Striped bass: important public meetings/hearings coming in Sept re: reg changes

[Mike]

When the PFBC puts out its announcement, you will notice that Pa is encouraging NJ anglers who fish the Delaware to attend the Pa meeting (1 meeting), as all NJ meetings (3 meetings) are on the coast. Likewise, NJ is advertising the Pa meeting too. The ASMFC (Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission) presentation will be the same at each meeting.

The Asbury Park Press has a good article on the striped bass hearings with the NJ and PA meeting schedule and locations at its end.

The ASMFC, PA, and NJ encourage striped bass anglers to attend or comment to ASMFC, as this is a very important issue up and down the coast and individuals in other states will certainly be expressing their views.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, AUGUST 6, 2014
PRESS CONTACT, TINA BERGER, 703.842.0740

ASMFC Atlantic Striped Bass Board Approves Draft Addendum IV for Public Comment

Alexandria, VA – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board approved Draft Addendum IV for Public Comment to Amendment 6 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass. The Draft Addendum proposes new fishing mortality (F) reference points, as recommended by the 2013 benchmark stock assessment, and associated management measures to reduce F to a level at or below the proposed target within one or three years.

The Draft Addendum responds to results of the 2013 Atlantic striped bass benchmark assessment indicating F in 2012 was above the proposed F target, and female spawning stock biomass (SSB) has been steadily declining below the target since 2006. This means even though the stock is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring, SSB is approaching its overfished threshold and stock projections show SSB will likely fall below the threshold in the coming years. In addition, a similar decline has been observed in total harvest. In response to these factors, the Draft Addendum proposes management options to reduce fishing mortality to the target level.

The Draft Addendum includes a suite of management options to reduce recreational and commercial harvest along the coast and in the Chesapeake Bay under three reduction timeframes. The timeframes include (1) reducing F to its target in one year with a 25% reduction in 2013 harvest in 2015 (2) reducing F to its target within three years with a 17% reduction in 2013 harvest in 2015, and (3) reducing F to its target within three years with a 7% sequential reduction in harvest for three consecutive years starting in 2015. Specific options to be considered include bag, size, slot and trophy size limits for the recreational fishery and quota reductions for the commercial fishery.

Given the Albemarle Sound/Roanoke River (A/R) stock of striped bass contributes minimally to the coastwide complex when compared to the Chesapeake Bay, Delaware, and Hudson stocks, Draft Addendum IV proposes it be managed by the State of North Carolina using stock-specific biological reference points. These stock-specific reference points, which have been approved by the Board, would result in a separate quota that is set to maintain F for the A/R stock at its target level. The Board tasked the Technical Committee with the continued development of Chesapeake Bay-specific reference points for future use.

It is anticipated the majority of Atlantic coastal states will conduct public hearings on the Draft Addendum; a subsequent press release will announce the details of those hearings once they become finalized. Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Addendum either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. The Draft Addendum will be available on the Commission website (www.asmfc.org) under Public Input the week of August 11th. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on September 30, 2014 and should be forwarded to Mike Waine, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at mwaine@asmfc.org (Subject line: Draft Addendum IV). For more information, please contact Mike Waine, at mwaine@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

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PR14-26
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Tina Berger
Director of Communications
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
1050 N. Highland Street, Suite 200A-N
Arlington, VA 22201

703.842.0740
tberger@asmfc.org
www.asmfc.org
Visit us on Facebook and Twitter

Vision: Sustainably Managing Atlantic Coastal Fisheries

 

[geebee]

Thanks for posting that Mike.

well, its not rocket science is it ? - in the last 8 years we have seen two things :

1. numbers of spawning females falling sharply.

2. in 2006 rec anglers released 23.3MILLION bass. in 2013 it was just 5 MILLION.


duh.


so the solution is obvious - B6 - 2 fish 28-34" slot & B12 - 2 18-23" slot.

both would reduce the rec catch numbers by 29% more importantly protect the 40"+ cows that are taken in their hundreds of thousands each summer.

 

[marcq]

Honestly im looking forward to this taking action. There is no easy answer solution but if I had to make a suggestion I would say a slot of one fish between 21 to 28 inches one keep one fish and a trophy 40 plus inches. Not sure what size bass spawn at but it makes sense to protect those one. Im guessing its around 28 inches.

 

[geebee]

marcq wrote:
Honestly im looking forward to this taking action. There is no easy answer solution but if I had to make a suggestion I would say a slot of one fish between 21 to 28 inches one keep one fish and a trophy 40 plus inches. Not sure what size bass spawn at but it makes sense to protect those one. Im guessing its around 28 inches.

Marc as far as i know, female bass don't stop breeding - a 6 yr old fish of 28" produces 200,000 eggs and a 11/12 yr old 40"+ fish can produce 2,000,000 eggs; so every 40"+ female taken, is the equivalent of 10 keepers.

in certain places - cape cod canal, Montuak, st judes point, IBSP, its very rare that a 40+ is returned.

so, i'm against the trophy take for the current time until the stocks recover.

