That’s about when our new neighbor and avid fisher Jack Dowd started catching assorted catfish at our local bridge, a fishing locale Bill knows well. (Little did I know how well that description suited our estuary.). Internet Explorer lacks support for the features of this website. That’s about when our new neighbor and avid fisher Jack Dowd started catching assorted catfish at our local bridge, a fishing locale Bill knows well. It’s our local fish in the St. Louis and central Illinois region where I spent much of my early life. While both fish are long-lived and fast-growing, it’s the blue catfish that is the major problem. Last updated by Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office And, telemetry work by researchers at Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries demonstrated that blue catfish can be highly mobile and may move seasonally. Like everybody else’s, his catch was filled out with perch, croaker, spot and, about this time of year, Spanish mackerel. These catfish have done an excellent job of taking over the Chesapeake Bay area since they were introduced to the James, York, and Rappahannock Rivers during the 1970s-80s. With the rockfish moratorium now a distant memory in another century, Bill has joined the rest of the Chesapeake fishing community in seeking (and sometimes catching) rockfish. Lucky or species-targeting anglers now and again got flounder or red or black drum or some oddity like the record Florida pompano just caught in our waters. It is illegal to transport live blue and flathead catfish between water bodies in all Chesapeake Bay jurisdictions. But it is not uncommon to find them cruising shallows along the shore either, especially at night. The commercial and recreational fisheries are helping to control the population. How it succeeded! Says Tim Sughrue of Congressional Seafood Company, “These are not docile fish. Blue catfish is a newcomer to Washington stores and restaurants, it’s sustainably caught in the Chesapeake Bay, and it’s probably tastier than any catfish you’ve ever had. My first thought was that I was seeing small tree trunks or the remains of fence posts coming up from the bottom. Rockfish, known as striped bass in most of their range but Maryland, is the most celebrated species of the northeast seaboard. Striped bass, bull reds, swordfish, largemouth and smallmouth bass, and numerous other species will be doing their best to fatten up for winter this month, giving anglers a number of possibilities to pick and choose from. The Chesapeake Bay watershed has become a home for several invasive fish species, the most prominent of which are blue and flathead catfish, and the northern snakehead. Or can we outmaneuver them? Bill, like my mother, just about lives to fish. But for a couple of weeks early in the summer rockfish season, blue catfish and snakeheads were leading Doyle’s fishing report. So blue cats now show up in other places like the James River in Virginia and even the Chesapeake Bay. But no one knows how many blue catfish would need to be caught to reduce potential conflicts with other species — or whether a market exists for that large a catch. Blue catfish also support a growing commmercial fishery in the region, due to their excellent food quality. They are primarily fished using hook and line. Blue catfish are destroying the Chesapeake Bay. If you catch a catfish in Chesapeake Bay, there’s a good chance it’s an invader from the Mississippi River drainage–probably a blue catfish, though it could be a less common flathead catfish. Recreational Fishery . While both fish are long-lived and fast-growing, it’s the blue catfish that is the major problem. She was skilled at catching, skinning and cooking a catfish. In one hour of electrofishing, researchers caught more than 6,000 invasive catfish! Originally intended to establish a new recreational fishery in Virginia, these fish have been so successful that, in recent surveys of the tidal James and Rappahannock rivers, they made up 75 percent of the total fish biomass. Will the fish prevail? A reconstituted Invasive Catfish Workgroup holds its first meeting August 27. Blue Catfish is an invasive fish species in the Chesapeake Bay but increasing commercial harvest and consumption is one way to reduce their numbers. NOAA Fisheries and our partners are supporting the development of these fisheries and working to identify further solutions to control the growth of this invasive population. Blue catfish are often found in deep waters of rivers and reservoirs. Soak the catfish fillets in milk to cover in a shallow dish for 1 hour. To catch channel catfish, anglers usually fish with cut baits, including fish, crabs, squid, chicken livers, shrimp, crayfish, nightcrawlers, or bloodworms. These fast-growing aquatic goats can multiply into a dominant species, “representing up to 75 percent of total fish biomass,” Bill learned. Much of that concern stems from incredible abundances reported by scientists and fishers, contributing to the belief that a … Credit: Ian Vorster/VA Sea Grant. While adult blue catfish have few natural predators in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, they are among the preferred prey of both osprey and bald eagles. They out-compete the native species for both habitats and food. Strong Defense. Despite its lower reputation as an oily fish, we got fond of that toothy species. The Chesapeake Bay has many different types of fish, so one is bound to fit your personal tastes. His report this week on our new Chesapeake species is the result. Finding and catching blue catfish is as simple as locating the masses of shad. Bald Eagle Aerobatics Draw Photographers to Conowingo. In the Chesapeake Bay, blue catfish are a popular recreational fishery. While both fish are long-lived and fast-growing, it’s the blue catfish that is the major problem. Perhaps we ought