The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has recently conducted a catfish monitoring project in the Chesapeake Bay, resulting in the removal of approximately 3,000 pounds of blue catfish.
DNR reports that invasive species in the Bay have rapidly spread and are voraciously consuming blue crabs, American eels, shad, white perch, and other ecologically significant species. To combat this, DNR is collaborating with other agencies, state and federal partners, educational institutions, as well as commercial and recreational anglers to mitigate the spread of blue catfish in the Chesapeake.
Biologists from the Department of Natural Resources’ Invasive Fishes Program and Freshwater Fisheries Program, along with Virginia Commonwealth University, employed innovative technology to track population fluctuations of the catfish during this recent removal. In collaboration with the researchers, a commercial harvester ensured that the fish extracted from the Bay were put to good use.
The Department of Natural Resources is urging anglers to actively remove and eliminate any blue and flathead catfish they catch, rather than releasing them back into the water.