The information provided on this webpage is a summary of regulatory ideas and proposals that are being considered by the Department. The purpose of posting this text is to make the public aware of the issues and to elicit public feedback on these ideas. Comments on the ideas presented provide the Department with invaluable information and perspectives that may be incorporated into content or editorial changes. We appreciate your time and your commitment to Maryland's natural resources. The graphic within each topic will help you follow the change through the regulatory process. Learn our terminology…Scoping, Development, Comment Period, Final Decision, Effective.

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The Department has modified a crab pot line in Fishing Bay because two points were misidentified when coordinates were assigned to the previous version of the crab pot lines.

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• A hearing was held on January 28, 2025 at 1 pm.
• Adopted as Proposed – Effective March 17, 2025

The Department needs to update the commercial license targets. Modifications to the authorization targets reflect the number of tidal fish license conversions since April 15, 2019. In summary, the UTFL number would be decreased by 16 and the number for FGR, FIN, CB3, CLM, OYH, ODB, and CTL would be increased by 16 each.

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The Department is considering formally transferring the ownership/management of two Fisheries Management Areas (FMAs) in Harford County from the Department’s Fishing and Boating Services to the Harford County Government. The FMAs include Bynum Run Pond and Forest Hill Lake. Please see the summary for maps and information on how to request a hearing.

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The Department has proposed changes to the Put-and-Take trout stocking program. The changes include:

• Modifying the areas managed as Put-and-Take areas.
• Modifying the areas managed as Closure 1 areas.
• Eliminating the Closure 2 designation.

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• View the Proposal
• Adopted as Proposed - Effective January 20, 2025

The Department has modified hook rules to allow anglers to use either circle hooks or J hooks under in certain circumstances in tidal waters. “Live-lining” is defined as using a live finfish on a hook for the purpose of catching other fish with: (a) Hook and line; (b) Rod and reel; or (c) Handlines. The Department has required circle hooks while live-lining since 2019.

Exemption - The proposed action establishes an exemption to the requirement that a circle hook be used while live-lining when an angler is using a finfish species listed in the Department’s bait regulations codified at COMAR 08.02.20.02.

Exemption - The proposed action also establishes an exemption to the requirement that a circle hook be used while live-lining when an angler is using a finfish, except spot and white perch, which measures 4 inches or less in length. Circle hooks will still be required if using spot or white perch for bait. The Department did not change rules for the use of treble hooks while live-lining.

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• Adopted as Proposed – Effective March 17, 2025

The Department needs to clarify that an individual may only attempt to catch fish when using legal fishing gear. The regulation already says that you can only catch fish with certain gear, but it should say that you can only use that gear to catch or attempt to catch fish. It was recently discovered that the regulation is not completely clear.

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The Department would like to eliminate the catch card census program. The catch card census program is a reporting and tagging program that was developed to fulfill federal reporting requirements. Eliminating the program would remove State reporting and tagging requirements for bluefin tuna, white marlin, blue marlin, roundscale spearfish, sailfish, swordfish, and sharks and transition Highly Migratory Species (HMS) permit holders to federal reporting options.

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The regulation allows the catching and landing of horseshoe crabs on Sundays. The annual total allowable landings of male horseshoe crabs for the commercial fishery is 255,980 male crabs. There is no female harvest permitted. The number of landings is set annually and is determined by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Allowing harvest on Sundays will not increase the allowable landings. There is a strict cap on harvest and any overages must be subtracted from the total allotment for the following year.

• View the Small Business Compliance Guide
• View the Proposal
  
• Adopted as Proposed – Effective March 17, 2025

1. The Department changed the word conversation to conservation to avoid confusion in regulation due to a clerical error.
2. The Department has declared all freshwater mussels in the order Unionoida as in need of conservation. A person may not catch, offer for sale, purchase, or possess any freshwater mussel caught in Maryland waters. The only exception would be for research under a Department-issued permit.

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• Adopted as Proposed​​ - Effective Februa​​ry 17, 2025​
  

The Department needs to update its references to the scientific name of largemouth bass, formerly Micropterus salmoides. In 2023, the American Fisheries Society published their most recent list of common and scientific names of fishes, which reflects a change in the name of Florida bass from Micropterus floridanus to Micropterus salmoides and in the name of largemouth bass from Micropterus salmoides to Micropterus nigricans. This means that all of the Department’s references to the scientific name of largemouth bass now technically refer to Florida bass. The Department is not changing any rules relating to largemouth bass, does not have Florida bass, and does not support introduction of Florida bass.

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The Department would like to update the monetary values of fish in the Code of Maryland Regulations. The Department would like to remove outdated fish values and replace them with the most up-to-date values as determined by the American Fisheries Society (AFS). The original AFS document was the basis for the 1975 regulations, so this change is in line with the original regulation. The Department would incorporate the document by reference and make the document available on the Fishing and Boating Service’s website. Additionally, the Department would clarify that the regulations will only apply to fish kill incidents. The AFS document does not cover all species so the Department would consider other available resources and information such as dockside value, stocking costs, and inflation in determining replacement costs for species that are not listed.

