Article by Larry Jock
Editor’s note: I first met Tom O’Connell in the spring of 2010 when he surprisingly came down to Ocean City to discuss potential flounder regulations with a group of us. I say “surprisingly” because nobody could EVER remember the Director of Maryland Fisheries coming to Ocean City to hold discussions with anglers about anything. We left the meeting impressed with Tom’s interest in what we had to say and his flexibility and willingness to take a different route than the one that was being proposed.
Recently, Tom took some time out to answer some of our questions regarding various aspects of fishing along our coast. Due to space restrictions, the entire interview is not included in this issue. You can find the entire interview on our website.
CF - You've been Director of Maryland Fisheries Service for 3 years now. Has the job been what you expected?
TOC - It is hard to believe that three years have passed since I became Director of Maryland’s Fisheries Service. At the time I accepted this position, I remember having a high level of excitement and anxiety about the road ahead. My expectation was that becoming successful in this position would be the biggest challenge of my professional career. This has proven to be accurate, but this in itself was a primary reason why I accepted this opportunity.
CF - What has been your biggest dissapointment?
TOC - My biggest disappointment has been learning about the high percentage of Maryland’s commercial watermen who have been repeatedly and purposely violating our natural resource laws. Fortunately, the Department has taken several steps to address this problem, including providing additional resources to the Natural Resources Police to support more focused fisheries enforcement patrols and investigations, and use of new technologies such as the Maryland Law Enforcement Information Network which consists of a series of radars and cameras that can provide 24/7 surveillance of on-the-water activity, adopting new regulations that establish significant penalties, including suspension and revocation of license, and working with the judiciary system to educate them on the seriousness of natural resource violations.
CF - What has been your biggest success?
TOC - I believe my biggest success pertains to the organizational effectiveness of Maryland’s Fisheries Service team, clearly articulating our mission, developing transparent fisheries management principles, and improving the public participation process to support decision-making.
The organizational effectiveness of our Fisheries Service team has improved through better communication pathways that I developed both top-down and bottom-up. There is also regular communication now between Fisheries Service and the Natural Resources Police, and other Units throughout the Department. This was not always the case, and has proven very beneficial.
CF - Let’s talk about enforcement. We routinely saw anglers keeping small tautog from the South Jetty, off the Rt. 50 Bridge and near the rocks south of Gudelsky Park. The South Jetty was closed and rumors have it that your Fisheries Service officers are cracking down on anglers at locations known for poaching. Can you update us on what has been done to limit poaching and what future plans the Fisheries Service will initiate to stop the poaching?
TOC - Natural Resources Police officers (NRP) check shore and boat fishermen daily for compliance, and will continue to do so. Unfortunately, NRP officers cannot decipher between the law abiding fishermen and the violators unless they check, so many fishermen will be checked on a regular basis if they fish in the area.
Lastly, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will be taking public comment on a proposed Addendum VI to the fisheries management plan, which addresses illegal live harvest of tautog. There will be a public hearing to receive public comment on the addendum in Ocean City. Details are not available yet, but the meeting will likely be in February or early March.
CF - If an angler witnesses poaching, what should they do?
TOC - Anyone who witnesses or has knowledge of poaching should call the Catch a Poacher Hotline number 1-800-635-6124. This phone number is printed on the bottom of every odd-numbered page of the 2011 Maryland Fishing Guide. An angler should be specific in the description of individuals, location, days and times. When possible, give name, addresses and vehicle or vessel descriptions. The anonymity of the caller is guaranteed. Callers may be eligible for a monetary reward if the information leads to the arrest and conviction of a violator.
CF - The Maryland Fisheries Service has implemented a program to enhance the fines for commercial fishermen who violate state regulations, up to and including revoking their fishing license. Will this plan be expanded to include recreational fishermen?
TOC - The Department proposed a recreational fishing license penalty system in November 2010. This proposal, which will be published in the Maryland Register on January 3, 2011, creates a suspension system for recreational license holders who are convicted of various egregious recreational fishing violations stemming from a variety of rules such as too many fish over a creel limit and fishing during a closed season. The proposed system would create tiers of violations based on egregiousness.
CF - Does Maryland still cooperate with the Coast Guard in the "Striper Swiper" program that targets anglers fishing for striped bass in the EEZ, outside of 3 miles? What have been the results of this program and will it be continuing?
TOC - Yes, Maryland NRP continues cooperative enforcement with the United States Coast Guard in Ocean City enforcing illegal striped bass activity in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). They have conducted two patrols recently and found no violations. They have future patrols scheduled, some involving the U.S. Coast Guard, some just with NRP officers who have been deputized to enforce federal fisheries laws.
