Last year, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates fisheries along the East Coast, required Maryland and other states to reduce their rockfish harvests by 18%. The commission also voted to reduce the catch of menhaden — a key food for rockfish — by 10% along the Atlantic coast (but not in the Chesapeake Bay).

Maryland opted to close down the rockfish harvest for two weeks in late August to respond to the requirement. But scientists with the bay foundation said that period should occur earlier in the summer, and last longer.