CCA MD Applauds DNR’s Plans to Restore Yellow Perch

Annapolis, MD – At a joint meeting of the Sport Fish and Tidal Fish Advisory Commissions last night, Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced its long-awaited plans to propose regulations to address both conservation of depleted yellow perch stocks and fairness in allocation.

Prompted by the passage of SB 702 in the 2007 General Assembly session, the DNR’s plans signal the beginning of the end of a 10-year fight that pitted recreational anglers and the restoration of once abundant yellow perch against runaway commercial exploitation.

“We’re pleased that the Department is finally going to reduce commercial fishing pressure on spawning yellow perch,” said Bill Curry, chairman of CCA MD. “To restore yellow perch, fishing pressure has to be reduced, and when you have a handful of commercial fishers taking as much as 90 percent of the yellow perch, that’s where you have to make the cuts. This will save more fish for conservation and shift the allocation towards recreational anglers who have effectively been shut out of the fishery.”

The regulations the DNR plans to propose would make it illegal for commercial fishers to possess yellow perch from January 1 through March 15, the height of yellow perch spawning season. The proposed regulations would also place restrictions on the use of fyke nets before March 1 and establish the Northeast River and McIntosh Run in Southern Maryland as model restoration systems with special yellow perch regulations.

“Regrettably, it took an act of the legislature to initiate this positive change,” said Sherman Baynard, chairman of CCA MD’s Fisheries Committee. “The lesson here for DNR is that the public supports conservation. We hope this leads to the Department being more responsive to the public’s calls for progressive fisheries management so the legislature isn’t needed to intervene in future decisions.”

Once a harbinger of spring and a gateway fishery for young anglers in Maryland, yellow perch fishing signaled the start of the fishing season for thousands of recreational fishermen and their children. That was before commercial fishers, facing declines in other fisheries, increased their targeting of spawning yellow perch with highly effective nets fished in narrow tributaries.

“We’re closer than ever to a victory for yellow perch, recreational fishermen and conservationists,” added Robert Glenn, executive director of CCA MD. “The Department’s plans have come about thanks to recreational anglers’ persistence. It looks like years of attending meetings and hearings, making phone calls and sending emails are finally going to pay off.”