June 10, 2021 — The architect of a historic fishing moratorium that saved the rockfish in the Chesapeake Bay nearly 36 years ago is warning that it could happen again.
Former Maryland State Senator Gerald Winegrad told WUSA9 Wednesday that efforts to stop an alarming slide in the population of rockfish are not working and action has to be taken now.
It is a drastic prediction, because the iconic Chesapeake Bay species amount to a half-billion-dollar industry in the Eastern U.S., according to one study for a recreational fishing organization.
“It’s a potential if we wait two, three, or four years to really start cracking down on the harvest,” Winegrad said. “It is a potential that we would be forced into such a drastic measure.”
“Back in the 1980’s we were experiencing similar declines,” he added.
The famous five-year rockfish moratorium engineered by Winegrad and supporters in 1985 is credited with saving the species from complete collapse.