CF - Let’s shift gears and look at reef building. After some material became available to build reefsites in the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland formed the Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative to coordinate state-wide reef building. One of the first coastal projects that MARI was involved in was the subway car drop near the Jackspot. Are the subway cars holding up like expected?
TOC - Unfortunately, the steel subway cars from NYC Transit Authority that were deployed during the 2007-2008 period have not held up as well as the older generation of “Red Bird” subway cars that were deployed off the Delaware coast about 10 years ago. However, the remaining material is providing good low-profile hard habitat on the artificial reef sites. A recent dive to the Jack Spot, Bass Grounds and Isle of Wight sites on November 3rd documented large schools of black sea bass on the reef structure with bluefish schooling in the water column above the reef.
CF - What plans does MARI have for coastal reef building in 2011?
TOC - The largest reef project for 2011 will be the sinking of retired Navy destroyer USS Arthur W. Radford. This vessel is 563 feet in length and will have a vertical profile of 70 feet when resting upright on the bottom. The vessel will be sunk in a tri-state project in 130 feet of water at the Del-Jersey-Land Reef site, approximately 30 miles northeast of OC Inlet.
The Ocean City Reef Foundation continues with grass-roots reef building projects using concrete structures and cleaned steel vessels.
CF - The hot topic for 2011 will be the new Maryland Saltwater Fishing License that goes into effect on January 1st. Since, for the first time, Maryland’s coastal anglers will have to pay to fish, what benefit will they see from the new program?
TOC - Though a license was not required on the coast, management of fish resources was still needed. These management costs were paid through license sales on the Chesapeake Bay and a federal grant. Coastal anglers will be paying for the fisheries management provided on the coast.
There have been a lot of concerns about the fishing estimates done by NOAA. Under the new MRIP program, one of the changes will be to change from calling random households to determine the amount of fishing to calling anglers from the The National Saltwater Registry. Buying a license or registering with the State automatically puts you on the list of anglers, which will increase correct representation of coastal anglers in the survey.
CF - Does the Fisheries Service plan to ease their way into the program?
TOC - The Natural Resources Police realize that the need for a fishing license in coastal waters is a substantial change, of which many citizens and visitors will not immediately be aware. It is our intention to take an educational approach to enforcement during the first year of implementation, placing emphasis on awareness of the new requirement for first time offenders. This does not, however, prevent an officer from taking a progressive enforcement approach in the case of repeat offenders or in aggravated or unusual circumstances.
CF - Anglers fishing at "Free Fishing Zones" will not be required to have a Saltwater Fishing License. How do we get free fishing zones in Ocean City?
TOC - The Department is currently reviewing the goals and criteria of free fishing areas. Though these areas are free, anglers are required to have a free registration. This registration is provided online. So there is a compliance issue with anglers that may not be familiar with the rules
CF - Right now, Maryland and Virginia have agreements where each state will recognize the others saltwater fishing license. Are there plans in the works to have the same agreement with Delaware?
TOC - Earlier this year, I provided a briefing paper to my counterparts in Delaware regarding possible sport fishing reciprocity scenarios for Maryland and Delaware anglers, including area specific reciprocity such as the Nanticoke River and the coastal bays along with statewide reciprocity. Delaware responded that at this point in time they want to hold off on any further discussions about reciprocity, and that if we did anything along these lines it would likely be limited to the shared waters of the Nanticoke River because in this single case there would be benefits for both state’s anglers.
If anglers believe some form of reciprocity with Delaware would be beneficial to both states’ anglers, I would encourage them to ask their counterpart anglers in Delaware to inform their natural resource agency representatives of their interest to further pursue reciprocity with Maryland.
CF - Shifting to striped bass fishing, many coastal anglers would love to fish outside the current 3-mile limit. Do you ever see the EEZ off the Maryland coast being opened to striper fishing?
TOC - Maryland does not have the authority to unilaterally decide to open the EEZ because Federal waters are managed under the authority of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Therefore, in order for the EEZ to be opened, a request for action must be submitted to NMFS. To add to the complication, this request must come through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) which is the cooperative entity charged with managing striped bass from Maine to North Carolina. The ASMFC did request that the EEZ be re-opened when it adopted Amendment 6 to the Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan in 2003.
Amendment 6 contained a request to the Secretary of Commerce to re-open federal waters to commercial and recreational fisheries.
In September 2006, after a long process involving extensive public input, NMFS concluded that the EEZ should not be re-opened. They based this conclusion on 1) concern that fishing in this area may cause fisheries to exceed the overfishing threshold, 2) NMFS and the ASMFC would not have the ability to respond in a timely manner if fishing in the EEZ created an over-fishing situation, and 3) ‘overwhelming’ public comment expressing concern over additional fishing on the large migratory fish that are perceived to congregate in the EEZ. This situation highlights the complexity of managing a migratory species within State and Federal Jurisdictions.
