Potomac Fisheries Blog
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Friday, November 21, 2014
2014 State of the Nation's River: River Friendly Growth
According to the Potomac Conservancy's 2014 State of the Nation's River, it is estimated that by 2040 the population in areas surrounding the Potomac Watershed will increase by 2.3 million residents. If this explosive population growth is not planned correctly it could be catastrophic for the health of land, waterways, and drinking water sources.
Mine Pool Waters Threaten to Contaminate Potomac
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, in cooperation with the Maryland Bureau of Mines and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, recently completed a multi-year project to determine the risk of polluted water discharge from mine pools near the North Branch of the Potomac River.
Monday, November 10, 2014
Chesapeake Bay Hypoxia Report 2014
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Potomac River Fisheries Commission Meeting
The next full (quarterly) meeting of the Potomac River Fisheries Commission (PRFC) is to be held Friday, December 5th, 2014 at 9:00 AM. It will take place at the PRFC headquarters, 222 Taylor Street, Colonial Beach, VA 22443. The public is invited, and highly encourage, to attend.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Continued Concern for Dwindling Crab Populations
Concern over dwindling numbers of blue crab in the Potomac River continues to grow for Maryland and Virginia watermen. Some fishermen blame rockfish and catfish for eating juveniles, however, it is most likely a reduced number of spawning age females preventing the recovery of crab populations.
Analysis of the 2014 winter dredge survey, conducted by Maryland and Virignia, suggests that the number of spawning age females is well below the "safe level" of 70 million. For several years now the Potomac River Fisheries Commission has been working to reduce the number of female crabs caught by implementing harvest reductions. Unfortunately, the success of these reduction has been small, this year the number of females caught was reduced by only 8.9%.
Low crab numbers are driving prices up, due to a still high demand for crab meat, while putting crab fishermen out of business, as there's not enough for everyone to catch.
Read the original article: Despite Downturn, Some Local Watermen Optomistic
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Maryland Blue Crab Moratorium?
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