ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland fisheries biologists removed more than 13,500 pounds of invasive blue catfish from state waterways in 2026 as part of a summer monitoring effort conducted across four tidal rivers.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries announced September 30 that its invasive fishes team had completed this summer’s Tidal Catfish Monitoring Survey on the Nanticoke, Patuxent, Potomac and Sassafras rivers.
Biologists used low-frequency electrofishing during the survey, a technique that temporarily stuns fish so crews can collect them for sampling and population monitoring.
The work is designed to help DNR track catfish populations in Maryland’s tidal freshwater rivers and better understand how those populations are changing over time…