CF - What is preventing government authorities from opening the EEZ to striper fishing?
TOC - The Federal Government is concerned that an EEZ fishery could cause fishing levels to rise over the safe threshold. It is impossible to quantify potential harvest in this area, especially on the recreational side where a quota is extremely hard to monitor and enforce. The most recent stock assessment (2009) conducted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) did conclude that striped bass are currently being fished is at a safe level, and there remain a healthy number of spawning-age striped bass. However, this document also pointed out that there has been a 25% decline in the number of striped bass since the peak in 2004.
Further, striped bass reproduction, as measured by juvenile indices recorded in the Chesapeake Bay has been below average in the last few years. Given these ‘warning signs’, both the States and the Federal Government will be cautious in managing striped bass and are not likely to propose any management actions that would increase overall harvest. This cautious approach was evident when, in November 2010, the ASMFC Striped Bass Management Board failed to support any increase in the striped bass coastal commercial quota.
CF - The Chesapeake Bay Spring Trophy Season for striped bass coincides with the time the fish are spawning in the Chesapeake Bay. I know it is a touchy situation, but how does Maryland Fisheries justify allowing anglers to fish for and keep large striped bass at this time? Does it make sense, at that time, to target and keep large female breeders in one of the world's premiere striped bass nurseries?
TOC - Maryland’s spring trophy striped bass season was set up in 1991 in order to allow Maryland fishermen the opportunity to pursue large, trophy sized striped bass that are not otherwise available to Maryland fishermen. The fishery functioned through 2008 under a strictly monitored 30,000 fish cap. In 2008, this cap was removed. In the last three years, Maryland has continued to closely monitor the harvest during this time period.
Given that the numbers of spawning striped bass are declining and reproduction has been low in the past few years, DNR will be working with stakeholders and management partners such as Virginia and ASMFC to evaluate all Chesapeake Bay spring fisheries that target pre-spawn striped bass.
CF - Outside of flounder, sea bass and tautog regulations seem to be getting the most attention from those setting size and creel limits. What is the current situation for both of these species and what do you see down the road for these fish, regarding size, creel and seasons?
TOC - We don’t know at this time what the regulations for 2011 are going to look like; a lot will depend on the next two Council meetings. Maryland Fisheries Service is working with our anglers, headboat captains, state biologists, and Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (MAFMC) staff and members to address data and management concerns for 2011 and into the future. Changes to the management approach, like “regionalizing” the quota, require changes to the fisheries management plan (FMP) and therefore take time. Additionally, black sea bass are a data-poor species, so while the stock is rebuilt, future improvements in quota and more liberal regulations are likely to occur slowly over a longer period.
Tautog management will likely undergo changes sometime in the next two years. There are some indications that tautog are experiencing increased pressure and the last stock assessment in 2006 indicates that less fishing pressure is necessary. There is new stock assessment scheduled for completion in 2012.
CF - Right now, captains who want to run charters in state waters are required to have a Maryland Guides License. For many years, Charterboat Captains on the coast have asked for a Coastal Guide License. Historically, the Chesapeake Bay Charterboat Captains Association has fought successfully to keep this from not happening, fearing lost business for their members. Is Maryland Fisheries considering plans to create a Coastal Guide License?
TOC - No, there are no plans to make a Coastal Guide license. All commercial licenses are capped at a target number per license. When a license becomes available under the target, it is provided to the next applicant on a waiting list. In the case of a fishing guide license there is no waiting list. In other words, there is no need for a special guide license for the coast when there are enough guide licenses currently available.
CF - We have read quite a bit in the local papers about proposed wind farms off the Delaware and Maryland coasts. Where do you see this initiative going and what impact will the wind farms have on coastal fishing?
TOC - In order to meet our renewable energy goals, the State is promoting the sustainable development of wind energy facilities off the coast of Maryland. DNR is working with a number of state and federal agencies to provide meaningful and timely input in the implementation of the federal renewable energy regulatory process. A nice summary of our efforts to date and next steps is located on our website.
With regard to the impact of wind farms on coastal fishing, literature reviews and European research have documented that the foundations of wind towers provide structured habitat and refuge for fish in ways similar to artificial reefs.
CF - For years, both anglers and Fisheries Service representatives were frustrated with the estimated number of fish caught based upon the MRFSS telephone surveys. As we transition to the new Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) survey, can you tell us how these surveys are going to be conducted and what makes MRIP better than MRFSS?
