The Chesapeake Bay sport fisheries are in serious trouble, mostly due to the lack of any meaningful regulations concerning the commercial Menhaden fishery in the Bay.  I have fished the Bay for most of my 74 years, and have seen a decline in the sport fishery in recent years. Menhaden are a vital food source for many of the Bays sport fish, including, but not limited to, Striped Bass, Cobia, Flounder, Bluefish, Red and Black Drum.  These fish are not finding the Menhaden needed to support these fisheries.

The Menhaden fishery needs stricter regulations to allow enough Menhaden to survive in the Bay to support the sport fishery.  The bycatch that the commercial fishery wastes is astounding, and unethical.  The limits to the areas that the commercial fishery has need to be greatly expanded. No fishing in Bay rivers, near state parks or federal protected areas, or near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, for starts.  Strict enforcement on the catch limits.

It is time for the VMRC to step up and protect the Bay's resources, resources that belong to all of the citizens of the Bay states. Stop protecting out of country businesses and start looking out for the citizens who live here.