02.12.24 Changes they are a comin'....

     

WRC Biologist Deon Kerr with a 45 pound Roanoke River striped bass

     Well, here we go. And I like what I see, at least from down in North Carolina. With pitiful numbers coming out of the 2023 survey results of the Roanoke/Albermarle strain of striped bass North Carolina has gone and shut it down for 2024. In effect, there will be no harvesting of striped bass in 2024. The latest numbers are the lowest ever recorded. Low abundance and high mortality put the striped bass' chance of survival in peril, yes peril. 

     This move is coupled with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries action to close down the Albermarle Sound Management Area to both commercial and recreational fishing. It's two different areas managed by two different organizations. You have Albermarle Sound, and then the Roanoke River. 

     So this is an interesting move, and maybe one that I would support here in New Jersey. Even though we saw a shit-show out there during the spring and fall in 2023, would catch and release only be better, with a 9% catch and release mortality rate, than a harvest plus C & R mortality rate? You can't have it both ways, kill as many we can, and then want the species to survive, and rebuild by 2029. Something, well you, as an angler, has to give. And you know my feelings on the 28-31" slot. Not good. 

     Slots work, if you have a sliding scale. Kind of like if you were a diabetic. I have my students stick their patients before and after meals to see what their blood sugars are. Then, depending on the results, we "cover" them with insulin, on what we call a sliding scale. So if a patient's pre-breakfast blood glucose is 

264, they would get 4 units of insulin. Think of that, kind of, when it comes to striped bass. You can't hammer down on a bracket of, say several years class of fish, and then be surprised in 4-6 years when there aren't any of those sized striped bass around, which would be perfect spawning sized bass. We're "protecting" 2015, but only decimating 2016, 17, and 2018 fish. 

    North Carolina states, "Anglers can continue to catch and release striped bass throughout the spring season despite (the) no harvest season". They go onto say, "The Wildlife Commission recommends that anglers use a single, barbless circle hook when fishing with natural bait or a LURE with a single, barbless hook to reduce handling stress on fish that are released". They say that integrity is what you do when no one is looking. That trailing treble hook on your favorite plug that's buried into the orbital bone of that big bass is what they are looking to avoid. A one-eyed bass doesn't do as well as one with two eyes. 

     And then Maryland, only part of the Chesapeake managers, announced their 2024 emergency action regulations. They have extended the seasonal closure of recreational striped bass fishing from April 1 to May 15th, which includes eliminating the Trophy Striped Bass season from May 1- May 15th, in which anglers could have harvested a bass over 35 inches. The Susquehanna Flat's will be shut down through the end of May. 

     In the Chesapeake Bay Maryland has adopted a 19-24 inch slot for both recreational, shore and boat, and for-hire operations, with a daily bag limit of one fish per day. Also up for adoption is the extending of the closed season during the summer fishery and eliminating the commercial hook and line summer fishery. Currently the Chesapeake, in Maryland, is closed from July 16 -31st, this would extend it through August 7th, when it's 105 degrees out and the water is 85 degrees, why, just why, are you targeting striped bass then? 

     The DNR put out this for anglers to consider in their fishing efforts,

     I am sure Tom Fote, Adan Nowalsky and the boys who fight with all of their might to allow more bass, and other fishes, to be harvested each year nearly choked to death when he saw the North Carolina and Maryland news. Virginia is a pro-kill-everything state, from menhaden to bass, and New Jersey usually aligns themselves with them and votes accordingly. And, I'm not about people not being able to enjoy a freshly caught fish meal. which can include a striped bass. 

     So, what will New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York do? They control regulations in the spawning waters within their jurisdictions. I have an idea. Why don't we, one, start with having the same regulations in the same bodies of water. Places like the Delaware and Hudson Rivers. Let's extend that to the Delaware, Raritan, and Upper and Lower New York Bays. Catch and release only in the natal rivers, ever. Then let's look at having catch and release only in those bays where striped bass stage when they are pre-spawn. Hey, do you want a seasonal closure? A moratorium? So, shut up and go fish, and let them go. 

Marine Place- October, 2012

     As far as the fall, mmmm. I might relent on that one a bit. I think we could have a harvest season, a tight one, with different slots, during different times of that season, at least around the New York Bight. Now I know, due to the fact that they are migratory, different regulations need to be in place in different waters at different times of the year. Block Island is a summer fishery, while New Jersey is not, and vice versa say in the fall. You get the drift. But lets say something like, two weeks of, and it kills me, fish over 34 inches, with some kind of tag system, like the hunters do, and most of these anglers hunt as well, so they're down with it. Followed by a break, or closure of harvest, and then a smaller slot slot later in the fall into winter? I don't know what is right, what is fair, and what is best for the striped bass, but, we need to start looking at sustainable options, otherwise the Raritan Bay will be a no-harvest zone like it now down in North Carolina.