Responding to the precipitous drop in the Atlantic striped bass population, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) has mandated an 18 per cent cut in commercial and recreational harvest quotas for 2020.
Responding to the precipitous drop in the Atlantic striped bass population, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) has mandated an 18 per cent cut in commercial and recreational harvest quotas for 2020.
The ASMFC Atlantic striped bass management board — which covers coastal waters from North Carolina to Maine — voted to approve the addendum to the interstate fishery management plan for Atlantic striped bass on Oct. 30, at the 78th annual meeting of the ASMFC in New Castle, N.H.
The decision was informed by a 2018 benchmark study that estimated the Atlantic striped bass female spawning stock biomass in 2017 was 68,576 metric tons, well below the SSB threshold of 91,436 metric tons. According to ASMFC data, the spawning stock biomass has been below the threshold level since 2013, and has been in steady decline since 2003.
The new addendum limits recreational fishermen to one striped bass per day, with a slot limit that requires any fish measuring less than 28 inches and more than 35 inches to be released.
Slot limits are designed to protect the larger bass — cows in piscatorial parlance — because most stripers over 30 pounds are breeding females. According to the Massachusetts Disivion of Marine Fisheries (DMF), a 12-pound female can produce about 850,000 eggs, and a 55-pound female can produce more than 4,000,000 eggs.
ASMFC-regulated states will not have to institute slot limits if they show they can achieve the 18 per cent reduction levels using alternative measures.
“It would be easier to measure the effectiveness if all states were uniform, but there are inherent differences between the bay and the coast, and there are differences in things like migratory patterns,” Tina Berger, ASMFC director of communications, told the Gazette. “The technical committee will be extremely thorough in evaluating the technical merit of alternative proposals.”
The technical committee includes biologists from 12 states, the District of Columbia and from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The committee will evaluate each state’s implementation plan, which must be submitted by Nov. 30. The committee will make its recommendations to the full commission in February.
Currently in Massachusetts, recreational fishermen can take one striped bass per day, with a minimum length of 28 inches. In recent years, Massachusetts regulators have increased the minimum size and reduced the daily limit in an effort to bolster the bass.
It hasn’t worked.
According to the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) the estimate of total catch, including fish released alive, in 2018 was 5.76 million striped bass, a 56 per cent decrease from the 2017 estimate.
Speaking to the Gazette by phone this week, Dan McKiernan, DMF deputy director, said he expects that Massachusetts will adopt the slot limits as recommended. “There seemed to be a fair amount of support for slot limits at the table with the New England states,” he said. “It obviously works better if you have uniform rules for neighboring states.”
Mr. McKiernan said he doesn’t believe that pressure from commercial fishermen, who are limited to 15 fish per day, a 34-inch minimum and two fishing days a week, plays a major role in the plummeting population. “They haven’t reached the state allocated catch for the last two years,” he said. “This year only 70 per cent of the quota was taken.”
AMSFC data show that the well-intentioned fishermen who practice catch and release are a surprisingly big part of the problem. “Catch and release fishing has been perceived to have a minimal impact on the population, however a large component of annual striped bass mortality is attributed to release mortality — accounting for roughly 48 per cent of total removals in 2017 (49 per cent in 2018),” the addendum says.
A recent DMF report estimates that nine per cent of striped bass die after being released. While the percentage appears relatively low, the actual death toll is much higher — according to this metric, over one million of the 13 million striped bass released by Massachusetts recreational anglers in 2017 died, compared to roughly 300,000 that were taken home and eaten.
To reduce the release mortality rate, the addendum also stipulated that all states must make circle hooks mandatory for bait fishing anglers by Jan. 1, 2021. Circle hooks are less likely to gut hook bass than traditional J-hooks, and thereby reduce catch and release mortality.
A study by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources reported a 90 per cent reduction in mortality rate with fish caught on circle hooks.
“It’s going to take a huge education effort to get more fishermen to use circle hooks,” Ms. Berger said. “But the evidence is there that they work really well.”
“I think circle hooks can help, but that only covers bait fishing, not plugs or flyfishing,” Mr. McKiernan said. “I think treble hooks will also be addressed at some point in the near future.”
Fishermen all along the East Coast are vexing over vanishing stripers. Jersey Coast Anglers Association president Mark Taylor wrote on the group’s Facebook page that while opinions vary about the severity of the situation, concern is unanimous. “Though there have been isolated areas such as Raritan Bay and the Cape Cod Canal where the striper fishing has been fabulous at times, most of the East Coast has had very poor fishing,” he wrote.
