Over the years I've spent a lot of time trying to follow the bouncing ball regarding fisheries management, specifically striped bass and the ASMFC. It was confusing as hell, and it remains so today. I've shared what I know from listening to the meetings, following the ASMFC on their website, other's synopsis's of what's going on, and lastly my own personal opinion. I try and recap and use the KISS principle, Keep It Simple Stupid, to understand and explain it all. Sometimes I get it right, other times close.
So I'll try again here.
In early August the ASMFC held their summer meeting. It was about deciding what Addendum III to Amendment 7 of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Striped Bass will be. Now that involves a lot of people. Multiple states and really commercial vs recreational. And as I've always said, it all comes down to politics and money, not the well being of the striped bass.
The ASMFC put out the emergency action a few years back tightening up the bag and size limits for ocean fish to one fish at 28-31". It was just a Band-Aid on an arterial bleed. It may have stopped the flow but the vessel still wanted to rupture. We stopped the carnage, for a minute, of harvest by protecting the 2015 year class, but then wound up opening the harvest for the 2018 year class. You see fish are in the slot, and the survivors grow out of it, but the younger fish, especially if it's a "good" year class then grow into it, which means anglers and commercial operations can harvest them. Slots need to move as the fish, and the strong or weak year classes, move up and into or out of the slot.
Then there's the high percentage of catch and release mortality, or F, that increases the kill rate and lowers the SSB, or spawning striped bass numbers. These aren't crabs and you can't flip a bass over and determine if it's a male or female. Most will say males top out at about 35 inches, with the females growing bigger, and these days much bigger.
The early idea was to have the striped bass rebuilt by 2029. Rebuilt? That means we would have a SSB close to where they want it. To understand you'd have to go back in this blog to learn about threshold and target and all things like that. Basically, the rebuild date of 2029 is mathematically impossible, well let's say it's not going to happen. Remember, depending on who you talk to, and what their interests are, you'll get a myriad of different opinions, and science. A lot of this is based on NOAA's MRIP data, which some say, "Is better than what we used to have", but at the end of the day is a volunteer and sporadic survey. How many of you have completed a MRIP survey? There you go.
Anyway, so they have decided what steps need to be taken in order to have a 50/50 shot at rebuilding the SSB by 2029. So, you're staggering up to the roulette table with your last $100 and plopping it down on either black or red, and let's just say there's no 0 or 00 on this wheel. Are those good odds? Well the ASMFC and the Board thought enough so to have Addendum III approved and will put it out for public comment. Ah, public comment. Yes each comment is made part of the official record, and read, but they never seem to sway their decisions based on what the average angler says. That's where the lobbying and politics and money come into play.
So what does that mean for us heading into the fall run? Nothing. Last year they punted and kept the bag and size limits stays quo coming out of 2024. It was their chance to score, and they kicked the ball away. Now we'll see if there is an overcorrection in 2026.
According to the press release from the ASMFC following the summer meetings 2025 (this year) will see a projected increase in fishing mortality due to the 2018 year class of fish entering into the slot.....duh. Didn't you scientists and experts see that during last years meetings?? C'mon man.
So what could we see in 2026. Well since the addendum was passed now it goes to public comment, a joke, and then it gets voted on in October and implemented in 2026, maybe.
Things that have been decided, there will need to be a 12% reduction in mortality, both in harvest and catch and release, in order to have a shot at that 50/50 rebuild. That will call for commercial and recreational reductions. It can be done by reducing quotas, seasons, and bag and size limits. That is where the No-Target or No-Harvest comes into play. We got a taste of what that means when they introduced the Wave plan. There's six Waves, two months per wave, so Wave 1 is January and February, and so on. The big sticking point is what states would be closed during what wave? Closing New Jersey and New York during Wave 4, July and August, would be far different than closing Massachusetts and Rhode Island during those same months. So we'll see.
Then there's other things like how, well more when, commercial operations tag their fish. And the controversy on how you're supposed to properly measure the length of a harvested fish.
Yep, you're supposed to pinch the fork together to get an accurate measurement before tossing it in the bucket or burying it in the sand. I didn't know that, maybe I have caught a 50 inch before. And then there's all that is Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay. Good luck with that one.
So look for the public comment to open up in the next month or so so you can share your thoughts which will be made part of the record, and hold on because there will be changes coming in 2026.