to take the fight to the fish? The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office (NCBO) and other Chesapeake Bay organizations identified invasive catfish as a challenge facing the Chesapeake ecosystem several years ago. Dennis Doyle uses that phrase in his Sporting Life column this week, and it’s acknowledged truth. I discovered it completely by accident a few years ago. I can’t disagree. I’ve always been obsessed with catching big fish. I like the taste of catfish. Four pairs of light, whisker-like barbels appear around its mouth. I had Catfish on the lines all day. “Tastes good,” Gov. Blue Catfish were introduced to tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay in the 1970s and 1980s to establish new fisheries, but their presence has generated concern for native species. That, of course, is a problem with any fish in our Bay. Blue Catfish Watch Chesapeake Bay. This fact sheet aims to enhance public awareness of this invasive species as a new commercial fishery resource. Never catfish. Don’t take my word for it. If you catch a catfish in Chesapeake Bay, there's a good chance it's an invader from the Mississippi River drainage—probably a blue catfish, though it could be a less common flathead catfish. Commercial and recreational fisherman have been catching blue catfish for decades, mostly in the James River. The blue catfish is a major predator of the blue crab population in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Getting rid of a species has proved difficult, our history with carp, snakeheads and zebra muscles tells us. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation's education workboats have been catching them off Annapolis during school field trips this spring. In Maryland, it is illegal to transport live blue and flathead catfish into another body of water, anyone in violation of this can be fined up to $2,500. The best baits for catching catfish in the Chesapeake Bay region often depends on habitat. Rockfish are biting now. They’re the new fish du jour on the Chesapeke menu. So far, the chief weapon we’ve arrayed against the fish is catch and eat. To help scientists and resource managers learn more about these fish, NCBO provided more than $1 million in funding for research projects to investigate blue catfish. Happier still was husband Bill Lambrecht, who brings us this week’s special report, Blue Cat Invasion. Credit: Marine Mammal Stranding Center, U.S. Fishing and Seafood Industries Saw Broad Declines Last Summer Due to COVID-19, Agency Approach to Saltwater Recreational Fishing Has Changed, Progressed through Partnership, President Signs New Executive Order Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth, Industry-Funded Monitoring in the Atlantic Herring Fishery, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, Report a Stranded or Injured Marine Animal, Tim Sughrue of Congressional Seafood Company, Chesapeake Bay Program’s Sustainable Fisheries Goal Implementation Team, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office. Blue catfish now support exceptional trophy fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay region, particularly in the James and Potomac rivers, where catfish over 50 lb are regularly caught by anglers. Fishing is part of the solution. It is smooth-skinned, with a bluish- or greenish-gray body, a silvery white belly and olive fins. This is the simplest way to go about finding and catching blue catfish. Guide services in the James and Potomac rivers run expeditions that target blue catfish. Many consider the James River to be the best river on earth to catch blue catfish over 50 lbs. This year catfish is the big catch. Date Posted: 2017-06-14 Source: The Washington Post. Perhaps that will happen. Blue catfish are here to stay. His report this week on our new Chesapeake species is the result. Are they damaging the big Chesapeake rivers by eating too many blue crabs or indigenous fish? And they can be massive—the largest one on record in Maryland was 84 pounds, while the largest in Virginia was 102 pounds. Many people fish on the bottom when targeting blue catfish. The wild caught fishery for blue catfish has grown steadily in recent years, providing revenue for fishermen and the businesses that support them. Update: In September 2015, the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program awarded a green seafood recommendation, the highest rating possible, to Chesapeake Bay blue catfish.According to the Wide Net Project, it is the first invasive species to be assessed and rated by the program nationally. Lots of Catfish. Find The Bait, You Find The Fish. Virginia Sea Grant Graduate Research Fellow Joe Schmitt (pictured on the right) and his undergraduate assistant Hae Kim show off their catch of blue catfish landed for Joe’s study of their diets. While both fish are long-lived and fast-growing, it’s the blue catfish that is the major problem. They are harvested mainly with baited hoop nets and a very low to no by-catch. Strong Support for Statewide Balloon Ban in Md. Shrewsbury River Dolphins Signal Cleaner Rivers, More Fish, Dolphins are important sentinels of the health of the marine environment. It has a slate blue body, a silver-white belly and four pairs of black, whisker-like barbels around its mouth. As more people find out how tasty blue catfish is--similar to striped bass or rockfish because it eats similar things--the number of places that sell blue catfish may grow. The VMRC has named the growing blue catfish population as one of the factors responsible for the low harvest numbers for crabs this year. For the best experience, please use a modern browser such as Chrome, Firefox, or Edge. I may have found the best fishing spot in the Chesapeake Bay. While the freshwater-loving fish also do well in brackish environments, record 2018 rainfalls in the Bay watershed created even more