Saving Seafood

Circle hooks must be used in ocean waters when fishing for striped bass

December 11, 2020 — Recreational anglers will be required to use circle hooks when fishing for striped bass with natural bait in coastal ocean waters beginning Jan. 1, 2021.

The requirement pertains to all recreational fishing (including possession) using a hook and line with natural bait for striped bass. The circle hooks must be non-offset and made of a non-stainless-steel material. The circle hook requirement does not apply to recreational striped bass fishing in internal coastal waters.

A non-offset (also called inline) circle hook is a hook with the point pointed perpendicularly back towards the shank and the point and barb are in the same plane as the shank. Offset circle hooks and stainless-steel circle hooks are not allowed for striped bass fishing.

Natural bait is any living or dead organism or part of an organism (animal or plant).

The circle hook requirement complies with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan and is designed to reduce release mortality in the recreational striped bass fishery.

Read the full story at The Coastland Times

Surveys find mixed spawning success for striped bass this year in Chesapeake

October 26, 2020 — Striped bass can’t get a break, it seems. With their East Coast population in decline from overfishing, the migratory species had mixed success reproducing in the Chesapeake Bay this year, surveys show.

The state Department of Natural Resources reported last week that its annual trawl survey of newly spawned striped bass in Maryland waters yielded just 2.5 little fish per net haul — far below the long-term average of 11.5 per sample.

“We just didn’t have good recruitment [of young fish] this year,” said Mike Luisi, the DNR’s director of fisheries monitoring and assessment. “It kind of just goes along with everything else in 2020 that’s just been tough.”

This is the second straight year and the 10th in the last 15 years that the DNR survey found evidence of below-average striped bass reproduction.

A separate study done by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science found an above-average number of juvenile striped bass in that state’s tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. It was the eighth straight year in which the survey tallied an average or above-average abundance for the species.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

Additional Supplemental Materials for ASMFC 79th Annual Meeting

October 16, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

There are additional supplemental materials for the Atlantic Menhaden and Atlantic Striped Bass Management Boards. Links to both supplemental documents follow and can also be found on the 79th Annual Meeting webpage, http://www.asmfc.org/home/2020-annual-meeting-webinar, under the respective Board headers (Supplemental2).

MARYLAND: Land-based salmon farm proposed for Chesapeake’s Eastern Shore

September 3, 2020 — The Chesapeake Bay is known to many for the seafood it produces: blue crabs, oysters and striped bass.

In a few years, though, the Bay region could become a major producer of an even more popular seafood that doesn’t come from the Chesapeake. A Norwegian company, AquaCon, has unveiled plans to raise salmon on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

AquaCon executives intend to build a $300 million indoor salmon farm on the outskirts of Federalsburg in Caroline County. By 2024, they aim to harvest 3 million fish a year weighing 14,000 metric tons — an amount on par with Maryland’s annual commercial crab catch.

If that goes as planned, the company expects to build two more land-based salmon farms on the Shore over the next six or seven years, bringing production up to 42,000 tons annually. That’s more than the Baywide landings of any fish or shellfish, except for menhaden, and more valuable commercially.

AquaCon’s announcement comes amid a rush by mostly European aquaculture companies to supply Americans with farmed salmon. Another Norwegian company is preparing for its first full harvest later this year from a facility south of Miami, and plans have been announced to build big indoor salmon farms in Maine and on the West Coast. Two small U.S.-based salmon operations in the Midwest also are moving to expand production.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

VIRGINIA NIXES STRIPED BASS “BONUS FISH PROGRAM” IN LIGHT OF CONSERVATION EFFORTS

August 19, 2020 — When Virginia fishery managers virtually eliminated the striped bass trophy season one year ago, the came up with a plan that would still allow anglers to catch that “once in a lifetime” fish.

But in the interest of protecting the rockfish spawning stock, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) has announced it’s cutting the proposed Striped Bass Bonus Fish Program.

Finding that striped bass were being overfished, East Coast fisheries managers required Virginia, Maryland and the rest of the Atlantic states to reduce their rockfish removals by 18 percent. To achieve the reduction, VMRC took actions in August 2019 that included dropping the fall recreational fishing limit to one rockfish per angler per day and creating a maximum size limit of 36 inches for the fall.

Read the full story at the Chesapeake Bay Magazine

Presentations and Audio Files from ASMFC’s 2020 Summer Meeting Now Available

August 11, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The audio files from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 2020 Summer Meeting Webinar are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2020-summer-meeting-webinar;  go to the relevant board/committee header and click on either Presentations or Audio.  Please note the Atlantic Striped Bass and Atlantic Menhaden Boards have two audio links each.