On Martha’s Vineyard, the decline of the striped bass has been evident for some time, and not just in the grumblings of bleary-eyed fishermen. According to records kept by the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, from 1994 until 2002, every shore bass winner weighed over 40 pounds (the 2002 winner was a few silversides short, at 39.96 pounds). But since 2009, no shore bass winner has weighed over 40 pounds. In 2017, the winner didn’t crack the 30-pound mark.
Big bass have become so sparse, some locals have even been whispering about a possible moratorium.
Cooper Gilkes 3rd, owner of Coop’s Bait & Tackle and elder statesman of the Vineyard fishing community, is not whispering.
“I think they ought to shut it down completely, like they did last time,” he told the Gazette, referring to the striped bass moratorium that lasted on the Vineyard from 1985 to 1993. Throughout most of the 1980s the spawning stock biomass for stripers was less than 20,000 metric tons. The ASMFC declared the striped bass fully recovered in 1995.
“Let’s bring the bass back first and then worry about what you’re going to do with them,” Mr. Gilkes said. “I’m no biologist but when they shut it down last time, they came back big. There was more fish than ever. If we go with slot limits, in a few years, we’ll be right back in the same ball game. There’s a lot of healthy, young breeders in that size range. We should shut it down and then make [striped bass] a game fish.”
Game fish designation means the fish can’t be caught commercially.
“I know some people don’t want to hear it, but it’s time to close it down again, before it’s too late,” Mr. Gilkes said.
The ASMFC is a federally mandated commission made up of three members from each East Coast state — the director for the state’s marine fisheries management agency, a member of the state legislature, and an individual appointed by the governor. The commission was formed in 1940 with the motto “fish do not adhere to political boundaries.”
Comments
Coop is right. Shut it down
Gay Header Gay HeadCoop is right. Shut it down entirely, eliminate them from the derby, and watch them come back! It worked last time. Maybe introduce a black bass category in the derby?
Strippers are an evasive
michael hennessy Cambridge, MAStrippers are an evasive species for Massachusetts water. I know this from childhood when I frequently fished the cape with my dad. They were present but the main fisheries were in pollack and cod.Maybe we should spend more time replenishing the original stock. Michael Hennessy
If you are serious, Micheal,
Steve FalmouthIf you are serious, Micheal, you are wrong
I agree. Let this fishery
Patrick Gallagher Bainbridge IslandI agree. Let this fishery rest completely. I understand the cultural significance, but if it isn't shut down, there won't be anything to manage. I wrote about it here:
https://www.reelpursuits.com/is-the-striped-bass-fishery-dead/
Many striped bass are killed
Steven Balas Hanover maMany striped bass are killed every year from recreational fishermen using nets to catch bait.The bass are dead before u can release them. Bait fish should only be caught with Rod and reel!
Agree completely. Shut it
bridgetAgree completely. Shut it down. And cull the seals on the Cape.
The only standard should be
Charles F Tekula jr Center MorichesThe only standard should be that the fish can't be harvested until they have spawned at least once to assure that it has at lest replaced itself. How man millions of eggs it can produce is immaterial. Twenty inch fish have spawned more than once.
The fact that the bean counters don't include any fish found in federal waters skews the data profusely. For whatever reason the bigger fish have been staying outside three miles for the past few years up and down the coast.
This is not science --it is all politics and money.
They should close the season
George Cape may, njThey should close the season until June 1 every year so that they can spawn. They dont spawn you have no chance to rebound.
Put a bounty on seals and the
BS Oak BluffsPut a bounty on seals and the stripers will thrive again.
That's a good one
Steve FalmouthThat's a good one
I agree with a method to
Jon Sweatman Townsend , MaI agree with a method to control the seal pop. Along the beaches of Provincetown and Truro there is nothing to catch. The seals have eaten most everything. There are no skate, fluke, windowpane flounder, strippers, or blues to catch. The seals eat all. The program, Seals on the Cape, states the population of seals on Cape Cod eats 750,000 lbs of fish daily.
What combination of fishing industries catches that amount of fish daily?
Impose a moratorium. It is
Paul Kiefner Cape Coral, FloridsImpose a moratorium. It is the only way. Give these fish a chance to recover. The moratotium worked before and it will work again. Please shut down the fishing.
I fish Delaware river PA side
JoeD PhiladelphiaI fish Delaware river PA side also bays and ocean in NJ.
Fishing river PA side it is open year round can keep 2 fish at 21"-25" April 1st to May 31st which is during spring run. Then any other time of year can take 1 at 28".
New Jersey side of river is just like the bays and ocean 1 at 28" or larger and another at 43" or larger, plus if have striped bass bonus tag a slotted size fish similar to size of PA side during the spring run.