 

[afishinado]

geebee wrote:

marcq wrote:
Honestly im looking forward to this taking action. There is no easy answer solution but if I had to make a suggestion I would say a slot of one fish between 21 to 28 inches one keep one fish and a trophy 40 plus inches. Not sure what size bass spawn at but it makes sense to protect those one. Im guessing its around 28 inches.

Marc as far as i know, female bass don't stop breeding - a 6 yr old fish of 28" produces 200,000 eggs and a 11/12 yr old 40"+ fish can produce 2,000,000 eggs; so every 40"+ female taken, is the equivalent of 10 keepers.

in certain places - cape cod canal, Montuak, st judes point, IBSP, its very rare that a 40+ is returned.

so, i'm against the trophy take for the current time until the stocks recover.

+1

Why do anglers keep fish? To eat?....a 40lb fish is certainly not the best table fare. Impress your buddies?....yep, but a pic tells a thousand words. Take a photo and release the big cows and take a slot or smaller fish for the table, if you wish.

The issue, as I've read, is many of the charter boats that fish for stripers believe anglers won't book (some of the charters are going for $600+) if they can't keep a big mess of big fish. Short sided, IMO. No one will book if you go out all day and get skunked or work hard to eek out a fish or two.

The boats offshore still latch on to some fish, but the striper fishing has really gone downhill from the surf (beach or jetties) in the last couple of years up and down the coast. Now is the time to restrict the harvest and let the population recover, before it crashes like it did in the 80's.

A long and tedious read, but here is the proposal.

 

[Mike]

Rather than reinveting the wheel with your own custom regulation proposal, I recommend that you check the Draft Addendum to Amendment 6 of the Striped Bass Management Plan to which Afish has linked above. There you will find a "laundry list" of regulation options being considered. From there I am relatively certain that you will find some options that you like. I suspect that most anglers who respond will be commenting on the listed options, although some may still think of an option that is not listed.

 

[marcq]

The idea of the trophy is to make the guy who wants to keep a big fish happy. Keep the charter guys working. I would love it if we had a slot like the redfish slot but thats not going to happen. The other reason is there are certain methods of fishing like snag and dropping. If anyone is not familiar with is it is when you use a big treble hook snag a bunker and live line it to hungry bass bellow. This is how most of these big bass are caught in jersey. The rule of thumb which is stupid once the bass takes it wait 10 seconds befors you set the hook. In most cases you end up guess hooking the fish. In reality you don't need to wait 10 seconds. Ive done it oit of my yak and once they hit you can set the hook and generally you will lock up to the fish. That being said a gut hooked fish is a dead fish.

I completely agree with you in the fact that a 40 in bass should be released in all cases. They suck as table fair they produce more babies but its hard to convince others of the idea. I my self keep a few bass a year. Id much rather cut down on keeping the spawning fish then the none spawners. The fact is that there are not many 40 plus inch fish out there. Because it takes a long time for them to get that big. The vast majority of the spawners are going to be in the 28 inch to 38 inch range. Show why take those fish out? If I could make the decision I would make the limit one fish at 21 to 28 till things get better. There are some many other factors that go into bring the bass back. Thr bunker stocks agricultural runoff in to their spawning grounds. Anglers are keeping to many fish but where are the bunker. In the past three years I have not seen any peanuts on the beach. Bass eat other things besides them but a 12 inch bunker goes much further then a 6 inch sandeel. What are the stocks of schoolie sided bass? I know the Chesapeake has a lot of issues with runoff and alga blooms could this mean there are not as many baby becoming adults because of estuary getting destroy? Im sure anything they do will help but tit is more then just cutting down one how many we take.

 

[afishinado]

Mike wrote:
Rather than reinveting the wheel with your own custom regulation proposal, I recommend that you check the Draft Addendum to Amendment 6 of the Striped Bass Management Plan to which Afish has linked above. There you will find a "laundry list" of regulation options being considered. From there I am relatively certain that you will find some options that you like. I suspect that most anglers who respond will be commenting on the listed options, although some may still think of an option that is not listed.

I prefer to call it a "Chinese menu", but here it is broken down into it's simplest form:

Coastal Recreational Fishery for Striped Bass (All jurisdictions would implement)

B1 - 1 striper 28” min
B2 - 1 striper 30” min
B3 - 1 striper 32” min
B4 - 1 striper 28-40" slot
B5 - 2 stripers 33” min
B6 - 2 stripers 28-34” slot
B7 - 2 stripers (1 slot, 1 trophy) 1 fish 28-34” slot 1 fish 36” min
B8 - 2 stripers (1 slot, 1 trophy) 1 fish 28-36” slot 1 fish 38” min
B9 - 2 stripers (1 slot, 1 trophy) 1 fish 28-37” slot 1 fish 40” min


Chesapeake Bay Management Area Recreational Fishery (MD, PRFC and VA would implement)

B10 - 1 striper 18” min
B11 - 2 striper 21” min
B12 - 2 stripers 18-23” slot
B13 - 2 stripers (1 slot, 1 trophy or 2 slot) 1 or both 18-21” slot 1 fish 36”
B14 - Chesapeake Bay Recreational Quota of 2,000,915 pounds (no established bag limit, but a minimum size of 18”)
B15 - Chesapeake Bay Recreational Quota of 1,800,740 pounds (no established bag limit, but a minimum size of 18”).

