BLACK BASS ANNUAL REVIEW Volume 11 Page 1 2019 Click banner to GET YOUR FISHING LICENSE Your license money directly funds fish conservation, including this program. Approximately $318,624 was spent to support the Tidal Bass Program in 2018, thanks to license sales and federal taxes on sport fishing tackle, import duties on motorboats and a portion taxes on small boat engine fuels. Some statewide services from this program include: Customer service via phone, e-mail, webinars, this annual review and outreach year-round Support hatchery production to grow bass, buy bass, and stock bass Carry out bass surveys required by Maryland’s Fishery Management Plan for tidal bass Issue bass tournament permits and assist release boat captains to protect bass Design, conduct and report scientific studies to improve management of the fisheries HAPPENINGS IN 2018 PAGE Develop web content to promote conservation Social Media in Bass Fishing 2 and provide customer resources Wildlife Crime Stoppers 2 Provide educational seminars for K-12 and Find the Bass 2 college students, and fishing clubs Electrofishing 101 3 Organize and participate with public, Black Bass Management Advisory Subcommittee Subcommittee Highlights 4 New! Potomac Bass Management 5 A Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Sport Fishing License is Snakeheads Changing Ecosystems 5 $15 ($22.50, nonresidents) and a resident non-tidal license is $20.50 ($30.50, nonresidents). Fishing Conservation licenses entitle a person to fish for 365 days in Kayaker Wins Conservation Award 5 Maryland. Funds support healthier watersheds, Be a Bass Conservationist: Expert Tips 6 education programs, and quality customer service. Using DNA to Find Invasive Species 6 No one should miss out. Fishery Assessments Best Bass Fishing in Bay 7 Recruit Stock Now, Fish Later 9 Introduce a friend to fishing Bass Disease in Maryland 9 Retain Contact Information 10 Buy a fishing license Reactivate HIS IS T Ask a friend to buy their fishing license again, MARYLAND . even if they have not for a while THE PREMIER DESTINATION FOR FISHING AND HUNTING Free Public Access Fishing Map Fish a Tournament Find a Charter Boat Guides Prizes for Sharing Your Data Brag about your Catch FishMaryland Milestone Awards Where/When Trout are Stock Join a Youth Rodeo Get Unparalleled Customer Service Fishing and Boating Services | 580 Taylor Ave B-2 | Annapolis, MD 21401 In Maryland: 410-260-8257 | Out of state: 877-620-8367 TTY Users call via the Maryland relay The facilities and services of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources are available to all without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin or physical or mental disability. This document is available in alternative format upon request from a qualified individual with disability. 3/2019 DNR 17-022119-126 dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries BLACK BASS ANNUAL REVIEW Volume 11 Page 2 2019 SOCIAL MEDIA IN BASS FISHING WILDLIFE CRIME STOPPERS Make Maryland bass fishing trend in 2019, To contact Maryland Wildlife Crime Stoppers, #marylandbass or #marylandbassfishing. Social citizens can call or text 443-433-4112, media has revolutionized everything from email [email protected], or report communication to business. Bass fishing being no violations using the department’s free mobile exception, social media gives anglers a chance to app. Maryland Wildlife Crime Stoppers was tell their stories. Everyday people miss out on established to increase public awareness of the good opportunities to capture wild experiences impact of illegal harvesting of fish and wildlife in the world of bass fishing. For those who can populations, and encourage anyone with get out there, many share experiences. Tell those knowledge of these activities to connect with stories on Facebook (MarylandDNRFisheries), Maryland Natural Resources Police. Twitter (@mdnrfish), or Maryland Angler’s Log. Showcase a black bass at the heart of the story, Stewards can receive cash awards if they supply but do not stop there. Capture the experience of Maryland Natural Resources Police with kayaking or boating through Maryland’s scenic information leading to the arrest and conviction waters. Just pick a scenic location, bring some of a suspect. Awards are made possible through friends, and live the adventure. a partnership between Natural Resources Police and Maryland Wildlife Crime Stoppers. Tipsters should give names, addresses, vehicle descriptions, and as much information as possible. Anonymity of the caller is guaranteed. Maryland Wildlife Crime Stoppers depends solely on financial support from corporate, individual and public donations or gifts. Donations to Maryland Wildlife Crime Stoppers can be sent to: 580 Taylor Ave., E-3, Annapolis, Maryland 21401. FIND THE BASS Are you a student, or an angler looking for information about bass and forage fish? In the past those data were only available by email request (s). Now, thanks to fishing license sales, maps of hot spots for bass are