Maryland Weighs 8-Inch White Perch Minimum; Comments Due November 13

Maryland is considering an 8-inch minimum size for white perch caught with hook and line, a change that would bring recreational anglers under a size floor already applied to other fishing gear. The Department of Natural Resources is also considering designating white perch as a species in need of conservation. These are scoping ideas, not adopted rules. Public comments are due by 11:59 p.m. November 13, 2026.

The agency’s October 29 summary describes two options. The first would apply an 8-inch minimum to recreational and commercial harvest with all gear in tidal waters and in streams and rivers in nontidal waters. That wording does not include nontidal lakes and ponds. The second would retain that framework but allow appropriately licensed commercial harvesters to catch smaller white perch with hook and line during June, solely for bait in the commercial hook-and-line fishery. Those undersized fish could not be used or sold for another purpose. The exception would not apply to recreational anglers.

DNR says the June alternative responds to the commercial striped bass fishery’s use of small white perch before spot become available. It follows discussion with the Sport Fisheries Advisory Commission and Tidal Fisheries Advisory Commission in October. Anglers and watermen can comment on both the size-limit concept and the proposed exception before the department develops its next management step.

The biological concern is a run of weak recruitment. According to DNR, juvenile white perch production was below average in each of the eight years from 2019 through 2026, while surveys show adult population levels declining over the past several years. The agency also identifies additional predation pressure from invasive blue catfish. It reports commercial landings down 75 percent since 2020 and recreational harvest down 29 percent since 2022. Those harvest changes are not direct measurements of the same percentage change in the population.

DNR’s rationale for the size floor is to leave fish in the water for more spawning opportunities. White perch generally mature around ages two to three but do not reach 8 inches until approximately ages five to six, the summary says. The department expects a minimum size could improve spawning-stock size and future recruitment; that is the management objective, not a guaranteed recovery.

For now, the summary describes no closed seasons or daily or annual catch limits for Maryland’s recreational and commercial white perch fisheries. Hook-and-line catches have no minimum size, while fish taken with other gear have an 8-inch minimum. Those white-perch-specific provisions do not waive licensing, access or other applicable fishing rules. DNR projects that a change could take effect in spring 2027, but gives no exact effective date and has not adopted either scoping option.

To weigh in, open DNR’s Changes to Fishing Regulations page, find “WHITE PERCH – Recreational and Commercial Management Measures,” and use the linked comment form by the November 13 deadline. Read the summary before submitting, and keep following the rules currently in force rather than treating a possible 2027 minimum as law today.

Illustrative file photograph: a white perch from Maryland’s Rhode River, not a photograph of the current survey. Credit: Robert Aguilar / Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, via SERC’s photo record, licensed CC BY 2.0. Image resized and re-encoded.

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