Watch Hill Outfitters

06/10/2026

Check out these cool events! This is a great way to interact with the watershed that helps feed our local saltwater fisheries.

06/05/2026

Free spooling on all and reels with x5 braid in 40lb white till 6pm today!

06/04/2026

The Penn van will be here all day tomorrow!

05/26/2026

If you have ever wondered where our acoustic receivers are positioned, here is the answer! As you can see, thanks to the generosity of our supporters and donors, we now have 21 receivers in place for 2026, our highest number to date!

These receivers detect anything with an acoustic tag in it or on it so they are invaluable to researchers up and down the East Coast of the US and Canada. The array extends from Galilee, RI, out to Block Island and all the way to Fishers Island, NY. We pull data twice a summer, upload it to a shared database and everyone benefits from this data.

This is how we track shark movements with thousands of receivers up and down the coast and thus the reason tagging is a big part of many of our research projects.

Island research

05/19/2026

05/19/2026

The total population of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay has grown in the past year, and so did the population of juvenile blue crabs. Maryland DNR today announced the results of the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey, a cooperative effort between DNR and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

The survey estimated a total of 349 million blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay in 2026, a 46% increase over the estimate of 238 million crabs last year. Scientists also estimated 228 million juvenile blue crabs, an increase of 121% from last year. This above-average abundance is a promising result to fisheries biologists, after what had previously been six consecutive years of below-average juvenile recruitment. The total abundance and juvenile abundance were at the highest levels since 2019.

“It’s very encouraging to see higher levels of blue crabs and juveniles, especially after a few years of lower juvenile recruitment,” Mandy Bromilow, DNR’s blue crab program manager, said. “However, we’ll still have to remain vigilant about the population, given that we have seen declines since 2011.”

Read more about the results of the survey here: https://ow.ly/iuVb50Z19f0