EASTON, MARYLAND — In Annapolis tonight, Maryland fishery managers open the state’s in-person hearing on whether to shrink the Chesapeake Bay’s industrial menhaden reduction harvest and spread what remains across the season.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission host an in-person public hearing Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Annapolis High School Auditorium at 2700 Riva Road, Annapolis. The hearing gathers comment on Draft Addendum II to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden, advanced by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Draft Addendum II considers options to reduce the Chesapeake Bay Reduction Fishery Cap — the Bay Cap — by up to 50% and distribute that cap more evenly through the fishing season. The commission’s hearing notice says the options aim to ease a concentration of reduction effort that may be affecting other fisheries in the Bay and other potential ecological impacts. The Atlantic Menhaden Management Board opened the draft after concerns about declining pound-net harvest and catch per unit effort in the Bay in recent years, alongside a summer-heavy spike in reduction harvest and possible downstream effects on menhaden predators.

The draft also includes options that link the Bay Cap to the coastwide total allowable catch to keep a more fixed proportion between the two, and options to split the Bay Cap into three quota periods so reduction harvest does not pile up in spring and summer. Under Amendment 3 in 2018, the Bay Cap stands at 51,000 metric tons, reflecting average reduction landings in the Bay from 2012–2016. Board guidance for public analysis includes status quo (0% reduction) and reductions of 10%, 20%, 30%, and 50%.

Maryland’s hearing is one stop on a coastwide schedule from Maine through Virginia. No final decision is made at the hearing; the Board is scheduled to review public comment and consider final action on Draft Addendum II at the commission’s 2026 Annual Meeting in November.

Comments may be given verbally at any scheduled hearing or submitted in writing through 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Oct. 9, 2026 — via the commission’s public comment survey or comment box, email to comments [at] asmfc.org with subject line “Atlantic Menhaden Draft Addendum II,” or mail to James Boyle, ASMFC, 1050 N. Highland Street, Suite 200-N, Arlington, VA 22201. The Draft Addendum, hearing schedule, and comment links are posted on the Atlantic Menhaden Draft Addendum II Action Tracker.

Maryland DNR contact for the hearing is Michael Luisi; PRFC contact is Ingrid Braun-Ricks.