 

[geebee]

thanks afish - as i mentioned i think B6 & B12 make the most sense and have the most effect too.

the 'menu' is nice, but i don't see many anglers stated preferred choice there - 1 fish, 22-26" ie one table sized fish that would nicely feed a family of four a fresh fish, but would also be a nice 'trophy' for a young kid.

this is the danger of waiting until a body puts forwards its proposals - rec anglers should of lobbied them at the start of the process not after the options seem to be a done deal.

 

[Mike]

Pennsylvania meeting: Will be in lower Bucks Co, a short distance off of I-95 near Bristol.

September 17, 2014, at 6 p.m.
Silver Lake Nature Center (http://www.silverlakenaturecenter.org/)
1306 Bath Road
Bristol, PA

 

[marcq]

thanks for posting that afish now I see what options we have. just curious geebee why do you think B6? not that I am opposed to it but people are still keeping two fish. I get you are cutting down the number of big fish caught and kept but in my outlook of that option you are keeping the vast majority of spawning fish.

 

[Mike]

As you fellows debate the reg proposals or think of your own, it may be helpful to keep in mind that a very high proportion of the fish caught or present along the coast in summer and fall are females.

As you may know, the three main producer areas are the Cheaspeake, Hudson, and Delaware systems. Using the Delaware as the example with which I am familiar, based on tag returns from tags that are applied to the fish when they are on the Delaware Estuary spawning grounds in May, the number of males that go to sea are few. They spend most or all of their lives in the greater Delaware and Chesapeake Estuaries. We (PFBC staff from Fisheries Management Area 6 - SE Pa) have tagged around 4000 stripers (16 inches long and longer) on the Delaware spawning grounds between Pa and NJ since 1994 and returns of tags have been 18 percent. Returns come primarily from sport anglers, who indicate whether or not they have harvested the fish or just cut off the tag and returned the fish to the water. The anglers also tell us in general terms (closest town on the water body) where they caught each fish.

Again, as you think about regs, it may also interest you to know that in the Delaware system we see few males that are 28 inches long or longer. The vast majority are shorter than 28". The few large males that we sample each year are fast growing and are most likely the ones that have gone to sea, where growth is much faster. Those that apparently stay in the estuaries are only average, fairly slow, or slow growers once they pass 20" or so.

 

[geebee]

Marc - good question - B6 has the lowest top limit 34".

As Mike alluded to, any fish above 28" is likely a female.

i'm not really happy with any of the menu options - but a higher % of big fish are kept for bragging rather than eating, so i think a top limit of 40" is way too high.

imho 26" should be top. bottom 20 or 22".

 

[Mike]

Just a reminder that the only Pa meeting on the coastal striped bass and possible Delaware River reg change options and the associated background info will occur this Wednesday evening beginning at 6PM near Bristol, Bucks Co. See location info in post number 10 above.

The staff person assigned to striped bass management for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Mike Waine, who is leading the discussion at each coastal state's meetings, will be presenting. PFBC reps will also be discussing and answering questions on Delaware R striped bass management, including the slot limits, as well as conducting an angler survey on regulation options for the tidal Delaware. Likewise, ASMFC will be seeking angler response on the coastal regulations options. Remember, those coastal regs also affect parts of the non-tidal and tidal Delaware for most of the year.

Even if you are a late I expect that there will be a lot of discussion and opportunity for input. If you decide to attend, please introduce yourself to me. With all of the apparent interest from SE Pa participants on this message board, I hope to see some of you there and hope that those who are not able to attend due to time, distance, or other obligations will send their choices of a coastal management options to ASMFC. Those options may be selected from the ASMFC addendum referenced in other responses to the OP above.

 

[Fredrick]

Good shot I will be there Mike if you see me before I see you dont run because I will catch you either way :lol:

 

[Fredrick]

Bump . Anyone else going ? Great chance at pickings Mike's brain .

 

[Fishidiot]

Fredrick wrote:
Bump . Anyone else going ? Great chance at pickings Mike's brain .

Probably too far for me, but I will be sending comments.

NOTE: The comment period ends on the 30th of this month.

 

[Fredrick]

It was nice seeing you tonight Mike I have to say that I thought you would be shorter ;-) I definitely learned allot tonight about the overall striper fishery and its regulations. Hopefully our voices will be heard and they will decide what would be best to increase the striper population.

 

[Mike]

Good to meet you too and glad you found it to be educational.

 

[Fishidiot]

Bump.

Comment period ends tomorrow.