Saving Seafood

Gloucester Times: Leave striped bass management to the experts

December 6, 2017 — The return to health of the striped bass has been one of the great conservation success stories of recent decades. On the brink of extinction in the 1970s and 1980s, the popular sport fish was brought back to health by sound management.

Lawmakers would be wise to leave that management to the experts and not back a renewed push to manage the fishery through legislation.

The Legislature’s Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture heard testimony on two such proposals last week.

One, from former state Sen. James Timilty, a Walpole Democrat, would limit commercial access to fishermen who can prove they have caught and sold 1,000 pounds of striper a year for the past five years.

And a plan by state Rep. Thomas Stanley, D-Waltham, would completely end commercial fishing for striped bass by 2025.

Read the full editorial at the Gloucester Times 

 

Striped bass reproduction in Bay a bit above average, surveys show

November 12, 2017 — Striped bass reproduction in the Chesapeake Bay slightly exceeded the long-term average this year, annual surveys show, offering hope that the population is rebounding from low levels that led to coastwide fishing restrictions three years ago.

In Maryland — where reproduction has historically been an accurate predictor of future coastwide populations — the annual juvenile index has been above average for two of the past three years.

That’s an improvement from the previous seven-year span when the index had been below average in all but one year. That reproductive drought spurred the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates the harvest of migratory fish, to impose a coastwide catch reduction in 2014, including a 20 percent cut in the Chesapeake.

Striped bass start reaching legally fishable sizes after three to four years, so the recent improvements in reproduction seen by surveys in Maryland and Virginia should be reflected in the numbers of catchable-size fish in the next few years.

Dave Blazer, director of fishing and boating services with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, called the recent uptick “an encouraging sign for the coastal population and future fishing opportunities.”

In Maryland, this year’s young-of-year index was 13.2, which was above the 64-year average of 11.7. It follows an index of 24.2 in 2015, which was more than twice the long-term average.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

 

Atlantic Striped Bass Stock Assessment Data Workshop Scheduled for September 26-29, 2017 in Arlington, VA

June 21, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Stock Assessment Data Workshop will be conducted September 26-29, 2017 at the Westin Crystal City, 1800 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA. The Data Workshop is the first in a series of workshops to develop the next striped bass benchmark stock assessment. The assessment will evaluate the condition of Atlantic striped bass stocks from Maine to North Carolina and inform management of those stocks. The workshop will review all available data sources for Atlantic striped bass and identify data sets that will be incorporated in the stock assessment.  The Workshop is open to the public, with the exception of discussions of confidential data, when the public will be asked to leave the room.  

For data sets to be considered at the workshop, data must be sent in with accompanying methods description to Dr. Katie Drew (kdrew@asmfc.org) by September 1, 2017. Data sources include, but are not limited to, data on recreational and commercial landings and discards, catch per unit effort, biological samples (age, length, and/or sex), and life history information (growth, maturity, fecundity, spawning stock biomass weights, natural mortality).  All available data will be reviewed and vetted by members of the Atlantic Striped Bass Stock Assessment Subcommittee for possible use in the assessment. 

It is anticipated that there will be two Stock Assessment Workshops – one in late 2017 and another in the summer of 2018. The benchmark stock assessment will be peer reviewed in the winter of 2018. The details of the assessment workshops and peer review will be released as they become available.

For more information on submitting data, including the appropriate format, and/or attending the Data Workshop (space is limited), please contact Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mappelman@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.  

ASMFC Atlantic Striped Bass Board Withdraws Draft Addendum V & Maintains Current Measures until Completion of 2018 Benchmark Stock Assessment

May 11, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board chose to not advance Draft Addendum V to Amendment 6 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Striped Bass forward for public comment. Instead, it decided to wait until the release of the results of the 2018 benchmark stock assessment before it considered making changes to the management program.

The Draft Addendum was initiated to consider liberalization of commercial and recreational regulations to bring fishing mortality to the target based on the findings of the 2016 assessment update. The Draft Addendum proposed alternative measures aimed to increase total removals (commercial and recreational) by approximately 10% relative to 2015 to achieve the fishing mortality target in 2017. However, 2016 harvest estimates increased without changing regulations. Additionally, fish from the 2011 year class, which was the largest recruitment event since 2004, will become increasingly available to ocean fisheries in the coming years, possibly resulting in further increases to harvest along the coast. The Board also expressed concern that changing the management program could result in fishing mortality exceeding the target.

In preparation for the 2018 stock assessment, the Board approved the Terms of Reference for the assessment, which will explore new biological reference points for management use.

ASMFC 2017 Spring Meeting Supplemental Materials Now Available

May 3, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Supplemental materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 2017 Spring Meeting are available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2017-spring-meeting for the following Boards/Sections (click on “Supplemental” following each relevant committee header to access the information). For ease of access, supplemental materials for all Boards/Section, with the exception of the South Atlantic Board, have been combined into one PDF.