TOC - The current Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistic Survey (MRFSS) consists of two surveys – a telephone survey to determine the number of fishing trips and an on-site intercept survey to determine catch rates. Under the new Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP), there will be three areas of change that will affect the estimates of fishing in the Coastal Bays. The current telephone survey calls random households of a State’s entire population, contacts very few anglers, and must make huge adjustments to that information to estimate the total number of fishing trips. MRIP will call only anglers (from the National Registry), so the survey information will reflect only angler information, a big improvement.
The second change will be that the interviewers for the angler intercept survey will be required to stay at assigned sites even if there is no fishing, so they cannot “chase” areas of heavy fishing.
Third, the mathematical method used to develop the estimates from the data is being changed to better account for times of low fishing activity. All of these changes should result in improved harvest estimates.
CF - When is MRFSS estimated to go away and catch numbers be based solely upon the new MRIP system?
TOC - MRIP will be phased in over the next 2 years. The first change is that the new estimation procedures are expected to be operational in early 2011. We expect the telephone survey to start using the Saltwater Registry some time late in 2011. Finally, we do not expect the Angler Intercept Survey to change until 2012.
CF - Let's talk about flounder. Last year, you personally came to Ocean City to meet with anglers to discuss the 2010 proposed flounder regulations. I know this meant a lot to local anglers since nobody could ever remember the Director of Fisheries coming to Ocean City to meet with anglers. Is this something you plan to do every year?
TOC - I would be happy to come down and meet with local Ocean City anglers annually. Our meeting last spring was very successful. The Department was able to provide anglers with several management options that were designed to keep Maryland at or below our sustainable harvest target for summer flounder and anglers were able to provide their feedback on the pros and cons of each management option. The Department was concerned that the anglers’ preferred management option was too risky, and could put Maryland’s 2010 summer flounder harvest above the harvest target. After exchanging each other’s perspectives, we were able to agree to proceed with the angler’s preferred management option with the understanding that we would closely monitor the harvest, and if needed, close the fishery early.
While we are still waiting for the final harvest estimates for 2010, it appears likely that Maryland will be below our 2010 harvest target. If so, and with the stock continuing to expand, it is likely that Maryland will be able to liberalize the harvest restrictions for 2011, and we look forward to having this discussion with Maryland anglers.
CF - This year, we saw a 19-inch, 3 fish limit which many anglers felt was excessive. How are we doing this year compared to our allocation?
TOC - Our target for this year was 75,000 fish. Last year our estimated harvest was 89,000 fish, so we had to make reductions in our fishery to prevent us from going over this year. We do not have all the estimates in for 2010 but through August, our estimated harvest is 26,085 fish. We are still missing the estimate for September through the end of our season in November, which is often when the biggest harvest occurs. We are also missing the portion of the estimate that comes from headboat captains fishing in federal waters, vessel trip reports (VTRs); those numbers won’t be included until April, and increase our final estimate by about 5%. We do expect to come in below our target this year based on previous year’s harvests.
CF - What do you see on the radar for flounder regulations in 2011 and do you anticipate a 12-month season?
TOC - : The National Marine Fisheries Service did increase the coastal quota by about 30% for 2011, and our recreational target should reflect a similar increase. If we are under target in 2010 and with the quota increase, we should be able to enact less restrictive regulations for 2011. We will be able to start discussing what those options may be in January when all the available data are in.
CF - On a side note, how do your biologists estimate the strength of species in the coastal bays?
TOC - The Coastal Fisheries Program conducts an annual Coastal Bays Finfish Investigation. We collect 20 samples monthly with trawls April through October, and we collect 20 samples using seines in June and September. This survey has been conducted since 1972 and the survey was standardized in 1979. A video of our sampling is available on Youtube. Many of the samples we collect are juveniles. We compare the samples we catch in a year to previous samples to see trends in abundance. Changes may be the result of habitat in the Coastal Bays, coastal recruitment trends, and even currents off the coast. Our data are used in coastal stock assessments and help inform coastal management decisions.
CF - There was some controversy when dredging was stopped in our coastal bays. What changes have your biologists seen?
TOC - Since the abolition of mechanical harvesting in the coastal bays, hard clam populations have experienced a mixed bag of changes. North of the Ocean City Inlet, some areas have had substantial increases in the number of hard clams. However, hard clam densities in Chincoteague Bay (the largest of the coastal bays) remain at record low levels.
Bay scallops, which were re-introduced to Chincoteague Bay by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in the late 1990’s and subsequently expanded their range throughout the coastal bays, have declined precipitously. Only one scallop was caught during the annual shellfish survey this past October. Seagrasses, the preferred habitat of bay scallops, also appear to have declined from last year.
The Coastal Fisheries Program has not seen any changes in our finfish populations as a result of these changes, however sampling and analysis has not been designed to monitor for any possible changes because of dredging.