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The purpose of this action is to create a no-cost declaration of intent for shellfish dealers who purchase soft-shell clams of the species Mya arenaria, hard-shell clams, or oysters in order to facilitate current reporting and tax payment requirements.

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• View the Proposal

The Department proposed updates to its recreational, commercial, and charter penalty schedules. The Department maintains these administrative penalty schedules as an additional deterrent to breaking fisheries laws in addition to the fines that violators face in District Court.

1. Recreational Schedule
• Create additional tiers for oyster catch limit violations.
• Increase the penalty for non-projectile gear violations.
2. Recreational, Charter, and Commercial Schedules
• Creates administrative penalties for exceeding longnose gar catch limit.
3. Charter and Commercial Schedules
• Increases penalties for disturbing fishing gear owned by another person and clarifies the penalty also applies to stealing fish and crabs out of gear owned by another person.
4. Housekeeping
• Housekeeping corrections are made to ensure that the proper authority is cited for each violation as regulations have been moved or updated.

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The Department needs to formalize the methods for submitting commercial and charter harvest reports in regulation and require harvesters to declare their method of reporting for each report they are required to submit.

Currently, there are three methods to report commercial harvest: paper and two forms of electronic reporting. Not all methods are described in regulation and each method of reporting has unique submission requirements. Requiring harvesters to declare a reporting method is necessary for ensuring reporting compliance. If the Department does not know how an individual is going to report, it cannot conduct outreach to delinquent reporters. Currently, the Department receives only about one half of the required harvest reports each year, making declaration a critical tool as the Department works to increase reporting compliance.

The summary (link below) has detailed information and frequently asked questions.

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The Department is considering implementing a zero creel limit for shortfin mako. This would mean that a person could catch a shortfin mako, but they would need to immediately release it. They could not retain it. The limit would apply both commercially and recreationally.

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The Department has established harvest hours for shellfish aquaculture:

1. October through May - Sunrise to sunset. This is not a change to the times that were previously allowed.
2. June and September - Sunrise to the end time specified in the Vibrio parahaemolyticus Control Plan (“V.p. Control Plan”), which is codified in Maryland Department of Health regulations at COMAR 10.15.07.06. The plan requires that harvest must end no later than 11:30 a.m. in June and 12:30 p.m. in September. This is not a change to the times that were previously allowed.
3. July and August - 30 minutes before sunrise to the end time specified in the V.p. Control Plan. Previously, the time period allowed in July and August was sunrise to 10:30 a.m. This allows an additional 30 minutes of harvest time compared to the times that were previously allowed.

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• View the Proposal
• Adopted as Proposed – Effective March 17, 2025

The Department needs to implement area-based gear requirements in the spiny dogfish gill net fishery to reduce bycatch of Atlantic sturgeon. This action is necessary to implement the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Addendum VII to the Spiny Dogfish Interstate Fishery Management Plan.

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The Department was considering allowing commercial harvesters to use gill nets in the Atlantic Ocean to catch striped bass on Saturdays and Sundays from October 1 through April 30.

After gathering feedback during the public scoping period, the Department has decided to not move forward with this topic.

The Department would like to re-add the ability for individuals who are licensed and permitted in the Chesapeake Bay Individual Transferrable Quota commercial striped bass fishery to set attended drift gill nets in the Chesapeake Bay for striped bass on Saturdays and Sundays during the striped bass gill net season. This ability was inadvertently removed from regulation when the Department eliminated the Chesapeake Bay Common Pool commercial striped bass fishery at the end of 2024.

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The Department proposed:

1. The elimination of the recreational and charter boat spring season (May 1—May 15) for striped bass, also known as the Trophy Season;
2. The elimination of the recreational and charter boat early summer and fall season (May 16—May 31) in the Susquehanna Flats, Susquehanna River, and Northeast River.
3. The prohibition of targeting striped bass in the areas which are being closed by this action;
4. The extension of gear rules (trolling prohibition and use of certain sized J hooks) to the new time frames; and
5. Requiring that no more than two fillets per legal fish are possessed on board a charter boat where striped bass have been filleted.

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• View the Proposal
• Adopted with Nonsubstantive Changes - Effective November 25, 2024

The Department has proposed to eliminate the Chesapeake Bay Common Pool commercial striped bass fishery. Doing this will mean that all individuals participating in the commercial striped bass fishery in the Chesapeake Bay would then participate in the Individual Transferrable Quota fishery.

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• View the Proposal
• Adopted as Proposed - Effective December 31, 2024

The Department has proposed revising the Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Protection Zones in order to correct two minor mistakes which have resulted in the proper areas not being identified. In Worcester County, the wrong longitude was identified in the area near Snug Harbor and Sinepuxent Bay. In Calvert County, the longitude of one of the coordinates near Drum Point must be corrected.

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• Adopted as Proposed - Effective January 6, 2025

The Department has established a tidal/nontidal dividing line in Swan Creek in Harford County. The line is at Old Post Road. Upstream of Old Post Road is designated as nontidal waters, while downstream is designated as tidal waters. Dividing lines delineate those areas in which nontidal fishing licenses or Chesapeake Bay and coastal sport fishing licenses are required and where tidal or nontidal fishing regulations apply.

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• View the Proposal
• Adopted as Proposed - Effective November 10, 2024