Striped bass stocks over fished

[Mike]

As I recall, there is a Hudson River and/or Chesapeake study(ies) published on the use of circle hooks for stripers, but I think water temp is also included (important) as a variable.

 

[Mike]

Right on Afish, we are seeing that in a number of species, all related to warming ocean water temps.

 

[SurfCowboyXX]

Poopdeck, you're just one family of 5 from Bucks County, true. But there are over 600,000 people in Bucks, so think over a hundred thousand families of five. So, although your family isn't doing it everyday, everyday, many hundreds of families are. Imagine all of them taking their two-per limit. Then imagine the >800,000 in Montco, the 600,000 in Delco, the 1,600,000 in Philadelphia, the 500,000 in Chester, the 650,000 from Lehigh and Northampton, and that's not counting a single person from more than 2 hours away, and nobody from NY, DE, or NJ. Now all these people don't fish, but it gives you an idea of scope. It's always a matter of scope. I don't think people can really wrap their heads around the density of population in this area and the effect that the recent surge in the popularity of striper fishing has had. Think about a headboat on a good day-150 guys taking two each and throwing back hundreds. Imagine, coast-wide, all the six-pack charters targeting trophy fish with bait. This is where the real damage is being done.

 

[Mike]

Another way to think about the harvest aspect is this, using stocked trout as the example. When we did creel surveys on stocked trout streams, including opening day, the occasional anglers who kept their limits (either 8 trout or 5 trout depending upon the regs at the time) did not do much damage to the trout populations, as they were relatively rare individuals. When you looked at the data and summed the catches (harvest numbers), it was the anglers who kept 1 or 2 fish who depleted the population simply because of the sheer number of anglers who harvested those lower numbers. This somewhat goes to the concept that SurfCowboy is presenting above. The fact is that with stripers the creel limits are already low, so a new approach will require more creative thought.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Mike,

Coming up with rules are easy, applying them is a whole different story. There are communities with a voice along the shore that think that bringing in stripers is a birthright. Any rule changes will be fought tooth and nail by guides and charter captains.

One fish 20-28 inches is the daily limit. 15 fish per season per angler, regardless of whether they are caught on a charter or fishing from the rocks somewhere.

If that is ever universally approved I'll probably die. It would require self-policing which we both know happens only on occasion.

Fixing things will take a tremendous amount of effort. Ain't you glad you're retired now?

Take care dude and enjoy your retirement. And please always continue to speak up about the things you spent your career doing. I appreciate the perspective you bring.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[Mike]

For those interested in this issue, keep an eye on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission web site for the dates of upcoming meetings. The new striped bass stock assessment should be discussed at the next meeting, which is usually in May. You may be able to listen to the meeting and if not at least view the transcript.

 

[poopdeck]

When only the commercial striped bass boats are reporting numbers the data can be easily skewed. Again, let's not fail to recognize the undocumented Wild West style trawler netting taking place. This is an industry that kills far more striped bass then any other sector. Unfortunately there are no reliable ways to document this but once again common sense has to be applied. I can't possibly be the only one to see these trawlers out working, can I. I can't possibly be the only one who recognizes that they are catching everything that swims. Unfortunately they do not document their destruction.

Again, until the problem can be accurately identified, regulation will have little to no effect.

http://oneanglersvoyage.blogspot.com/2015/08/can-we-reduce-striped-bass-bycatch.html

https://www.surfcastersjournal.com/commercial-trawlers-slaughtering-thousands-of-striped-bass-off-the-outer-banks/

 

[SurfCowboyXX]

The trawlers don't help the cause, for certain. That said, the math is such that, once you consider the sheer volume of fishermen exclusively targeting trophy stripers (all the recs are looking to catch the biggest fish they can, just like the rest of us-I don't drive to the shore to fish unless I hear of fish larger than 32" being caught), there would have to be many times more trawlers and commercial fishermen to account for the disparity in numbers. Social media has really hurt, as well. Now the payoff for a six-pack charter being able to post trophy fish photos every day during the season is a full book of chartered trips every year. What's worse are just cell phone fishermen in general (the striper clubs), where when one guy finds some fish, he calls his entire club so that they can come out and drive up a bunch of scores for their weekly tournaments. These are the "sharpies" who live near the shore and can fish every day or night. They know what they are doing out there in a big way. Show up an hour late for one of those rushes, and all you'll see are drag marks from the tails as wide as your foot is long coming up from the shore and 200 cigarette butts all over the parking area. Nobody believes the stocks are going to crash again, and nobody is willing to take any responsibility whatsoever, so it's definitely going to occur again unless draconian action is taken. This whole "regulation won't work unless we know exactly what the problem is" sounds quite a bit like the climate change controversy over the last 40 years, where, had some reasonable regulations been enacted, even on the basis of what was yet not exact understanding, we probably wouldn't have seen the changes in climate that have moved much of the striper stocks to Maine and Canada. By the time we feel comfortable enacting the regulations, the regulation is a moratorium, because now, it doesn't matter what the exact problem was-there is only one answer remaining. Probably one of the worst examples of human nature-literally having to put our hand in the fire rather than admitting that the heat above it is directly resulting from the flame.

