July 13, 2026 — The American Saltwater Guides Association has published a blog post urging its membership and the broader recreational fishing community not to avoid accountability by blaming the diminished striped bass population on a lack of one forage species—Atlantic menhaden—while ignoring the central problem that anglers are “killing more fish than are being born.”

ASGA makes clear that menhaden are critically important to the Atlantic ecosystem and that the organization remains committed to responsible menhaden advocacy. But the post also warns against reducing striped bass conservation to an oversimplified message that “more menhaden = more stripers.” As ASGA explains, “while stripers and bunkers are ecologically connected, their advocacy demands nuance,” and any group claiming that menhaden campaigns alone are the reason anglers are catching large striped bass this year is “a major disservice to striped bass advocates.”

The blog post also highlights what fishermen know from experience: striped bass are opportunistic predators. Anglers on ASGA’s Guide Post Podcast described striped bass feeding on squid, sand eels, river herring, hickory shad, mackerel, crabs, glass minnows, eels, and other forage species depending on season, geography, and conditions. Capt. Ray Jarvis put it plainly: “Striped bass eat everything.” He also cautioned that blaming striped bass declines on a single factor makes people believe “there’s a simple solution to this problem… but it’s not that simple.”

ASGA’s central point is an important one: blaming menhaden, climate change, seals, sharks, or any other single factor may be politically convenient, but it does not replace the need for accountability in striped bass management. As the post says, the harder truth is that “as a collective angling body we are killing more fish than are being born.” That is the conservation challenge that cannot be avoided.

Read the post here