Invasive Catfish Workgroup
The Invasive Catfish Workgroup coordinates the best available science and develops methods to evaluate the impacts of invasive catfish on the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The workgroup also coordinates activities and recommends actions to implement the five policy objectives outlined in the 2012 Invasive Catfish Policy Adoption Statement.
Meetings
Invasive Catfish Workgroup Meeting - May 2025
Invasive Catfish Workgroup Meeting - October 2025
Invasive Catfish Workgroup Meeting
Invasive Catfish Workgroup Winter Meeting - January 2024
Invasive Catfish Workgroup Meeting - July 2023
About
The charge of the Invasive Catfish Workgroup is to coordinate activities and recommend actions to implement the five policy objectives outlined in the Invasive Catfish Policy Adoption Statement, signed and adopted by the Fisheries GIT Executive committee on January 24th, 2012. The Workgroup emphasizes bay-wide communication among jurisdictions and engagement of a broad group of members representing the commercial and recreational fishery, seafood processing industry, state agencies and the science community.

The Invasive Catfish Workgroup is responsible for coordinating the best available science and developing methods to evaluate the impacts of invasive catfish species on the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The role of the Invasive Catfish Workgroup will be to regularly report out on current knowledge of the issue and incorporate all available information on blue and flathead catfish to inform a management strategy for handling these invasive species across all jurisdictions.
Publications
2020 Invasive Catfish Management Strategy
Publication date:2020 management strategy for the invasive catfish outcome
View document [PDF] 2020 Invasive Catfish Management Strategy
Our Members
- Bruce Vogt (Chair)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Bruce.Vogt@noaa.gov - Christina Garvey (Coordinator)
Chesapeake Research Consortium christina.garvey@noaa.gov - Christina Garvey (Staffer)
Chesapeake Research Consortium christina.garvey@noaa.gov - Alexa Galvan
Virginia Marine Resources Commission alexa.galvan@mrc.virginia.gov - Branson Williams
Maryland Department of Natural Resources branson.williams@maryland.gov - Cathy Liu
Maryland Sea Grant cathyliu@umd.edu - Chris Ottinger
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) cottinger@usgs.gov - Christine Densmore
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) cdensmore@usgs.gov - Clint Morgeson
Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources clinton.morgeson@dgif.virginia.gov - Corbin Hilling
Virginia Tech chilling@vt.edu - Daniel Ryan
DC Division of Fish and Wildlife daniel.ryan@dc.gov - Geoffrey Smith
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission geofsmith@pa.gov - George O'Donnell
Maryland Department of Natural Resources george.odonnell@maryland.gov - Greg Garman
Virginia Commonwealth University ggarman@vcu.edu - Heather Walsh
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) hwalsh@usgs.gov - Ingrid Braun
Potomac River Fisheries Commission ingrid.prfc@gmail.com - Jorge Holzer Bilbao
Maryland Sea Grant jholzer@arec.umd.edu - Joseph Capella
Pamunkey Tribe joseph.capella@pamunkey.org - Josh Saks
Pamunkey Tribe josh.saks@pamunkey.org - Margaret Whitmore
Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources margaret.whitemore@dwr.virginia.gov - Mary Fabrizio
Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) mfabrizio@vims.edu - Mary Groves
Maryland Department of Natural Resources mgroves@dnr.state.md.us - Matthew Ogburn
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) ogburnm@si.edu - Mike Bednarski
Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources Mike.Bednarski@dgif.virginia.gov - Michael Steiger
Delaware Division of Fish & Wildlife Michael.Steiger@delaware.gov - Noah Bressman
Salisbury University nrbressman@salisbury.edu - Pat Geer
Virginia Marine Resources Commission pat.geer@mrc.virginia.gov - Tom Ihde
Morgan State University Patuxent Environmental & Aquatic Research Laboratory thomas.ihde@morgan.edu - Thomas O'Connell
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) toconnell@usgs.gov - Troy Tuckey
Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) tuckey@vims.edu - Yan Jiao
Virginia Tech yjiao@vt.edu - Beth Brewster
Charles County Public Schools brewster.amanda@ccpsstaff.org - Brenda Stahl
Profish bstahl@profish.com - Chris Rubino
JJ McDonnell crubino@jjmcdonnell.com - Chris Sopko
Sea Farms INC chrissopko@seafarmsinc.net - Dan Zimmer
dan@ihsanfarms.com - George Trice
thetricecrew@gmail.com - Gregory Casten
greg@profish.com - JC Hudgins
jc41willys@yahoo.com - Matthew Scales
Maryland Department of Agriculture matthew.scales1@maryland.gov - Meade Amory
Amory Seafood meade@amoryseafood.com - Mike Hutt
Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Mike.Hutt@vdacs.virginia.gov - Mitchell Bode
JJ McDonnell mbode@jjmcdonnell.com - Roxanne Wolf
Shore Gourmet roxanne.shogo@gmail.com - Stephanie Pazzaglia
JJ McDonnell spazzaglia@jjmcdonnell.com - Adrienne Kotula
Chesapeake Bay Commission Akotula@chesbay.us - Allison Colden
Chesapeake Bay Foundation acolden@cbf.org - Chris Moore
Chesapeake Bay Foundation cmoore@cbf.org - Sarah Schenning
sarah_schenning@vanhollen.senate.gov - Christian Moore
reelcountrygs@gmail.com - Mike Ostrander
mike@discoverthejames.com - Trey Thrope
FishinwithFatt@gmail.com - David Sikorski
Coastal Conservation Association davidsikorski@mac.com - John Page Williams
johnpagewilliams@gmail.com - Tiffany Risch
Snookiefishing@gmail.com