State Proposes Extending Commercial Fishing for Sea Bass, Striped Bass, Summer Flounder

August 11, 2020 — After a slow start to the summer, the state Division of Marine Fisheries has proposed extensions to the commercial striped bass, black sea bass and summer flounder seasons, hoping to add additional fishing days and adjust catch limits for fishermen as fall approaches.

The DMF is proposing to add Tuesdays and Thursdays to the commercial striped bass season starting Sept. 1. The agency is then planning to add Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays starting Oct. 2 — which would allow commercial striped bass fishing every day of the week.

A similar change has been proposed for the black sea bass fishery, with DMF planning to add Mondays and Wednesdays in September and expand the season to seven days per week in October. The DMF is also proposing to increase the commercial pot limit from 400 to 500 pounds per week.

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette

Fishery managers agree to link menhaden policy to well-being of striped bass

August 7, 2020 — East Coast fishery managers have agreed to tie future menhaden population levels to the number needed to support a robust striped bass population — a first step toward recognizing the ecological role of the small bait fish.

The action, made by a unanimous vote, was described by conservation groups as “landmark” and “historic” because it was the first time the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has explicitly recognized the value of leaving fish uncaught to serve as food for predators.

Omega Protein, which operates a menhaden fishing fleet out of Reedville, VA, and is by far the largest harvester of the fish in the Bay and along the coast, issued a statement endorsing the commission’s decision. But it also emphasized that managing interactions between predators and prey is not a one-way street and must expand the focus beyond menhaden.

“It is now the responsibility of the commission to accurately estimate the populations of both menhaden and its predators and then make fair and equitable management decisions based upon the model’s findings,” the company said.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

NJ and MA Members of Congress Request More COVID-19 Relief Assistance For Nation’s Fishing Industry

August 7, 2020 — Members of Congress from New Jersey and Massachusetts have sent letters to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi requesting assistance for the nation’s fishing industry in the upcoming COVID-19 relief package.

“New Jersey was among the hardest and earliest hit states by the pandemic and continues to have one of the highest counts of COVID-19 cases in the nation,” reads a letter from NJ’s representatives, including Frank Pallone, Jr. and Andy Kim. “The pandemic arrived in New Jersey at the start of the critically important Striped Bass and Black Fish season, leading to devastating results for our fishing industry. With bipartisan support, Congress has already acted once to deliver $300 million in aid targeting fishing communities throughout the country. Congress must act once again to save this vital industry and protect those in our state and across the country who rely on it.”

Read the full story at Seafood News

ASMFC Atlantic Striped Bass Board Initiates Amendment 7 to Address Longstanding Fishery Management Issues

August 6, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board initiated the development of an Amendment to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan. As the first step in the development of a new FMP or amendment, the Public Information Document (PID) will focus on the following management topics: (1) fishery goals and objectives; (2) stock rebuilding/timeframe; (3) management triggers; (4) biological reference points; (5) regional management (recreational measures, coastal and producer areas, regional reference points); (6) recreational discard mortality; (7) conservation equivalency; (8) recreational accountability; and (9) coastal commercial quota allocation. The purpose of the PID is to solicit stakeholder input on prioritizing the importance of each topic for continued development and inclusion in the Draft Amendment.

“Now that Addendum VI measures are in place and stock rebuilding has been initiated, the Board can focus on addressing a number of issues that have been at the forefront of striped bass management for a long time,” stated Board Chair David Borden of Rhode Island.

Between the Spring and Summer Meetings, a Work Group of Board members met to discuss significant issues facing striped bass management. The Board agreed that all of the issues discussed by the Work Group are extremely important and complex, and deserve significant thought and consideration. Furthermore, the prioritization of issues to be addressed by the Amendment should be guided by stakeholder input.

“Given it’s been 17 years since the Board last considered a new plan amendment to the striped bass management program, the Board intends to be very thoughtful and deliberative as it proceeds with the development of this Amendment,” stated Mr. Borden. “It’s important that we provide the public with sufficient background information in order to solicit effective feedback from all stakeholders and ensure the Draft Amendment addresses the most pressing issues at this time.”

During its deliberations, Board members discussed the importance of addressing discard mortality in recreational striped bass fisheries given discards significantly contribute to total fishing mortality. As a result, the Board tasked the Plan Development Team and Technical Committee to review factors limiting the accuracy of discard mortality estimates for stock assessment purposes, and to identify potential actions that could improve understanding or help reduce discard mortality in the fishery.

The Work Group Report, which can be found here, will serve as the foundation of the Draft PID. The Board will review the first draft of the PID at the Commission’s Annual Meeting in October. At that meeting, the Board will determine if the PID is ready to be sent out for public comment or if further modifications to the document are needed. Given current, and possibly future, meeting restrictions due to COVID-19, public hearings may be conducted via webinar.

For more information, please contact Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mappelman@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.