The Chesapeake Bay is home to more than 250 species of fish and shellfish. Each of these species plays an important role in the ecosystem. Many of these species are highly enjoyed seafood products. Harvest of these blue crabs, oysters, fish, and other species is a major economic enterprise. Fisheries management in the Chesapeake Bay is complex due to the intricacies of the ecosystem and the demands of the fishing industry. Despite current fisheries management efforts, the abundance of economically valuable species is declining.

Until recently, when determining policies, fisheries managers with state and other jurisdictions have looked at one species of fish or shellfish at a time. For example, if there were a decline in the number of a certain kind of fish in the Bay, authorities might decide to lower the cap on how many of that fish could be caught in a given year.

But the amount of fishing of a single species is only one variable that affects the future of that kind of animal. Other elements come in to play as well, because species are affected by interactions with other species, as well as the effects of pollution and other stresses on the Bay on habitat and water quality. To more effectively assess the health of any given fishery and to determine the best way to support it, the entire ecosystem must be taken into account.

NCBO supports a move to ecosystem-based management for fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay in order to restore, enhance, and protect living resources, their habitats, and ecological relationships to sustain all fisheries and provide for a balanced Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.

To clarify how ecosystem-based planning for fisheries will work in the Chesapeake Bay, NCBO scientists supported the Chesapeake Fisheries Ecosystem Plan Technical Advisory Panel, which included fisheries scientists from institutions around the Bay as well as federal and state agencies, in the Panel’s work to draft Fisheries Ecosystem Planning for Chesapeake Bay. Copies of the book are available for purchase.

This publication describes the structure and function of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, including key habitats and species interactions. Further, it serves as a guide to ecosystem-based approaches to individual fishery management plans, and includes recommendations for implementing these plans. It also recommends specific research that will help scientists in the future use their knowledge to support the entire ecosystem.

Other NCBO activities support specific fisheries. NCBO scientists participate on the Chesapeake Bay Stock Advisory Committee, which releases the annual Blue Crab Advisory Report . The report, released at beginning of each new crabbing season, serves as the authoritative source of information for state fisheries managers as they make resource management decisions regarding blue crabs.