Newberry has navigated the waters of the Chesapeake Bay for more than four decades as captain of the vessel Open Ticket. He leads the Delmarva Fisheries Association, which advocates for commercial and charter fishermen across the Bay waters in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. “It’s been a very hard road,” Newberry said. “We’ve been basically put to death by a thousand cuts.”
He traces regulatory battles across multiple administrations, from former Democratic Gov. Harry Hughes to former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, arguing that commercial watermen have long struggled to balance conservation policy with economic survival. Newberry said conditions have rapidly declined under the Moore-Miller administration.
Commercial fishermen and charter operators sued the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission over new striped bass catch limits that reduced commercial quotas and limited recreational anglers to one fish. Court records show the plaintiffs, including Delmarva Fisheries, argued the rules were unlawful and would cause major economic harm. A federal court denied their request to block the rules, finding the plaintiffs lacked standing and that the restrictions were imposed by the state, not directly by the commission, which Newberry said are still being legally pursued for relief.
Newberry said he became engaged with Moore’s political orbit during the gubernatorial transition. “During the transition team,” Newberry said, “a gentleman put my name in the hat, and I got a phone call, and they wanted me to serve in one of the at-large positions on the transition team.” He later learned there were roughly 1,200 at-large appointees. “I always thought [it] was prestigious, but I found out there were 1,200 other at-large people with me, and I went ‘uh oh.’ ”
Within Moore’s first year, the administration moved to implement Maryland’s sweeping environmental law, the Climate Solutions Now Act. Passed by the General Assembly in 2022, the measure requires the state to cut greenhouse gas emissions 60% by 2031 and reach net-zero by 2045, making Maryland among the most aggressive climate policy states in the country. Moore doubled down on the initiative within months of taking office in 2023. The governor signed three green energy bills in April 2023, including the Maryland Promotion Offshore Wind Energy Resource Act, or the POWER Act. During the bill signings, the governor announced his accelerated net-zero emissions target for Maryland, aiming to reach 100% carbon-free energy generation by 2035 — a full decade ahead of the state’s statutory requirement.
Meanwhile, in November 2023, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, submitted emergency regulations to implement a one fish per person per diem rule. Citing the effort aimed at managing the striped bass population in the Bay, the regulations also implemented strict size guidelines for harvesting, according to DNR’s website.
Moore echoed his climate and environmental efforts in a promotional social media video posted on YouTube in March 2024. “Just weeks ago, we allocated $90 million dollars to advance the implementation of the new Climate Solutions Now Act and our Department of the Environment climate plan,” Moore said at a public event. The governor framed climate resilience as central to Maryland’s coastal geography in the video. “Protection of our environment is not just a nicety. Seventy-two percent of Marylanders live and work along the coast and will be directly affected by sea level rises and coastal erosions,” Moore said.
State environmental officials have said climate-driven warming, habitat loss and declining fish stocks necessitate tighter regulations, particularly on striped bass, a keystone species in the Chesapeake Bay economy known as rockfish. Newberry argues that subsequent restrictions, including limits on recreational charter catches of striped bass — one fish per person during certain seasons — have strained charter operators and commercial fishermen alike. He says regulatory decisions affecting striped bass were implemented without direct consultation with him or other Eastern Shore leaders he believed would be engaged. “If they cared about what we have done, they would have reached out to me in 2023 when regulations were coming through,” Newberry said. “No contact. Take it. Leave it. Goodbye.”
Why is it so hard to get through to them that if they don't do something about Striped Bass soon, there won't be enough to fish in the future?
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