Like we really need to lose 2 Million Fish in the Bay...
 

From the Sun's website:

State officials say they are investigating a "very large" fish kill in the Chesapeake Bay, but suspect cold temperatures killed them, rather than any water-quality problems.

An estimated 2 million fish have been reported dead from the Bay Bridge south to Tangier Sound, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment, which investigates fish kills. The dead fish are primarily adult spot, with some juvenile croakers.

Agency spokeswoman Dawn Stoltzfus said bay water quality appears acceptable, and biologists believe "cold-water stress" the likely cause of the fish kill. Spot are susceptible to colder water, she said, and normally leave the upper bay by now. Water temperatures plummeted in late December to near-record lows for that time of year, about 36 degrees. The average air temperature last month was 32.4 degrees, 4.3 degrees below normal, and reached 16 degrees at its lowest, according to the National Weather Service.

Large winter kills of spot have been documented at least twice before, the MDE spokeswoman said, with about 15 million dying in early 1976 and a smaller number in 1980. Anyone wanting to report seeing dead fish can call 1-800-MDE-GOTO.

Could there be a limit put on Spot this coming year?
It's been talked about for a couple of years, 2011 may see it happen.

it is possible. There was already concern over the spot harvest expressed at the joint SFAC/TFAC meeting last July. While they discussed the use of spot pots specifically, the unknown and underreported harvest was brought up by DNR .

The Spot Pot is a done deal. Commercial license only.
Since the largest amount by far, of Spot are caught by rec anglers, it stands to reason their catch would be unreported.

Yup... pots are commercial gear and shouldnt be used by recs.

Maybe a better wording would be..... "Yup...pots are commercial and CAN'T LEGALLY be used by recs."

I saw a couple thousand up near the BB last Saturday but they were all candy spot, not adult spot and croakers like the story says, but I've heard of reports of dead fish all up and down the bay.

New era now. They get turned in to the DNR. The floats have to have a commercial license number on them.

Maybe I was just unaware of it but I dont know any recs who were trapping fish in pots. I think it would be too much to worry about for guys who are only on the water once a week or so. Everyone I know hook and lines for spot. It is viewed as part of the fun. I know my son and his buddies love doing it. Upon being short on time, I would buy them from a local waterman who was charging me $1.00ea. (Considering the cost of blood worms I probably should have just always bought from him.) However I only bought spot from him twice this year. I believe the regulation clarrification probably hurt charters who dont have a commercial license. I still dont think it was even viewed by them as an issue as most those guys are networked with someone with a license.

I love live lining spot. I certainly hope that this kill doesnt cause problems for the fishery.

It's as much fun catching spot as it is rock!!..........Gary