Federal Blue Crab Fisheries Disaster Funding is being directed toward work for watermen, addressing latent effort, a quality crab meat assurance program, economic diversification into aquaculture, packaging equipment upgrades for processors, a seafood marketing program for blue crabs and enhanced harvest reporting and enforcement of crabbing restrictions.

Over the past two years, Governor Martin O’Malley worked with Maryland legislators to identify $6 million to fund a work program through which more than 500 watermen have conducted oyster bar rehabilitation activities.

For more information on the buy back program, please visit:  http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/crab/crabindex.html

For more information on the proposed regulation, please visit:

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/regulations/proposedregulations.html

source: MD DNR press release

Help make a difference by attending the Fishing for Food event on Saturday, November 7 from 9am-2pm at the Buckroe Fishing Pier.

No registration necessary.

Rod rentals, Free fishing demos, Prizes and give-a-ways!

Minimum of 1 bag of non-perishable food items is equal to 1 same day fishing pier admittance.

If you are unable to attend the event, organizers will be collecting non-perishable food items all day Saturday and Sunday at the Buckroe Fishing Pier. Free fishing is only available to those who donate during the event. Passes only valid for Nov 7.

Top ten items in need

Peanut Butter
Canned Meats
Canned Vegetables
Cereal
Pasta
Chunky Soups
Canned Tuna
Juice
Macaroni & Cheese
Pasta

Fishing For Food is sponsored by the City of Hampton and Bass Pros Shops in support of the Food Bank.

Supporting the event will be Virginia Coastal Access Now (VCAN), putting on a pier fishing demo and providing “hands on” assistance on how to pier fish.

For more information stop by the Buckroe Fishing Pier, call 757-727-1486, 757-850-5134 or email gofish@hampton.gov

NOAA has awarded the Smithsonian Institution’s Environmental Research Center and several partner organizations $946,000 for the first year of an anticipated five-year, $5 million collaborative project to study the degradation of nearshore coastal habitats in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. Research will be used by environmental managers and local officials to better protect and restore these estuaries over the long-term, as well as plan for sea level rise and other consequences of climate change.

Invasive species, contaminants, excessive nutrients and sediment are just some of the many factors threatening sensitive wetlands and seagrass beds. An additional issue has been community efforts to “harden” shorelines by lining shores with bulkhead, rock, or rubble to try to protect adjoining lands against erosion and sea level rise. These structures can threaten the health of living shorelines, such as wetlands and marshes. This project will look at the combined effects of these multiple stresses on nearshore habitats and their dependent species.

“These habitats, which are nursery and feeding grounds for so many species, have typically been managed in a piecemeal, parcel-by-parcel fashion and are slipping away in areas of heavy development,” said Robert Magnien, Ph.D., and director of the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research, which awarded the grant. “Developing scientific information that ties multiple species and their environment will be used to advance management approaches.”

The Smithsonian Institution’s Environmental Research Center will lead a team of investigators from the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the University of Delaware, Pennsylvania State University, and the United States Geological Survey. Area coastal managers are also part of the research team and will provide input. Program managers from NOAA’s National Ocean Service will provide oversight.

The research supports President Obama’s Executive Order for Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration, which specifically calls for strengthening scientific support for decision-making to protect and restore living resources and water quality of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. It also relates to a major goal of the Mid-Atlantic Governor’s Agreement and multi-state Chesapeake Bay Agreement to preserve, protect and restore habitats and natural areas that are vital to the survival and diversity of the living resources of the Bay.

Agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Virginia Marine Resources Commission and the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office will utilize information resulting from this research. In a letter of support for the proposed research, Rich Batiuk of the EPA said that this program will “address critical issues related to habitat degradation, invasive species, and shoreline hardening. All of these ecosystem impacts are recognized in the Chesapeake 2000 agreement, and therefore are critical concerns to Chesapeake Bay Program partnership.”

“Developing the science for understanding the combined effects of shoreline hardening on water quality, underwater grasses, fish and shellfish will help support policy for accelerating Bay restoration,” stated Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary John Griffin. “Maryland is firmly committed to making management decisions based on sound science. This project will provide the practical information for driving wetland restoration and managing development in Maryland’s critical areas.”

The mid-Atlantic region is only one area where shoreline hardening is seen as an important issue. The results of this research can potentially be extrapolated to hardened shorelines in other coastal states.

