Gov. Wes Moore signed new legislation this year that allows the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to explore using gill nets for the commercial harvesting of blue catfish due to the species’ invasive nature.
Blue catfish are considered a threat to the Chesapeake Bay’s ecosystem with their unyielding appetites — particularly towards the Maryland blue crab —, their high reproductive rate and potential harm to native species.
Before the Invasive Blue Catfish Pilot Program came to be, Freshwater Fisheries and Hatcheries Division Statewide Operations Manager Joseph Love at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources says a decade’s worth of destigmatization around eating blue catfish had to be done.
Read more (and listen) at WYPR.
