Well today was the winter meeting of the ASMFC. Let me preface this by saying I am no way an expert or even close to fully understanding striped bass management. Today was the meeting, and in between patients I followed Ross Squire's update on the 1@32" Pledge Facebook page.
What I can say from the meeting, Tom Fote scares me as he represents New Jersey and, in my opinion, is not a friend of conservation minded anglers, Maryland's 18" minimum size for harvesting striped bass is a joke, and, it appears the board may be, or are flirting with, knowing they have the duty to help save the striped bass.
This meeting focused on the recreational side, as commercial releases, according to the data, only accounts for 8% of mortality, while recreational is 48%. You can believe that or not, but those are the numbers that have been established and are used. The meeting started and then these slides stuck out which address ocean and Chesapeake Bay fisheries.
Again, to me, it appears the plan is looking to rebuild SSB by 2029, they just have to figure out how to do it. I don t think there are plans for multi-state regulations, each state does and will continue to justify their "data". In New Jersey we have a recreational fishery which includes the slot Bonus Tag Option because we don't have a commercial fishery, while some other states do.
The below slides dealt with reducing recreational mortality, which has been addressed by establishing then use of circle hooks when using bait, which eliminated snag and drop fishing. And then there was the 28 - <38" one fish limit that was put into the regulations. But they talked about protecting spawning fish, and the below slides show that.
So are we looking at catch and release only, closed seasons, either for two weeks or one per two waves, for certain bodies of water? Is Raritan Bay going to part of that plan protecting the spawning bass? What about the Chesapeake system? What about Maryland's 18 inch fish?
It is interesting and timely with my earlier post from today. Have striped bass become more of a bay and river fishery then out in the ocean? Are we seeing the "bulk" of the striped bass pre-spawn outside of their natal rivers, and during the fall migration, in those same spots? And is regards to recreational mortality, are those boat or shore/beach anglers, because the fishery has become primarily a boat fishery.
I believe the board votes on things, it then goes out for public comment, then the back door deals and lobbying occurs, then the board votes and it becomes a regulation, determined by each state, or not. Again, don't go by me, but this is my very early take-a-way from the meeting.
Could we be closer to gamefish status? Closer to coast wide regulations? Closer to a moratorium? Or down continue to kick the can and aren't any closer to improving striped bass numbers. I will ask this, can it be argued that the elimination of snag and drop fishing, and a hard 28- < 38 " size limit has helped protect the largest breeding female bass we have left? I sure hope so, now what's next.