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center leads the nation in research on linkages of land and water ecosystems in the coastal zone and provides society with knowledge to meet critical environmental challenges in the 21st century.

source: NOAA press release

Oct 19, 2009— The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced that 2009 Young-of-the-Year Striped Bass Survey was a 7.9 catch per haul this year, slightly below the long term average of 11.7. DNR has used the same techniques for the survey for the past 50 years to show the yearly spawning success for Rockfish.

“These numbers may be slightly below the average, but it’s well within the normal range of expectations,” said DNR Fisheries Service Director Tom O’Connell. “The 2001 super year class,  followed by a robust year class in 2003, should project for a healthy, sustainable  population.”

DNR samples from the same 22 locations every year. Biologists use a large net to sweep the area, counting all the fish the net picks up.  During this year’s survey, biologists identified and counted more than 35,000 fish of 49 species, including 1,039 young-of-year striped bass.

DNR biologists say it’s normal to see both spikes and dips in the yearly average, because striped bass reproduction hinges on many environmental factors. This year’s index is double the value of last year, and along with other large year classes, such as the record setting 1996, 2001 and 2003 will contributing to strengthen the population.

DNR has monitored the reproductive success of striped bass and other species in Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay annually since 1954.  Twenty-two survey sites are located in the four major spawning systems:  Choptank, Potomac, and Nanticoke rivers, and the Upper Bay.  Biologists visit each site monthly from July through September, collecting fish samples with two sweeps of a 100-foot beach seine.  The index is calculated as the average catch of young-of-year fish per sample.  For more information, go to www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/juvindex/index.html.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) announced its recognition of Governor Martin O’Malley for his leadership on environmental issues. O’Malley was honored at the CBF Board of Trustees meeting at the Willard Hotel.

“I am not going to tell you – nor would the Governor say – that the job is done,” said CBF President William C. Baker.  “But I believe that a new day may be dawning for the Chesapeake Bay, and Governor O’Malley’s hard work and leadership have helped us get here.”

“Restoring the health of the Chesapeake Bay is among the greatest public health challenges of our time,” said Governor O’Malley. “For the past few decades, our Bay has been in the intensive care unit, and while our work here is far from done, it is an honor and a privilege to partner with you as we work to bring her off life support. Thank you for this gracious recognition and for your continued leadership in the fight to save the Bay.”

Among other accomplishments, CBF recognized O’Malley for:

* BayStat: Through an Executive Order in 2007, the Governor created this rigorous accounting program for state agencies to ensure progress is being made in restoring the Bay. Recognizing the importance of coordination and frequent assessment of restoration efforts, the Obama administration incorporated the BayStat approach in the recent draft Executive Order reports on Federal Bay Restoration efforts in a program called ChesapeakeStat.

* Two-year Milestones: The Governor went a step further than the other members of the Chesapeake Executive Council and committed to have all of the necessary implementation mechanisms for clean water in place by 2020, five years in front of the other watershed states, the District of Columbia and the federal government, which have committed to a 2025 deadline.

* Crabs: Governor O’Malley, working with Virginia Governor Kaine, had the vision and commitment to science-based fishery management that resulted in strong crabbing rules in 2008 to address the significant decline in the Bay’s blue crab population. As a result the Baywide crab population has showed strong improvement in last winter’s survey.

* Oysters: Working with Governor Kaine, Governor O’Malley’s administration played a key role in the decision to prohibit the introduction of Asian oysters in the Bay. In addition he has worked to restore the native oyster population and cut through the red tape that prevented the development of an oyster aquaculture industry in Maryland.

* Global warming: When the O’Malley Administration sponsored Maryland’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act it placed Maryland out in front of the efforts to curb global warming and helped put in place lasting environmental protections.  The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act requires the State to achieve a 25 percent reduction in statewide greenhouse gas emissions from 2006 levels by 2020.

* Environmental Education / Children in Nature: The Governor has positioned Maryland as the nation’s leader on environmental education. In 2008, the Governor issued an Executive Order creating the Partnership for Children in Nature. The Governor tasked the partnership with creating an environmental literacy plan for Maryland students, increasing opportunities for structured outdoor learning in state parks, and ensuring the environmental literacy of students that graduate from Maryland schools.

“The clock is ticking for the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay, and we are fortunate to have Governor O’Malley’s leadership at this critical time,” said D. Keith Campbell, Chairman of CBF’s Board of Trustees.