American Eel
Scientific name: Anguilla rostrata
Local name: eel
Habitat: muddy bottoms and calm waters all along the     Atlantic coast 
Season: February through September 
Method of fishing: eel pots or fyke nets, using any         kind of cut bait (including horseshoe crabs)
Interesting facts: All mature eels from the Atlantic         Ocean return to the Sargasso Sea (in the Bermuda     Triangle) to spawn and die. American eels are eaten     most in Japan and Europe. Eels are also used as         crab bait. Immature eels are called "elvers." Eels         can grow to 3 feet long.

American Shad
Scientific name: Alosa sapidissima
Local names: white shad, "poor man's salmon"
Habitat: lives in ocean and bays but spawns in rivers
Season: spring while spawning, limited ocean catch         rest of year
Method of fishing: haul seine, pound net, gill net,         drift net
Interesting facts: Due to low stocks, shad fishing was     prohibited in Maryland bays and rivers in 1980 and in     Virginia in 1994. Shad stocks look more promising in     the Delaware and Hudson rivers. Shad is related to     herring. First shad catch by fly-rod dates back to         1930. The largest on record was 2 feet, 6 inches.

Blue Crab
Scientific name: Callinectes sapidus
Local names: blue claw crab, jimmies (males), sooks (females), soft crab (when molting)
Habitat: Atlantic coastal bays, rivers, and creeks
Season: spring, summer, fall (winter dredging in Virginia only)
Method of fishing: pots, baited hooks (trot lines), dredging
Interesting facts: Female crabs have triangular-shaped abdomens, while male abdomens resemble an inverted "T." Soft-shell crabs can be eaten whole. Removing meat from crabs is called "picking." Chesapeake Bay accounts for 50% of total U.S. crab landings. The blue crab's scientific name translates as "beautiful swimmer that is savory."

Horseshoe Crab
Scientific name: Limulus polyphemus
Local name: none
Habitat: Atlantic coast from Maine to the Gulf of            Mexico
Season: year round
Method of fishing: dredging and trawling
Interesting facts: Horseshoe crabs are called "living
    fossils" because the species has not changed in 300     million years. They are not true crabs, but are             actually related to spiders. Horseshoe crabs have         four eyes. Their blood is used in medical research.

Eastern Oyster 
Scientific name: Crossostrea virginicus
Local name: Atlantic oyster
Habitat: bottoms of bays and rivers of the Atlantic
Season: November through March
Method of fishing: hand and patent (mechanized)         tonging, dredging
Interesting facts: Oysters filter impurities out of
    water; scientists calculate that in earlier days when     they were more numerous, they could have filtered
    the whole Chesapeake Bay in six days. The same
    oyster can be male or female at different times in
    its life cycle. Americans eat more oysters than any
    other people in the world.

Hard Clam
Scientific name: Mercenaria mercenaria
Local names: in stages from smallest to largest: little necks, top necks, cherrystones, chowders
Habitat: tidal bottoms, sheltered bays, and coves from     Florida to the Gulf of St. Lawrence
Season: year round
Method of fishing: hand and patent tonging; hydraulic     dredging; hand raking or digging
Interesting facts: Clamshells were once used as a
    form of money by Mid-Atlantic Native American
    peoples. The smaller the clam, the more tender and
    expensive it is.

Whelk
Scientific name: Busycon canaliculatum
Local names: conch (pronounced "konk"), winkle
Habitat: Atlantic coast
Season: year round
Method of fishing: pots, often baited with horseshoe     crabs
Interesting facts: The whelk is actually a large edible
    snail. In the Mid-Atlantic, the whelk is called a
    "conch" and is a cousin of the better-known
    Caribbean variety (queen or pink-lipped conch),
    whose shells are prized by collectors.

Shrimp 
Scientific names: Panaeus aztecus, P. duorarum, and     P. setiferus
Local names: brown, pink (or spotted), and white (or     green tail) shrimp
Habitat: Atlantic Ocean and Gulf Coast
Season: Pink shrimp are fished in the spring, brown in
    the summer, and white in the later summer and fall
Method of fishing: net (hand seine or trawling),
    mostly at night
Interesting facts: Locally called "bugs" and considered
    a trash fish until around 1912, they are now one of
    the most popular shellfish in the country. Their
    name comes from the old English word "shrimpe,"
    meaning puny person.

Striped Bass
Scientific Name: Morone saxatilis
Local Nicknames: Rockfish, striper
Habitat: Chesapeake Bay
Method of fishing: Net fishing (gill nets and pound         nets)
Interesting Facts: In the 1980's a moratorium was
    placed on net fishing to preserve the dying species.
   Striped bass migrate up rivers and streams to 
   spawn, an unusual characteristic for fish. They
   actually always migrate to the river which they 
   themselves were born to spawn.