June , 3 2012 – MarineFisheries will host an Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) public hearing on Atlantic Striped Bass Draft Addendum III on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Hanover High School in to receive comment on a proposal to implement a mandatory commercial tagging program for all states or jurisdictions with commercial striped bass fisheries and increasing penalties for illegally-harvested fish.
Fishing commercially for striped bass by rod and reel anglers (netting is prohibited) with a commercial license and a striped bass endorsement is a traditional summer endeavor in local coastal waters during the prescribed season and this proposal will revise the regulations and require that all stripers to be sold have a tag affixed to them.
These options are intended to help prevent commercial striped bass quota overages and the illegal harvest of striped bass, both of which have the potential to undermine the sustainability of populations and reduce the economic opportunities of fishermen who are legally participating in the fishery. Options under consideration in the implementation of a tagging program include, but are not limited to, who applies the tags and when, how many tags a state can distribute and whether unused tags must be returned, whether tags are standardized among all states, and how long affixed tags are to stay in place.
Read the complete opinion piece from The Standard-Times.