It'll be on December 16th when the ASMFC Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board will decide what changes need to be made for the 2025 season in order to "attempt" to meet the rebuilding goal by 2029. It's really all a joke. It's not funny, just more pitiful. Last evening an informational webinar was held prior to that meeting on the 16th. It was an eye opener.
As I have said for years now you're going to see massive changes in the striped bass regulations. I first said slot limits, then gear restrictions (went to circle hooks and there will be more coming), then seasonal closures, or even no harvest regulations. Well, all of that is on the table now. Everyone talks a good talk, "Shut it down", or "Moratorium", but those are the same guys using barbed double treble hooks, dragging fish up on the sand to perform waterside surgery, or tossing bass into a shallow surf or a Triple Lindy off a head boats deck. Practice what you preach. Yes even you.
On December 3rd the Striped Bass Technical Committee and Stock Assessment Subcommittee released updated projections and management considerations for the upcoming 2025 year. There's a ton of "stuff" in there that is way above my brain capacity, and probably yours as well. Below are a list of conclusions from the Technical Committee;
Mmmmm. So what does that all mean. Well it means that the ASMFC has to look at all of the data and science (all debatable) and figure out who is responsible for the decline in the striped bass population. Is it recreational, commercial, or even just the species themselves? Or is it a combination of all three. Now if it's on the bass then there's not much we can do about it. Have they changed, like evolutionary, because of climate conditions, or bait migrations, or the health or unhealth of spawning waters? Is it the amount of striped bass killed for commercial purposes? That includes netters and guys up in Massachusetts who buy a commercial license and go out a couple times a week and catch, kill, and sell bass to offset the cost of their boats and slips? Or is the devil him or herself, that recreational angler who not only kills every single fish within the regulations but also kills every fish they touch due to poor catch and release techniques? I feel the ASMFC is leaning towards the later.
I saw the above image posted by Jim Hutchinson from The Fishermen Magazine. The graphs show harvest and mortality in the different sectors going back decades. One thing that is interesting, and a bit controversial, is the right graph is data gathered from MRIP, or the Marine Recreational Information Program. Whats that? Is a voluntary reporting system, a survey known as FES or Fishing Effort Survey, put out by NOAA Fisheries to determine how many trips anglers took for striped bass and how many fish were caught. How many of you have participated in this questionnaire? How can anyone determine dead discards for the commercial sector?
So we really don't know how many, or what percentages, of fish are taken by what sector, how many dead discards there are, or how many fish are actually harvested or killed due to poor catch and release techniques. Does it really matter? Most anglers will say, up and down the coast, is that they are seeing less and less striped bass, which does matter. Outside of what we see during the pre-spawn spring and fall runs, mostly in and around New Jersey, most say it's hard to find that same population of bass at any other times of the year. "They just spread out and then come all together in the spring and fall". "They are all out beyond the three mile line". Think what you want.
So some considerations (above) for the Striped Bass Management Board for the December 16th meeting are posted above, it's basically shit or get off the pot time. It's time to take a proactive stance and not rely on emergency actions like we saw in 2023 which is just sticking a finger in the dike, or your arse.
Things they are considering? Things called seasonal closures. Or either Non-Targeting or Non-Harvest. That either means you can't fish for them or you can't take them. We've seen what can't take them means- all of those treble hooks down the hatch and in the eyes and gill plates or bouncing on the boat decks or being launched back into the water.
Yes, you do it, just about every time you fish, and catch. That's where the fly fishermen distance themselves from the rest of the cave man crowd. Single hooks. Hopefully pinched barb. And catching way less then our striped bass addicted counterparts with their spin rods.
In order to bring the chance of rebuilding striped bass by 2029 below the 50% mark they have determined a 14 %, although 8% is being floated around, recreational reduction is needed. Look below for the teaser (corresponding to equal commercial reception) which will get the real fishermen's panties all up in a bunch. Commercial doesn't mean big Deadliest Catch kind of boats, or someone who does it full-time, and definitely doesn't include the head boats, which in my opinion kill more bass then other boat or beach anglers.
If you look above you will see Wave followed by a number. Well "wave" means a part of the calendar year, almost like fish come in waves. But as I mentioned earlier this week how can you have a regulation for say Wave 3, which is May and June, be the same for the Raritan Bay as you would for the waters off of Martha's Vineyard? It would have to be adjusted for the time of year and by state when the the bulk of the fish are being targeting and harvested. If you look above you will see that the No-Target and No-Harvest both come with closures ranging from 27 - 61 days, and some of it includes having a "new target" which means new size minimum, maximum, or slot limit.
For reference Wave 1 Jan/Feb, Wave 2 March/April, Wave 3 May/June, Wave 4 July/August, Wave 5 Sept/Oct, and Wave 6 Nov/Dec. And I'll take your thanks as it took me an hour to find this breakdown on the NOAA MRIP website.
So the ASMFC has opened up public comment until December 10th. You can submit your thoughts to comments@asfmc.org. I encourage you to do so. They have to read and record all of the comments submitted. They say your voice does matter. What you will see is an unbelievable amount of comments from the the for-hire recreational fleet. They will mention economic hardship from more regulations that will reduce when, where, and how you can target, catch, and kill, catch striped bass. Well boys, what would you say to those people that used to write or take pictures for daily newspapers? That used to be a profession, but the dailies are gone, you have to change with the times like those people have. They've found other jobs. Things don't last forever.
So what can you expect? Well there will be new size limits. There will be seasonal closures. And there will be times when you can harvest and not harvest striped bass. What else you will see are people either hoisting up sub 28 inch fish or the larger, yes even big cows again, all across social media. Those days of > then 38 or 43 inches may be coming back. The special interests and voices from the New Jersey representatives will get in the Management Boards heads and lead them to kicking the can down the road again.
A bigger question is, for those that live in new Jersey or are appalled by our Bonus Tag Program, is seeing if that may come to an end. But remember, that program was put into place in the early 1990's when New Jersey went to giving striped bass Gamefish status, thus eliminating a commercial fishery for striped bass in New Jersey waters. If they put the pressure on New Jersey to eliminate it, then you just might see a commercial fishery back in state waters. And all of those six-pack Captains, if they applied for a commercial permit, would be able to catch and sell their catch of legal and big bass to markets and retaurants like they do up in Massachusetts. That wouldn't be moving things forward and wouldn't be good for the striped bass.
