USDA Makes Announcement in Tilghman Island

(TILGHMAN ISLAND, Md) – Waterman, like the ones on Tillman Island, are about to potentially see a boom to their industry; as Congressman Andy Harris and the USDA have announced new measures to combat an invasive species in the Chesapeake Bay.

Congressman Harris and U.S. Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins toured Tilghman Island Seafood Wednesday as they announced plans to tackle invasive blue catfish in the Chesapeake.

“…Again, this is hundreds of millions of pounds of fish waiting there to be caught. It’s a low cost. It can be caught in it relatively inexpensively. And it is a tremendous opportunity,” says Congressman Harris.

According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, millions of blue catfish are calling Maryland waters their home.

Owner of Tilghman Island Seafood, Nick Hargrove, says the announcement could spark interest in the younger generation to make a living on the waters of the bay.

Nick tells us, “We’ll be able to take our abilities for maybe 20,000 pounds today to 40,000, 60,000 pounds a day. That will encourage new watermen to want to go out and purchase gear to catch them, and also help to grow the younger generation of watermen that we know we’re going to need to be able to combat this issue.”

Being able to clear out the invasive blue catfish will help in more ways than one.

From improving the health of the Chesapeake Bay to helping local economies.

Secretary Rollins says, “This is again a really exciting day, I think, for the Eastern Shore. Really exciting day for small businesses like Nick’s and others. A really great day to think about and work on cleaning out this invasive species. But it’s also much bigger than that…”

According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, nearly two million pounds of blue catfish were found in state waters, stemming from the Potomac River.