Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin awarded $250,000 to Sea Farms, a family-owned and operated aquaculture and seafood processing business, on Jan. 29 as part of the state's Blue Catfish Processing, Flash Freezing, and Infrastructure Grant Fund. It's focused on decreasing invasive blue catfish in the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is also accepting grant applications to help remove blue catfish from the Bay and its rivers. It's open until April 15, and its grants are up to $5,000 each.
Noah Bressman, left, and Davis Carter fish for blue catfish in Maryland's Nanticoke River as part of the Marshyhope Madness Blue Catfish Tournament.
Blue catfish were introduced to the Bay in the 1970s as a sportfish and now are top predators. The species eats everything from menhaden to American shad to blue crabs. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the species has spread into almost every major tributary in the Bay watershed.
The Virginia grant program was slated to receive $4 million last February but the amount dropped to $250,000 before the state voted on the budget in September. This year's award to Sea Farms used all the money in the fund. Virginia has not yet funded the program for a second year, said Michael Wallace, communications officer for the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. However, there is a budget amendment aimed at funding the program with another $250,000.
The grant was made to help process the fish, which poses a bottleneck for commercial sales, said Virginia Del. Keith Hodges, R-68.
"I see them as the number one threat to the Chesapeake right now," Hodges said in the House Chesapeake subcommittee meeting on Jan. 29.
Besides the fund, Hodges introduced a bill, which has passed both chambers, that will direct the Department of Agriculture Consumer Services to create a group to establish and expand the market for blue catfish.
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