Saving Seafood

MARYLAND: Talbot County environmental consulting firm plans to recruit watermen to help clean up ‘ghost pots’

October 13, 2026 — An Easton-based environmental consulting firm has won federal money to pull abandoned crab pots, known as “ghost pots,” out of the Chesapeake Bay, and local watermen will be paid to do the retrieval.

According to the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, Rauch Inc. received $126,000 to recruit commercial watermen to recover derelict crab traps in Talbot County waters, including around Tilghman Island. The money comes through a NOAA subaward through the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

Those areas were chosen based on a 2016 assessment by NOAA’s Marine Debris Program and the institute.The assessment predicts high levels of derelict pots off of Tilghman Island.

Read the full article at WBOC

Menhaden debate puts fishermen under pressure

October 6, 2026 — As the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) prepares for a November vote on possible new Chesapeake Bay menhaden restrictions, fishermen and workers on both sides of the debate say the outcome could hit their livelihoods.

The Bay Journal reported Oct. 2 that bait fishermen in Maryland and Virginia are facing declining menhaden catches and rising costs, while employees of Ocean Harvesters and Omega Protein worry additional restrictions on the reduction fishery could mean smaller paychecks or eventually fewer jobs.

ASMFC is considering changes under Draft Addendum II that could cut the Chesapeake Bay menhaden harvest cap by as much as 50 percent and establish quota periods intended to spread harvest throughout the season. The commission is scheduled to vote at the Nov. 10-11 meeting, with public comment open through Oct. 9.

The debate comes as fishermen on both sides describe growing economic pressure.

According to the Bay Journal, Maryland bait fishermen harvested about 1 million pounds of menhaden in 2024, compared with as much as 10 million pounds in previous years. Robbie Wilson, a fourth-generation pound0net fisherman on Tilghman Island, Maryland, said rising diesel costs and weaker seafood demand could make this his last year targeting menhaden.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

MARYLAND: Striped bass poachers banned from fishery for life

June 29, 2016 — EASTON, Md. — Two Talbot County Watermen received lifetime bans from the striped bass fishery by the Maryland Department of Natural Resource (DNR) after being convicted of poaching and selling nearly $500,000 of striped bass over a period of four years.

Tilghman Island watermen Michael D. Hayden Jr. and William J. Lednum were convicted in 2015 and 2014, respectively, of running an illegal striped bass operation.

In addition to the $498,000 in court-ordered restitution to the state of Maryland, both Hayden and Lednum received lifetime revocations of their striped bass fishing licenses and were suspended from all commercial fishing activities for the next year, followed by a four-year probationary period in all other fisheries, according to DNR.

Their striped bass allocations are being returned to the commercial fishery.

“The department has acted to protect the species as well as the interests of those who rely on the striped bass fishery for their livelihood,” said DNR Secretary Mark Belton. “We hope this sends a strong signal to poachers that the state is serious about protecting the fishery.”

Read the full story at the Star Democrat