Striped bass regs comment period ends Wednesday
You have until Wednesday to offer comments on a series of proposals designed to make it harder for poachers to use gill nets in the Chesapeake Bay.
In February, miles of illegal nets filled with 12.6 tons of striped bass were discovered in the waters off Kent Island, touching off a public furor and acting as a catalyst for the enactment of tougher poaching penalties by the General Assembly. An online petition calling for the end of all commercial netting in the bay gathered thousands of signatures.
The Department of Natural Resources responded with an array of proposed regulations to make it easier to track nets and the watermen who deploy them and to monitor check stations that certify and call in catches to DNR's Fisheries Service.
The state hopes to have the regulations in place for the start of the 2011-2012 gill net season on Dec. 1.
Email comments to fisheriespubliccomment@dnr.state.md.us, by fax at 410-260-8310, or by mail to Striped Bass, Regulatory Staff, MDNR Fisheries Service, 580 Taylor Ave., B-2, Annapolis 21401.
Fisheries Service managers will prepare and submit a proposal on Aug. 17 to the General Assembly’s Administrative, Executive, Legislative Review Committee. A formal public comment period will follow.
Comments
I know DNR posts all of this information on their website, but the average person doesn't bother looking at DNR's proposed regs. Honestly, how is the public going to keep tabs on the business of government, specifically with regards to decisions being made involving our natural resources, without you Candy? I'm dreading your move... I really do wish that the Sun would reconsider.
Posted by: Jake | August 8, 2011 8:21 PM