Blue Catfish

[jffoley]

This is an interesting read that I found on another site. Bill is probably well aware of all this. Maybe a new target for a future M&G?

http://www.bayjournal.com/article.cfm?article=4090

[rol716]

Thanks for the article!

[ictalurus]

Yeah, they started increasing exponentially (like bacteria in a petri dish) back in the mid-90s, which is what prompted me to do the age and growth study for my masters degree in 1998-2002. The white cats and channel cats started declining in the mid-1990s as the blues increased in abundance. After 2003, the blues they kind of retreated upstream a bit out of the range of the VIMS trawl survey, but now it seems like they're back with a vengeance. I'm not sure why the whites and channels would decrease. Blues don't seem to eat them very often, and I don't think there is as much dietary overlap as you would think given that they're all catfish. Catfish aren't very fecund, so overharvesting them would probably be easy, but the blues over about 24", or so, taste terrible in my experience and are loaded with contaminants. Anyway, I'm surprised the ASMFC is getting involved as that really isn't their jurisdiction.

[jffoley]

It just so happens that I opened the Virginia Outdoor report that hit my mailbox a couple days ago and, coincidentally, there's a report about the new state record blue catfish caught in March. It was kept alive and has been released into the BassPro Shop aquarium in Ashland, VA. It goes 109lbs and 53" long! A couple pics there as well. Scroll down almost to the bottom: http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/outdoor-report/2011/05/11/

Two other discussions about them there. One is to develop a Chesapeake Bay wide management policy on them while the other is a VA Tidal River report and forecast for them. This is the full report: http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/fishing...ish-report.pdf

Also, BPS is running a contest to name the big kitty. Winner gets a $100 gift card: http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/st...tallevents.cfm