 

[poopdeck]

that video is one trawler out of many. That's one trawler that does that twice a day every day. Every trawler netting fish also nets the game fish that eat the fish being netted. The fish they are not allowed to keep is tossed over dead. Why the heck are the trawlers trying to up the number of bycatch they can keep per trip if they are not catching as many as they want to keep. Feeding estimates of captured and caged fish (so called C&R fish) into a computer model is not going to save striped bass any more then regulation based on incomplete data would have any impact on climate change.

As for the stripers, close the fishery then. Close it to commercial, close it to recreational angler and close it to sportfishermen. Close it 100% and let's stop the farce of blaming the googans, the locals, the six pack charters, the surf fishermen and whoever else isn't as sporting as the next. Seems the recreational anglers who blame other recreational anglers really only care about preserving their form of recreational angling over others and not the actual striped bass. Close it down for all.

 

[Fredrick]

NC has just closed all fishing for stripers commercial and recreational

https://www.witn.com/content/news/NC-Division-of-Marine-Fisheries-issues-proclamations-that-close-striped-bass-season-507120281.html?fbclid=IwAR3jncBpNk2W3Ykzb-LFp_ZEjALktJEsXpC1YXE2cA3-y_TduogyqRUwPMU

 

[Dave_W]

Fredrick wrote:
NC has just closed all fishing for stripers commercial and recreational

https://www.witn.com/content/news/NC-Division-of-Marine-Fisheries-issues-proclamations-that-close-striped-bass-season-507120281.html?fbclid=IwAR3jncBpNk2W3Ykzb-LFp_ZEjALktJEsXpC1YXE2cA3-y_TduogyqRUwPMU

Wow! :-o

NC was the last state I would have expected to implement C&R for SB . . . but hey, it's good news and we'll take it. I've long felt that much of the mortality of very large spawn sized cows was happening in winter down in NC, so I welcome this.

Thanks Fredrick.

 

[poopdeck]

I'm not familiar with NC commercial fishing but after looking at the maps it seems gill nets are not permitted in their rivers but the coast is still fair game. I did not know gill netters are that prolific in NC inland waters. I guess this is okay but it seems like a half measure at best. The season does not really close since recreational catch and release is permitted. This is good news. I guess they didn't read those catch and release mortality reports.

 

[Swattie87]

Can anyone explain what caused the across the board “boom” in striper fishing both recreationally and commercially during the 90’s/early 2000’s? (See the graph in afish’s Post #2.)

 

[Dave_W]

Swattie87 wrote:
Can anyone explain what caused the across the board “boom” in striper fishing both recreationally and commercially during the 90’s/early 2000’s? (See the graph in afish’s Post #2.)

This boom was the result of a renewed interest in sport fishing for SB after a government imposed moratorium in the 1980s. SB had been very popular sport fish before this but, for some unknown reason, their population crashed in the early 1980s, especially in the Chesapeake Bay, their main spawning area. There was a federal moratorium put in place protecting SB and their numbers bounced back pretty quick. By the late 90s they were numerous again and a new generation of anglers took up sport fishing for them. There's a good book, Striper Wars, by Dick Russell that tells the story of the moratorium and the old culture of SB angling.

Their population recovery combined with a big, new, public focus on sport fishing for SB (including among FFers) is the basis for the curve on Afish's graph.

 

[Swattie87]

Thanks Dave, appreciate the history.

 

[johnw]

I believe the bunker boats are a large part of the problem both from the inevitable by catch of stripers as well as the severe reduction in the prime striper food. Also the fact that party boats now target stripers, something that was essentially unheard of perhaps 15-20 years ago has to be a major factor.

 

[Fredrick]

Scientists Urge Va. to Cancel Spring Trophy Striper Season


https://www.chesapeakebaymagazine.com/baybulletin/2019/4/2/scientists-urge-va-to-cancel-spring-trophy-striper-season

 

[springer1]

I believe the bunker boats are a large part of the problem both from the inevitable by catch of stripers as well as the severe reduction in the prime striper food. Also the fact that party boats now target stripers, something that was essentially unheard of perhaps 15-20 years ago has to be a major factor.

+1

 

[sarce]

Fredrick, I hope they follow through with that. And also crack down on poaching...it is a massive problem in the Potomac. Frequently reported, rarely acted upon by law enforcement.

 

[Fredrick]

Its coming and long over due Moratorium

https://www.fredericksburg.com/news/va_md_dc/overfishing-assessment-may-lead-virginia-to-ban-recreational-fishing-for/article_6d9f2e74-3394-50d7-999d-abe30b0d26e0.html