Saving Seafood

More Rockfish Catch Reductions? Public Hearings to be Held in MD, VA

September 9, 2025 — East Coast fishery managers are seeking public feedback this month on options for cutting the catch of Atlantic striped bass to help rebuild its depleted population. There are in-person and virtual hearings planned for Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. as well.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which represents state fishery managers from along the coast as well as federal agencies, voted in August to proceed with a plan to impose a 12% reduction in 2026 on both the recreational and commercial catch of the prized species.

If finalized later this year, the plan would trim the commercial harvest quota by that amount. To curb recreational catch, it would require East Coast states to shorten their striped bass fishing season or adjust the size limits for legally catchable fish.

Read the full article at the Bay Journal

Commercial fishing groups ask Fourth Circuit to block bass limits in Chesapeake Bay

December 11, 2024 — Maryland commercial fishing groups argued to a Fourth Circuit panel Wednesday that an interstate commission’s regulations on striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay violates the Constitution.

Delmarva Fisheries Association and the Maryland Charter Boat Association sued the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission over 2024 regulations that the plaintiffs claim violate the Fifth Amendment’s taking clause and cut their revenue by upwards of 70%.

The groups appealed after a Maryland federal judge denied their motion for a preliminary injunction.

On Wednesday, U.S. Circuit Judge Stephanie Thacker, a Barack Obama appointee, questioned why the fishing groups would want to challenge the regulations.

Read the full article at Courthouse News Service

MARYLAND: Low spawning success documented again for striped bass

November 13, 2024 — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced results of this year’s juvenile striped bass survey, which tracks the reproductive success of Maryland’s state fish in the Chesapeake Bay. The 2024 young-of-year index is 2.0, well below the long-term average of 11.0, and marks the sixth consecutive year of poor reproduction.

“These results underscore the complexity of managing a coastal migratory species whose life-cycle is influenced by environmental conditions during a brief spawning period,” Maryland DNR Fishing and Boating Services Director Lynn Fegley said in a release. “We will continue to explore ways to conserve and enhance the spawning population during this time when we are adding fewer young fish to the population.”

During this annual survey, fishery managers examine 22 sites located in four major striped bass spawning areas: the Choptank, Nanticoke, and Potomac rivers, and the upper Chesapeake Bay. Biologists visit each site three times per summer, collecting fish with two sweeps of a 100-foot beach seine net

Read the full article at Southern Maryland News

VIRGINIA: Virginia’s juvenile striped bass numbers down for 2nd straight year, raising concerns

October 22, 2024 — The number of juvenile striped bass in Virginia waters is down for the second straight year, a concerning development, researchers say.

The 2024 survey of the juvenile numbers was released last week by William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and its Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences.

They say the 2024 mean value of 3.43 stripers per seine haul (in which a long net is used to trap fish) is significantly lower than the historic average of 7.77 fish (the survey’s been conducted annually since 1967).

Read the full article at WAVY

New limits imposed on striped bass size

May 9, 2023 — There could be fewer striper keepers under new size limits recently imposed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s striped bass management board.

The minimum size allowable for an angler to keep a fish remains the same at 28 inches, but the maximum size has been reduced. Last year, someone could keep a fish that was up to 38 inches long. The approved emergency action will drop that to 31 inches.

The move comes in hopes of preserving striped bass that were spawned in 2015, and part of an overall attempt to return the striped bass population to previous levels by 2029.

“It’s an emergency measure to protect the fish,” said Richard Herb, the acting chair of New Jersey’s Marine Fisheries Council. He said the New Jersey council takes direction form the Atlantic States commission, which would usually present rules for evaluation in advance of a vote.

Read the full article at The Press of Atlantic City

Federal fisheries managers will reduce striped bass catches

May 1, 2019 — After years of listening to anglers begging for a fix, federal fisheries managers on Tuesday decided to tighten regulations to help the striped bass population rebound.

In its 2018 stock assessment, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission declared the species as overfished. Virginia anglers reporting less fish in the Chesapeake Bay and none in the ocean have known this for a decade.

Now the ASMFC is looking for ways that states from North Carolina to Maine can help reduce mortality. Solutions will affect the number of fish taken by both recreational anglers and commercial fishermen.

Last week Virginia fisheries managers decided to do away with the annual spring trophy season, allowing anglers to take only two fish a day that fit into a 20- to 28-inch slot limit. That season runs from May 16 to June 15.

Read the full story at The Virginian-Pilot