If want to increase the amount of striped bass I think they can make a come back if put regulation to one fish at 36" both sides of river including bays and ocean.
.... more significant as a
Jim Lukas Cotuit.... more significant as a recreational resource than a food source...
.... the nine percent mortality upon release isn’t reflective of actual commercial experience ...
.... much too valuable to be caught only once ...
Make the Striped Bass a game fish ....
I'm with you Jim
Steve FalmouthI'm with you Jim
No Mention of striped bass
Capeshores Charters ChathamNo Mention of striped bass bycatch from midwater herring trawlers ??? For 20 years these vessels have been killing bass off Cape Cod in the fall midwater herring fishery ! No observers on these boats to document what local bass and tuna fishers have seen. Add in a ever growing grey seal population, and you will see a decline in spacing stripers.
Large females released
Richie Fredericks Southern New JerseyLarge females released immediately.
essentially all of the large
Steve Falmouthessentially all of the large fish are females
A moratorium is the only
Chris ChappyA moratorium is the only effective option. Then the exploding seal population has to be addressed.
Shut down the entire fishery
Ryan Richardson Haskell,NJShut down the entire fishery and then make the Striped Bass a game fish protected species only. Menhaden must be better managed so Striped Bass sustainability more productive. The two must work together.
It's encouraging to read the
DBar17 EdgartownIt's encouraging to read the comments supporting preserving the striped bass fishery. The ASMFC regs are a move in the right direction. However, circle hooks, slot limits, conservation equivalents are either half measures or loopholes for states to ignore the ASMFC regs and do whatever they want to do assuming they implement the required catch reduction. I support an immediate moratorium. The striped bass crash in the 80's had a profound deleterious economic impact. The derived economic benefits to the MV community attributed to a healthy striped bass population are obvious to boat and shore charters, restaurants, tackle shops, real estate, etc. Ultimately, decisions to regulate the striped bass fishery are political decisions. That said, it's up to us in the angling community to educate our peer anglers and newcomers to the sport about our fisheries regs and limits and to be models representing our commitment to sustainable fisheries, i.e., striped bass. Finally, we need enforcement presence on MV to hold poachers accountable and to be a deterrent to those who do poach.
I grew up in Maryland and
Paul Kiefner Cape Coral, FloridaI grew up in Maryland and witnessed the decimation of the Chesapeake Bay Striped Bass fishery where recreational fisherman would take as many fish as they possibly could. Then I witnessed the successful moratorium where the fish rebounded. I also lived in Massachusetts and fished catch and release for several years watching the Striped Bass populations fall.
Let's forget about who is to blame, recreational or commercial, and establish a moratorium. Everyone has to sacrifice for the sake of the fish.
Man has a way of taking and taking until a resource is gone. There are many historical examples of this.
Come on guys, STOP FISHING! Give the fish some time to relax and breed and build their populations.
As far as eating Striped Bass, their food value is less than stellar compared to many species, which sadly are not available in the northeast, as they are here in southwest Florida.
STOP FISHING!!
Coop is right, shut it down
R Scott Patterson EdgartownCoop is right, shut it down and make stripers a game fish. Waiting to see if the Derby will remove the bass from the prize structure or try to figure out a way to keep rewarding the killing of them?
A moratorium is smart. Give
ErikA moratorium is smart. Give them 10 years and they'll be back in force.
We don't have to worry overmuch about the seals, at least not now. If we shut down striper fishing entirely then the stock will replenish quickly. And because of slower breeding, the growth in seal population can't realistically keep up with the growth in fish population if we use a moratorium.
1. Moratorium.
Tony Plymouth1. Moratorium.
2. A single federal law on taking fish, size, etc. when fishing is allowed again for the entire east coast.
3. No commercial fishing allowed even when the stocks rebound.
Anything less will not work. I’m a dreamer and my dream is in 6-8 years we can open up fishing once again. None of this will ever happen so just remember your last stripper and say “ I remember when.....”
Control the overharvesting of
Robert East DoverControl the overharvesting of menhaden. Give the bass something to feed on. The correlation between overharvesting of menhaden and decline in bass stocks is almost perfect.
Yes!
David NorthportYes!
Moratorium works but is only
Bob EdgartownMoratorium works but is only a stop gap the better plan is make it a game fish. I have been saying this for years and someday they will listen. The commercial bass fisherman here I know do not make a living and do not depend on bass to make a living. Not much harm will come to the few who like the extra income and more good will come for the domino effect of recreational fisherman.
I believe stripers should go
Robert H Godown CoopersburgI believe stripers should go back to the days of the slot of 24"to 26" for one and one 28"to 32".
