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Oysters- Seed is generally moved to the upper bay in the
spring. An experiment has been proposed to move about 5,000 bushels
of seed, a small amount, in the fall before disease rises to high
levels. It is also proposed by MWA/ORP to move about 15,000 bushels
of DNR seed at Smith Island to Nine Foot knoll. The spat at Smith
Island has been tested, and unfortunately is 37% diseased. An option
is to wait and move the seed in the spring when the upper Bay area
has lower salinities, which will be more suitable for the seed.
Another option is to wait until information on other seed areas
comes available and decide in the spring which is the best seed
source for Nine Foot Knoll.
Striped Bass-
- Quota Under-attainment/Shift lbs.- Projections from the
2002 striped bass harvest data (through October 2nd) from daily
checkstation calls indicates that the hook and line fishery will
have 186,231 pounds in excess poundage at the end of their season.
Although harvest in both fisheries is lower than in recent years,
the pound net fishery is projected to meet their 440,000 lb. quota.
An additional per net allocation to the pound net fishery was
discussed at the meeting. The discussion centered around how much
quota, if any, should be transferred to the pound net fishery.
Excess poundage from either fishery will roll into the December
gill net fishery. Currently, the December gill net fishery has
51,851 lbs. available in quota. Increasing opportunities for the
hook and line fishery to catch their own quota was also discussed.
The Commission recommended that the Department transfer 60,000
lbs of quota to the pound net fishery for reallocation and extend
the hook and line season 15 working days into December.
- Pound net Quota- Currently the pound net fishery receives
25% of the the commercial striped bass quota in Maryland. The
remaining 75% is shared between the gill net and hook and line
fisheries. Commercial pound net fisherman requested that the commission
review this allocation system for next season. The commission
has agreed to discuss this issue at the next meeting.
- Pound net Certification Process- Eighty-six percent of
the striped bass pound net fisherman are declared for the maximum
of four nets. The certification process was originally created
to disperse quota equitably to fisherman based on the amount of
gear they set. However, at this point most fisherman have the
same amount of gear set and the difference in allocated quota
to each fisherman is minimal. This process requires a significant
amount of staff time (153 nets certified in 2002.) Due to recent
budget cutbacks and shortage of staff, the Department is proposing
to eliminate the certification process and allocate pound net
quota on a per person basis. The commission expressed concerns
that this will open the door to new striped bass pound net fisherman
because they do not need to meet any minimum requirements and
is unfair to the fisherman that have worked with the current system.
The discussion has been tabled till the next meeting where it
can be effectively discussed with related quota issues.
Striped Bass- Atlantic Coast- A meeting was held with
with the Atlantic striped bass fisherman to discuss their allocation
system. Last season the fishery tried a monthly quota system
instead of a per person quota. At the meeting, the fisherman
indicated that they were unhappy with this new system and would
like to change back. Based on the fisherman's comments, the
Department will allocate the rest of the calendar year quota
to the Atlantic fishery on a monthly system, and in January
convert the fishery back to an individual quota system.
Allocation of Black Sea Bass- Black seas bass quota
has moved from a coastal quarterly system to an instate allocation
system. A meeting will be held with black sea bass fisherman
in Ocean City on October 4, 2002.
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