Atlantic Herring Section – Revised Agenda and Meeting Overview; FMP Review; Correspondence Regarding VMS; NEFMNC Comment on Draft Amendment 1; Spawning Closure Protocol; Public Comment

 Tautog Management Board – Summary of Management Options; Draft Amendment 1; MA/RI Proposed Regional Options; Public Comment

 Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board –  Draft Addendum V and Technical Comments on Proposed Options

 Atlantic Menhaden Management Board –  Update on Draft Amendment 3 Development; Allocation Work Group Recommendations on Management Alternatives to include in Draft Amendment 3; Draft Amendment 3; NY menhaden landings Recalibration; Lenfest Correspondence; Public Comment

 Executive Committee – Memo on Advisory Panel Members Serving as Board Proxies and Chair Term Limits

 Coastal Sharks Management Board – NOAA Fisheries HMS Presentation on Amendment 5b

 Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board and MAFMC – Revised Agenda and Meeting Overview; Correspondence from CT Charter and Party Boat Association & RI Party and Charter Board Association; Summer Flounder Recreational Management White paper; Technical Committee Report on Black Sea Bass Recreational Data; Public Comment

 ISFMP Policy Board – Revised Agenda and Meeting Overview

 Business Session – Revised Agenda

 South Atlantic State/Federal Fisheries Management Board – Atlantic Croaker Benchmark Stock Assessment & Peer Review Reports and Spot Benchmark Stock Assessment & Peer Review Reports

MASSACHUSETTS: Island fishermen implore state to protect squid

February 23, 2017 — For the past couple of years, Nantucket fishermen have had a hard time finding striped bass in the rips and alongshore where they were accustomed to catching them.

They think they know why: no squid.

“This was where all the bass were caught. Now, no bait, no fish, no stripers to speak of,” said Pete Kaizer, a charter boat captain and commercial tuna fisherman.

Kaizer and other Nantucket fishermen petitioned the state Division of Marine Fisheries to prohibit fish draggers and scallopers that tow nets or large metal dredges along the ocean bottom from state waters, up to 3 miles out from shore all around the island. The ban would run from May 1 to Oct. 31 with the idea of protecting spawning longfin squid.

Kaizer said squid boats target the squid when they spawn because they come together in large schools and are easier to catch. Following mating, female squid drop to the bottom and put down a sticky substance that adheres to the sandy bottom, rocks or vegetation. They then deposit tubelike sacks containing over 100 embryos apiece, that stick to that patch and can resemble an underwater chrysanthemum, but are prosaically known as “squid mops.”

Nets or dredges towed across the bottom can dislodge these mops or even bring them up to the surface along with fish or squid. There is some debate about whether any young can survive this, but some lab studies have shown that older embryos hatch prematurely when the mop is dislodged from its adhesive anchor and tend to die, said Lisa Hendrickson, a fishery biologist specializing in squid with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Regulators: Loophole in striped bass fishery needs closing

February 9, 2017 — Massachusetts fisheries officials want to to close a loophole in state regulations that resulted in what they believe were illegal landings of striped bass last year.

At a public hearing at Massachusetts Maritime Academy Wednesday night, Division of Marine Fisheries Deputy Director Dan McKiernan said the state is looking to reduce the number of striped bass that commercial fishermen could land from 15 down to two, if they’re fishing from shore.

“What happened last year was disgusting,” said Patrick Paquette of the Massachusetts Striped Bass Association, which is composed of both commercial and recreational fishermen. “There was a rampant black market at the (Cape Cod) canal. Plenty of guys were taking fish from friends, putting them in coolers, and selling them under their boat permit.”

Under state striped bass fishing regulations, a commercial fisherman can buy a boat permit that allows him or her to catch and sell up to 15 fish a day. There is also a less expensive individual permit under which he or she can land two fish a day from shore. The state limited commercial fishing to two days a week. In bad weather, some fishermen with boat permits fished from shore, and could technically land their 15 fish.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

More liberal rules might come to US striped bass fishery

February 7, 2017 — Interstate fishing managers are considering liberalizing rules for commercial and recreational fishing of striped bass along the East Coast.

The regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission says the possibility of new rules arises from concerns raised over economic hardships in the fishery in the Chesapeake Bay.

The commission says rules enacted in 2015 required reductions in catch of striped bass. But an updated assessment of the stock last year showed that striped bass aren’t being overfished.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Virginian-Pilot

ASMFC Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board Initiates Development of Draft Addendum V to Consider Liberalizing Management Measures

February 3, 2017 — The following has been released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board initiated the development of Draft Addendum V to Amendment 6 to the Atlantic Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to consider liberalizing coastwide commercial and recreational regulations. The Board’s action responds to concerns raised by Chesapeake Bay jurisdictions regarding continued economic hardship endured by its stakeholders since the implementation of Addendum IV and information from the 2016 assessment update indicating fishing mortality is below the target. 

Addendum IV, implemented for the 2015 fishing season, required coastwide harvest reductions to reduce fishing mortality (F) to a level at or below the target. Specifically, coastal fisheries implemented measures to reduce harvest by 25% compared to 2013 levels, and Chesapeake Bay fisheries implemented measures to reduce harvest by 20.5% compared to 2012 levels. Additionally, an objective of Addendum IV is to protect the 2011 year class.

According to the results of the 2016 stock assessment update, the Atlantic striped bass stock is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring. Furthermore, Addendum IV successfully reduced fishing mortality to a level below the target (F in 2015 is estimated at 0.16), and length-frequency data from the catch in 2015 indicates a strong presence of the 2011 year class which is anticipated to join the coastal spawning population this year.

A draft of the addendum will be presented for Board review in May. For more information, please contact Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mappelman@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

CHRISTI LINARDICH: Fishing isn’t the problem

January 12, 2017 — “Let scientists manage menhaden approach” (editorial, Dec. 28) perpetuates the belief that so many people seem to have lately — that the largest impact on striped bass populations is lack of menhaden to eat.

According to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, menhaden biomass was lowest during the mid-1990s to mid-2000s, but during that time (1993-2004, to be exact) striper recruitment was strong.

This is not easily explained, but neither is the simplified belief that taking a sustainable amount of menhaden out is magically taking striper off the end of people’s fishing lines.

Critics conveniently ignore the fact that the Chesapeake Bay and associated rivers, which striper depend on to complete their reproductive cycle and menhaden rely on for nursery grounds, has been severely altered by humans through dams and pollution.

Read the full letter to the editor at the Virginian-Pilot