hospitable conditions. Catch and release of these fish is discouraged, as they are invasive top predators and pose a serious long-term threat to our native species. Virginia anglers can keep 20 blue catfish per day, but only 1 per day longer than 34 inches, and 20 flathead catfish per day with no size limit. Remove the fish from milk, 1 fillet at a time, letting the excess milk drip back into the dish. Still, I thought in moving to Chesapeake Country I’d made my escape from the culture and cuisine of sluggish feeders on the bottoms of Midwestern rivers and ponds locked by heavily farmed land. Giant blue catfish swarm the tidal rivers off the Chesapeake Bay, and tempting anglers across the Mid-Atlantic region. Originally from the Mid-West, native to the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio Rivers, the blue catfish was brought to Virginia in the 1970s and 80s as … Until now. Renee Mercaldo-Allen (far left) works with and helps Hollings Scholar Eileen Bates (center) and Volunteer Allie Grusky (right) quickly process fish traps during field work aboard the R/V Loosanoff in Long Island Sound. These highly adaptable species were introduced and have since spread all over the watershed, competing with native species and eating much of the available food. But for a couple of weeks early in the summer rockfish season, blue catfish and snakeheads were leading Doyle’s fishing report. nice day out. A natural-born cook and a restaurateur, she cooked catfish a little more delicately than the heavily breaded and deep-fried standard. Meanwhile, have a bite. While my friends targeted trout on opening day, you’d find me in the tailwaters of the stream trying to catch carp. Most Chesapeake Blue Catfish are brought on-board live which results in a very high-quality and fresh catch. Researchers from Virginia Institute of Marine Science found that blue catfish are highly tolerant to salinity, and that tolerance appears to increase with size. Its tail fin is deeply forked. Left unchecked, they threaten native species, including endangered and commercially important species. At the November 2017 Invasive Catfish Symposium held at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Rice Rivers Center, researchers from Virginia Tech, Maryland DNR, and Smithsonian Environmental Research Center presented information on blue catfish diet, finding that blue catfish feed heavily on plants, invertebrates, and small fish when they are younger, but eat mainly fish as they get older and larger. Closer to saltwater, peeler crab, soft crab, bloodworms, and squid are often preferred. But there might be more of them than there are of us. I tell people all the time, find the bait, you find the fish. They are apex predators just like sharks, but they reproduce like rabbits.”. Blue catfish are voracious eaters--they consume other fish, crustaceans, and even other catfish. And share your stories of catching, cooking and eating blue catfish: [email protected], Health and Wellness (Under the Circumstances), Chesapeake Beach Play Area Renamed for Senate President, VIDEO: Virtual Polar Plungers Get Creative (and Cold), Nation’s Largest Oyster Festival to Keep its Venue, Thanks to Open Space Grant, Pair of Va. Tree Planting Bills Move Forward. We arrived in Chesapeake Country just in time for Maryland’s species-reviving five-year moratorium on catching rockfish. In this case study, we focus on Blue Catfish Ictalurus furcatus which were introduced in the Chesapeake Bay region and are now considered invasive. Congress isn’t helping. Commercial blue catfish fishermen landed over 4.1 million pounds in 2016 up from just under 203,000 pounds in 2007. But that’s an issue for another time. The channel catfish usually grows to about two feet in length, but can be as long as four feet and weigh more than 50 pounds. We’ll let you know what comes out of it. It’s what my mother, an avid angler, grew up catching in Southern Illinois ponds, until fate dropped her in Key West for a few years. While flathead catfish are not as abundant nor as well-studied as blue catfish in Chesapeake Bay, they are of primary concern in the fresher waters of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Larry Hogan pronounced blue catfish as served at his annual Buy Local Cookoff last month. In fact, if I don’t have a legitimate shot at catching a 20- to 30-pound something every time I go out, I’d rather stay home. The good news is that blue catfish are delicious, and are now easy to find in restaurants and grocery stores in and around the Chesapeake Bay area. I had a bad feeling the Bunker I bought was rotten and I was right. NOAA Fisheries Chesapeake Bay Office works with partners to manage invasive catfish. But I’ll still order that in a central Illinois restaurant, like the Ozark House in Bloomington-Normal. Smoked bluefish is — you know the word — tasty. In a second dish, mix the flour, cornmeal, old Bay or Cajun seasonings, cayenne and salt and pepper. That’s because unlike the farmed variety, which eat a diet of corn-and-soy feed, blue cats feed on medium-size fish like menhaden and white perch. So Bill spent his early Chesapeake fishing career catching bluefish — if he was lucky. Tim Shugrue is vice president of Congressional Seafood in Jessup, MD, which is the largest processor of blue catfish around the Bay. According to the Chesapeake Bay Program, blue catfish, native to the Mississippi, Ohio and Missouri River basins, were introduced into Virginia rivers in the 1970s as a sport fish and have few regional predators. Blue catfish, introduced from the Mississippi River basin into the Chesapeake watershed in the 1970s, are now abundant in all major Chesapeake rivers, and pose a significant threat to Bay’s ecosystem due to their increasing populations and capacity to consume massive quantities of food. 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