It seems pretty dumb to mandate taking larger ones as they are the main breerdersand that contributes to the decline of any fish.
Always said the ones making fish regulations are golfers not knowing anything about fish.
Moratorium for at least 5
David NorthportMoratorium for at least 5 years. I've seen more striped bass decals on cars and trucks then ever.More people,more fishing,less restraint. Can we convince Salmon to come back?
I can't for the life of me
Steve FalmouthI can't for the life of me understand why the vineyard derby can't find a way to lead on this issue and go catch and release.
100% agree. A complete
R Scott Patterson Edgartown100% agree. A complete failure to lead on an issue that they could have had a real impact on. Sad and shortsighted.
What good is a slot and
Chris OhioWhat good is a slot and number limit or moritorium if Omega can seine all the bunker and menhaden out of the sea for fish oil and meal for fish farms? If the striped bass have no forage to eat they starve. This is the root cause and must be addressed first.
Rockfish definitely need
Mark MarylandRockfish definitely need something to eat but you have nine ships catching everyday all of the bunker man head and in the mouth of the bay and no one has anything to say about that if these guys are so good at bringing fish back why do we not have the yellow fin trout they've been gone for years nobody says anything about that what all fish do need is food and with these commercial ships fishing in the Chesapeake Bay every day it's almost impossible for anything to get by they should have to stay in the ocean at least three miles out
Eliminate commercial fishing.
Anthony Sarchino Wilmington, DelawareEliminate commercial fishing.
(That's the mass of harvest)
Enact no harvest over 35 inches. (Large fish are too tough to eat anyway, the young tender ones are best in the frying pan.)
Lottery system for harvest. (Just like a wild game tag for hunting.)
Mandate Circle hooks.(Try to protect the throwbacks.)
Severe penalties and real consequences for breaking the law.
*Rednecks....stop taking 20 pictures with the fish and dropping them on the ground 4 times.
*Have respect for the resource.
Stop voting Democrat.
This is all common sense. But corrupt government, politicians,commercial fisherman and fishing, boating and seafood lobbyists will probably win! I'll only be able to tell my grandson about what a wonderful fishery it once was.
I see the limit to
D. Seiler SalisburyI see the limit to recreational fishing clearly defined, but am missing where commercial fishermen regulations are defined. Are they considering charters as the commercial fishermen.
Two conservation measures are
Raoul P Duke Western MATwo conservation measures are critical. First, enact a full across-the-board moratorium on striped bass until species recovery can be unequivocally documented. Second, enact similar measures for Atlantic Menhaden (see "The Most Important Fish in the Sea").
How come no one has addressed
Charlie Callahan So Boston/EdgartownHow come no one has addressed one of the real problems and that is the 100,000 or so seals and the 100's of great white sharks on the cape. Seals favorite food is baby lobsters and that is one reason the lobster catch is down. They also love striper and all othe game fish,and they eat more than their weight in fish and baby lobsters everyday.Great whites who weigh up to 1000lbs can eat close to their weight in fish and lobsters each day. Lets put blame where it belongs. Most fishermen are conscientious about catching gamefish and obey the rules.It's time to start killing the seals and sharks back to where they were in the 70's when they became protected and they were never endangered to begin with. And seal and shark are good to eat and could feed a lot of hungry people.
I have no power to affect
Lorraine EdgartownI have no power to affect this situation, what I am doing, is telling all my friends and relatives and acquaintances far and near to just not ask for striped bass in the fish market....quit eating it....stop all fishing until fish return.
"Currently in Massachusetts,
craig"Currently in Massachusetts, recreational fishermen can take one striped bass per day, with a minimum length of 28 inches. In recent years, Massachusetts regulators have increased the minimum size and reduced the daily limit in an effort to bolster the bass."
Is this for lack of effort or lack of fish??? Simply telling us they didn't reach their goal without knowing why is kind of pointless!!!
Coop is a great guy and I
Charlie Callahan So Boston/EdgartownCoop is a great guy and I buy all my gear from him and he does wonders for kids and others,but he's wrong about the main problem with the stripers. No mention about the seals and the sharks,I think they are decimating the bass more than anything. I have seen them in a feeding frenzy off Monomoy. And you don't even see them eating tens of thousands of baby lobsters and the fish that stay on the bottom. Sharks and seals are the main problem
We use tags for deer and
Rod Delgado Milford MAWe use tags for deer and turkey why can’t we do the same for stripers?
Is a total number of tags that you can sale this way you know how many fish and possible how big of a fish by recording this online just a suggestion.
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