March 29, 2024

Bay Fisheries Takes COVID Hit

Striped Bass

The Cap’n

Message from the Cap’n is a compilation of fishing advice, waterman and weather insights, Chesapeake lore, and ordinary malarkey from the folks who keep their feet wet in the Potomac and St. Mary’s rivers.

Or, as the Cap’n puts it: News from the folks who keep their feet wet in the Potomac and St. Mary’s rivers.

The coronavirus has upended our fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay. The Blue Crab industry took more than its share of hits with the onset of the pandemic and the Recreational and Charter fishery are bearing the brunt also. The markets for product and charters have shrunk with restaurants needing to close, lock downs imposed, and people afraid to travel far from home.

Oysters are hard to sell at $30 per bushel. Last year at this time oysters were bringing $50 to $60 per bushel. The restaurant market for fish also has collapsed. Last week, rockfish were bringing about $1.60 per pound when market could be found. That is a far cry from the nearly $3.50 to $4 this time a year ago.

Demand for seafood always ebbs after Christmas. This year we look for it to be especially low.

Please add seafood to your diet to help local fishermen.

 

 

Read Oysters 101: Work’ em, Tong’em, Shuck’em and get to know your oyster. The easiest way to enjoy your arsters: Put 24 on a flat tray in the oven, put the shell with deep cup down. Set broiler on high for 14-15 minutes. The cooked arsters will pop open for you to enjoy with your favorite condiment (mine is vinegar, onion, and a dash of Old Bay).

The Interpretive Buoy System with listings for the Lower Potomac is back online. The water temperature is currently at 45 degrees and the salinity registering at 16 PSU (Practical Salinity Unit).

Cooler water means less stress on the striped bass, also known as rockfish. The season in the Potomac River allows for 2 fish a day with a 20-inch minimum and  closes on December 31.

The Maryland season closed December 10. That season had allowed one rockfish per person with a 19-inch minimum.

Striped Bass [Morone saxatilis], AKA: Rockfish, Rock, Striper. Striped bass is a silvery fish that gets its name from the seven or eight dark, continuous stripes along the side of its body.

Recreational and charter fishermen: sign up for a fishing report from the Tackle Box. Ken Lamb has a good read on fishing in the Lower Chesapeake Bay, and the Potomac and Patuxent rivers.

 

Till next time: Be safe.

To learn about tours and trips into the Chesapeake, keep in touch with Fins + Claws on Facebook . Catch up on Messages from the Cap’n Member Page. Please visit Cap’n Jack’s lore and share with your social media sites. Or reach him here: [email protected] or 240-434-1385.

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