Governor Signs Bills to Crack Down on Bay Poachers

On Thursday, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley signed into law several bills designed to protect Maryland fisheries and encourage shellfish aquaculture, according to a press release from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

The first bills, Senate Bill 159, sponsored by Sen. Brian Frosh (D-Montgomery County), and House Bill 273, sponsored by Del. Jim Gilchrist (D-Montgomery County), increases the penalties for oyster, blue crab and striped bass poaching. In addition, the legislation authorizes Natural Resources Police (NRP) to inspect commercial fishing storage areas.

In the state Senate, the bill passed unanimously (29-0). In the House, the vote was 126 to 11 in favor. The 11 House votes in opposition came from Republican members in Caroline, Carroll, Howard, Queen Anne's, Wicomico and Washington counties.

“Through this legislation, we are sending a strong message in the fight to protect some of our most valued natural resources,” O’Malley said. “By expanding aquaculture opportunities we are taking an innovative approach towards reviving our native oyster population, while at the same time, protecting oysters and our other fragile resources by punishing those who would wantonly disregard the law.”

“These bills will help Maryland’s premier fisheries and the folks who depend on them for their livelihoods. They’re a win for everyone—except poachers,” said Frosh, a member of the Chesapeake Bay Commission.

In addition to those bills, Senate Bill 635, sponsored by Frosh and House Bill 1154, introduced by Gilchrist, also were signed.

These bills revoke a commercial fishing license from any individual found by an administrative law judge to have knowingly committed egregious or repeat violations against striped bass or blue crabs.

Violations include using illegal gear, harvesting during closed seasons; harvesting from a closed area; violating established harvest, catch or size limits; or violating tagging and reporting requirements.

Finally, Senate Bill 655, along with House Bill 1225, increase the penalty for engaging in commercial fishing with a suspended license, a revoked license or without a license, by establishing a fine of up to $25,000 and imprisonment for up to one year.

“To bring the Chesapeake Bay back to full health, we need to not only clean up the Bay, but ensure that the resources—shellfish and finfish—are not poached and overfished,” said Sen. Paul G. Pinsky, the bill’s sponsor and member of the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee. “Breaking the law of the water harms the stock, the Bay itself and the people of Maryland. We must send a clear and strong message.”

According to the release, the Natural Resources Police seized 10,825 yards of illegal anchored gill net, with 32,204 pounds of striped bass retrieved from these nets.  These were the largest seizures of poached fish in Maryland in decades.