February 8, 2024 — Federal regulators took steps to bring the striped bass population back from the brink last month when the Atlantic State Marine Fisheries Commission voted to approve restrictions on the size of fish recreational fishermen are allowed to keep.
The new regulation makes permanent the emergency actions to protect the striper stock taken by the ASMFC this summer. Recreational fishermen will be restricted to keep one fish a day between 28 and 31 inches during the season.
“We’re putting in rules to control fishing mortality, so we have a shot at keeping this stock healthy,” said Michael Armstrong, the deputy director at the state Department of Marine Fisheries who also serves on the ASMFC.
Now that the commission has approved the regulations, state level departments will be required to put them in place.
The restrictive size limits are meant to protect the class of striped bass spawned in 2015 – the last strong spawning year from the species.