05.03.23 I guess it's a good first step...

 

     Well here we go. If you're a follower of striped bass conservation and the actions and or lack thereof the ASMFC you're going to get bombarded with yesterdays news for a long while. In order to rebuild the striped bass stock by 2029 the ASMFC finally took some action yesterday....some action. 

     Currently recreational fishermen can take one fish per angler coast-wide from 28-37.99 inches. Now there's a bunch of other states that have different spawning river regulations like the Chesapeake, Delaware and Hudson Rivers. Now those rivers have regs where you can take fish starting at 18 inches, like in the Chesapeake. But the coast-wide size limit will change.

     The ASMFC took action to implement Addendum II which will hope to increase the targeted rebuild by 2029 by 50%. They then backed that up with an emergency action declaration which reduces the upper limit of the slot to 31 inches. That "emergency" must be set into place by the individual states by July 2, 2023. So "effective immediately" well, means ASAP or by July 2nd. 

     What we didn't see is any changes to the commercial striped bass fishery. 60% of the commercial haul of striped bass comes from the Chesapeake Bay. And while on the Chesapeake, this new slot of 28-31 inches does NOT include the Chesapeake spring "trophy" season. So in the Chesapeake, from April 1st to April 30th, anglers are prohibited from targeting striped bass, even for catch and release. But from May 1st to May 15th anglers may keep one striped bass with a MINIMUM size of 35 inches. ???

     And back to commercial. Again, New Jersey doesn't have a commercial fishery so we are "allowed" to have the Bonus Tag Program. That allows us to hammer down on the 24-28" fish, now in addition to the 28-31" fish. So if you go striped bass fishing in New Jersey and need one for the table, you can harvest, starting May 15th, a striped bass from 24-31 inches. Sounds pretty good for both sides, right? 

     Well, not really. These new regulations are being put in place to protect the 2015 year class of fish. Again, while we are making progress, and pissing a ton of people off along the way, like New Jersey's own resident assholes, Adam Nowalsky and Tom Fote, there is much more to do. 

    If you just look at the above chart for reference 24-31 inch fish roughly are from age 5 to 8 years old. We want to protect the 2015 year class right? And what about the years after that? How were the recruitment numbers? Just look below....

     What we are left with is the following, states allowed to control their own striped bass destiny, if you will, the same bodies of water with different regulations depending which side of the state line you are on, "fishing in a barrel" conditions on pre-spawn and fall pinch points such as the Raritan Bay and the Cape Cod Canal, and money and politics continuing to get involved in fisheries management. I am sure New Jersey's representatives will have something to say to screw this up. Already Nowalsky had asked to have this tabled until the summer meeting. 

So thank you to those people that have endured the disappoinment and continued to fight the fight. I have to mention the American Saltwater Guides Association and they have been really on top of this and keeping everyone laser focused and committed to make positive change. Make it a gamefish, for real. 

    And in other news. The Delaware is almost looking ready to fish...well not really. We're down to 56,400 cfs. The above picture was taken yesterday on my way to work. Gonna be a little wait.