on the Public Access Map. New in 2019 will be an opportunity for the general public to download most of the data that we collect, including forage fish and water quality. Users only need to select a group of sites from a map, identify a time frame (if any), and a target species (if any). Look for this new opportunity later in the year from the Tidal Bass Program’s homepage. BLACK BASS ANNUAL REVIEW Volume 11 Page 3 2019 ELECTROFISHING 101 People have said electrofishing catches all the fish, messes up fishing, and worse, kills bass. But what is electrofishing and what does it really do 1. Electrofishers catch all the fish. Not true. Any to the fish? fishing gear captures only a portion of a population, though some gear is better than others. Single pass electrofishing captures only a portion of the population and how much depends on the type of species, abundance, habitat conditions, experience of the netters, and condition of the gear. The Tidal Bass Survey catches about 50 percent of largemouth bass at Shocking! Electroshocking (also called a site. Because the program does not catch all of “electrofishing”) stuns fishes temporarily. the bass at a site, the catch is referred to as a “relative abundance.” Ever been fishing and seen a metal boat dangling 2. It is dangerous. True. Electrofishing can be very its probes from the bow like overcooked dangerous. Electrofishing scientists working with spaghetti noodles? Or maybe you have seen the Tidal Bass Survey follow a strict set of safety someone wading through the stream, waving a guidelines created by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife wand in the water between small boulders? The Service. Electrofishing units create an electrical operators are using a gas generator or battery to current that sends electrons from an anode, create a current that travels from a negative pole through water, which adds resistance to the (or anode) to a positive pole (or cathode). The current of electrons until they reach the cathode. probes and wand are usually cathodes. The boat Resistance decreases with salinity. Power output hull and the “tail” of a backpack electroshocker affected by current and resistance can cause are usually the anodes. When a fish gets caught serious damage to humans if they become part in the electric current, the fish can get stunned of the circuit. To keep from becoming part of the temporarily, allowing scientists to net it from the circuit, our scientists have extensive safety water. training and at a minimum, wear rubber boots and gloves. As part of the safety policy, Here, I tackle some of the concerns I have heard elecrofishing boats are required to cease in the past ten years about electrofishing. electrofishing within 100 feet of another person. Working Want to know more about electrofishing safety? wood. Staff Click HERE. using electrofishing 3. It messes up fishing. Maybe. Research probes and published on largemouth bass from Illinois lakes long handled showed that electrofishing can prevent bass from nets near submerged feeding for up to 4.5 hours, but usually 1.5 – 2 wood to hours. If the fish are not hungry, they might not survey bass. strike a lure. Adult bass about 0.5 pounds tended to feed within an hour of electrofishing, but fish that were larger (1 pound) took about 2 hours. BLACK BASS ANNUAL REVIEW Volume 11 Page 4 2019 The department has recorded at least one MANAGEMENT electrofished bass that was reported an hour later by an angler. Recognizing conflicts with angling, the Tidal Bass Program limits its surveys Subcommittee Highlights to a few selected shorelines during a narrow time window and avoids working areas ahead of The Black Bass Advisory Subcommittee: anglers whenever possible. • Established Nick Kuttner (Potomac 4. It kills the bass! Riverkeeper) as liaison to department Very rarely. The regarding habitat issues affect tidal electric current freshwater habitat. Connect with Nick travels through the and the department on habitat issues by fish and paralyzes it downloading free Water Reporter app. temporarily. Some fish, though, are • Found no convincing evidence that catch- barely paralyzed and-release or off-limits areas in tidal while others lie rivers during spring helped protect motionless for a recruitment1. minute or two. Once the fish becomes • Encouraged attention to forms of fishing motionless, scientists that damaged spawning habitat during capture it with long spring. handled nets and allow it to recover in a • Reviewed and improved department’s tank of water (if on A best management practices for reducing the boat) or in a Backpacking? backpack electrofisher stockpiling at weigh-in areas. bucket of water (if is often used in small, wading a stream). wadeable streams. • Considered regulations restricting Usually fish recover possession in non-tidal and tidal black within a few minutes. bass fisheries and advised no changes. Sadly, about one or two bass die each year during the survey.
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