June 15, 2026 — Over the last decade, invasive blue catfish have outcompeted nearly every native fish and shellfish in the Chesapeake Bay, putting generational watermen and fishmongers out of business. But if managed correctly, researchers from Virginia Tech’s Seafood and Agricultural Research & Extension Center in Hampton believe this invasive fish could spur a lucrative new commercial fishery with an annual economic impact of over $1 billion.
Native to the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio river basins, blue catfish were introduced to Virginia’s rivers in the 1970s as a new trophy fishery for recreational anglers.
As blue catfish populations grew and food supplies ran short in the James, Rappahannock and York rivers, blue catfish began venturing beyond their freshwater habitats into the brackish waters of the Chesapeake Bay.
Michael Schwarz, associate director of the Virginia Tech center, estimated that between 750 million and 1 billion pounds of blue catfish now swim in the Chesapeake Bay. Their collective biomass is greater than every other Chesapeake Bay species combined. And their habitat is still expanding — blue catfish have made their way into North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
“It’s an uncontrolled invasive species that is eating all of our traditional species that our seafood industries rely on,” Schwarz said.
Surging catfish populations and diminished native fisheries are causing a state of emergency across the industry, said Shelby White, a researcher at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester.