Saving Seafood

Changes are ahead for striped bass

September 4, 2019 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission met last month to hash out the details of Addendum VI, which addresses the current overfishing of striped bass and will implement new regulations taking effect in 2020.

Don’t expect this new management plan to solve all our problems or even to ameliorate them quickly. The newest management plan has a 50/50 probability of meeting the target in 2020. If all goes according to plan, female spawning stock should reach 93% of the target by 2027.

ASMFC won’t be discussing a possible amendment until February 2020.

A Coastal Conservation Association statewide campaign called “My Limit is One” in 2014 and ASMFC-imposed reductions back in 2015 (following a quota increase in 2014) did nothing to stem the overharvest of striped bass.

Read the full story at the Maryland Independent

NEW LOCATION: States Schedule Public Hearings on Atlantic Striped Bass Draft Addendum VI (Change in Location of NY’s September 4th hearing)

August 30, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board releases Draft Addendum VI to Amendment 6 of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass for public comment. Atlantic coastal states from Maine through North Carolina, including Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission, have scheduled their hearings to gather public input on Draft Addendum VI. The details of those hearings follow. Massachusetts is still scheduling its hearings; a subsequent release will announce the details of those hearings once they are finalized.

Read the full release

Virginia anglers angry over new catch limits on striped bass, say tournaments are in jeopardy

August 28, 2019 — Anglers will be allowed to keep just one striped bass instead of two a day in the upcoming season, state fisheries officials decided Tuesday.

The move is meant to protect the species by keeping large breeding fish in the water, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission said in a statement. But it could squash the charter fishing industry and a popular fall tournament scene that relied on big fish.

“It kills it,” said Mike Standing, who has run the Mid-Atlantic Rockfish Shootout for more than a decade. “It kills it all. We’ve been telling them for 10 years that there has been a problem with the population and they kept saying there wasn’t. Now they shut down the spring season and essentially shut down the fall.

“This is highly disappointing.”

Read the full story at The Virginia-Pilot

Commission eyes restrictions on striped bass harvest

August 27, 2019 — Officials with a regional fisheries management group are holding a public hearing in Delaware this week on a proposal to restrict the harvest of striped bass along the Atlantic coast.

Thursday’s meeting in Dover concerns proposed changes to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s management plan for striped bass, also known as rockfish.

The addendum to the plan proposes to reduce fishing-related mortality by 18% in response to an assessment last year that indicated that the population was overfished.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Washington Post

States Schedule Public Hearings on Atlantic Striped Bass Draft Addendum VI

August 21, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board releases Draft Addendum VI to Amendment 6 of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass for public comment. Atlantic coastal states from Maine through North Carolina, including Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission, have scheduled their hearings to gather public input on Draft Addendum VI. The details of those hearings follow. Massachusetts is still scheduling its hearings; a subsequent release will announce the details of those hearings once they are finalized.

Read the full release here

MASSACHUSETTS: Commercial Striped Bass Season Opens, Amid Concerns About Fishery

June 26, 2019 — By the end of the day Monday, the first day of the commercial striped bass season, the Menemsha Fish House had brought in 297 filleted pounds of the elusive — and profitable — fish.

Otto Osmers, a commercial fisherman and fishmonger at the Fish House, said it was an about average commercial day in terms of pounds of fish landed.

And he acknowledged that the season begins amid concern among fishermen and regulators over declining stocks.

Striped bass is a highly regulated fishery, especially in the commercial market. Fishermen with a permit are allowed to catch and sell the fish on Mondays and Thursdays. They have a bag limit of 15 fish per commercial day; the minimum commercial size is 34 inches.

The only added regulation this year is that fishermen are not allowed to gaff fish that are below legal size. Story Reed, state Division of Marine Fisheries permitting manager, said most fishermen have already adopted the practice of not gaffing smaller fish, so it was a matter of “putting it down on paper.”

Read the full story at The Vineyard Gazette

NEW JERSEY: Striped bass: with cuts pending, fishermen asked for input

June 7, 2019 — Have you taken the striped bass survey?

The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife is emailing fishermen and asking for input into measures to take to reduce striped bass harvest.

The step has to be taken before the 2020 season, according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. The driving force for cuts to the harvest is the 2018 Atlantic Striped Bass Benchmark Stock Assessment, which was not great.

One silver lining is the stock is not in as bad shape as it was in the 1980s when there was a moratorium.

The female spawning stock biomass was estimated at 151 million pounds, below the desired threshold of 202 million pounds. In the mid-1980s though, the biomass of breeder females was under 50 million pounds — according to the stock assessment.

In the 1990s, the female breeders rebounded and pushed out strong year classes in 1994 and 2002. Both those years saw recruitment at or over 300 million pounds of one-year-old fish.

The ASMFC is mandating that measures be taken to reduce the harvest of the fish by 17 percent within its range on the Atlantic coast.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

Patrols underway to enforce federal striped bass regulations in New Jersey

May 20, 2019 — As striped bass arrive in New Jersey waters, the U.S. Coast Guard is ready to issue fines to anglers who catch striped bass outside of the allowable boundary, officials say.

Striped bass are federally protected within the “Exclusive Economic Zone,” which begins three miles offshore. The prohibition allows striped bass “to grow and prevent overfishing,” said Lt. Matthew Kahley, an officer who deals with fisheries enforcement at Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay in Philadelphia.

The fine is $500 per fish, and anglers caught with more than five fish could face even larger fines, according to NOAA spokesperson Kate Brogan. NOAA assists the Coast Guard with enforcing the regulation.

Read the full story at WHYY

NEW JERSEY: As striper population drops, Jersey Shore anglers split over new rules

May 14, 2019 — On calm, sunny days, dozens of boats dock at Kammerman’s Marina in Atlantic City. Most set out to sea for one fish in particular: the Atlantic striped bass.

The popular recreational catch faced near extinction a few decades ago, leading to a temporary ban on capturing the species in the mid-1980s.

Now, striped bass are being overfished again amid a decades-long drop in their population, and new regulations are coming next year, leaving South Jersey fishermen divided.

The Atlantic States Marines Fisheries Commission, which manages fishing from Maine to North Carolina, wants to put more restrictions on the harvest. In an April memo, the commission said it was launching a study into how to reduce fish deaths by 17% by 2020.

“Striped bass are one of the most sought-after game on the East Coast,” said Max Appelman, fishing coordinator at the commission. “There are probably a number of other variables are play, but these (fishing and overfishing) are the only two we can put our fingers on.”

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

Fisheries Commission Looks to Manage Dropping Rockfish Population

May 6, 2019 — The goal is to save the striped bass population on the east coast.

But many watermen fear that further restrictions could affect their livelihoods.

Chesapeake Bay Foundation Eastern Shore Director Alan Girard says the dropping rockfish population are in need of some regrowth.  The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is looking to manage that population through these regulations.

Read the full story at WBOC