Creel surveys of angler catches from Maine to Virginia tell a frightening story about the future of the striped bass.
Even with more and more anglers going to catch-and-release only on stripers, the numbers of larger, older fish -- the big spawners -- are decreasing. Dramatically. Just about any serious Long Island Sound striper fisherman has known that fact for some time. The schoolies are there but they do not seem to grow into adults. The most up-to-date survey results show a staggering 71 percent decline in recreational striped bass catch since 2006.
One reason for that decline is the high striper quota the Atlantic States Marine Fishing Commission, the organization that manages striped bass fishing on the East Coast, sets for commercial fishermen, and ignoring the impact on striper mortality of "pin hookers," anglers who illegally sell the fish they catch to local restaurants, markets and wholesalers.
After seeming to be in denial on the dire straits of stripers for years, the ASMFC finally appears to be on the verge of taking welcome action to halt the fall-off. The commission announced last week that it will be seeking options to reduce Bottega Veneta outlet the striper fishing mortality up to 40 percent.
ASMFC blamed poor striper recruitment (birth) rates to be partially due to poor water quality in the Chesapeake Bay, the most important striper hatchery.
The striper program, known as Draft Addendum III, will propose a range of management measures including, but not limited to, adjustments to commercial and recreational minimum size, reductions in annual coastal commercial allocation, reductions in recreational bag limits, revisions to the target recruitment rate in the Chesapeake Bay and other waters. Also, the commission may seek "reductions on fishing for striped bass in known spawning areas during the spawning season by at least 50 percent."
The Draft Addendum will be reviewed by the Atlantic Striped Bass management Board in August and, if passed, could be in place by 2012.
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