In 1984, Congress enacted the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act to “promote a coordinated Federal-State partnership for striped bass management by requiring that States fully comply with the striped bass fishery management plan developed by the ASMFC.” This federal law assisted the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) with adopting a new management plan following the declaration that striped bass was officially recovered on January 1, 1995.
It’s been 30 years since that much-heralded recovery of spawning stock biomass (SSB) to 202 million pounds of fish; today SSB estimate is pegged at roughly 191 million pounds and building. Yet according to the ASMFC it’s is not building fast enough to achieve the new rebuild goal of 247 million pounds by 2029. While our present 28- to 31-inch slot limit has led to a 30-year low in mortality, the ASMFC’s Striped Bass Management Board (Board) believes there’s only a 43% chance of reaching the SSB target, so they’re considering another “emergency” declaration to increase rebuilding odds to 50%.
This January edition of The Fisherman is printed on the same day that the Board is scheduled to decide upon a restricted striped bass harvest or potential targeting closure during the height of our 2025 striped bass fishery, but we’ll post details from the December 16th meeting at TheFisherman.com as they become available.
If your ideal is a pure “catch and release” striper fishery that prohibits the ability to keep a fish for the table, the options presented for upwards of a two-month “no harvest” closure in November/December should provide all the ammunition you need to fundamentally change this iconic fishery forever. Perhaps you feel the fate of the fishery hangs in the balance, and without taking action immediately the entire striper stock will collapse. Again, we’re at 30-year low on striped bass mortality going back to 1995, the year that managers heralded the recovery of striped bass as a milestone conservation achievement. Yet here we are today, roughly 10 million pounds away from that 1995 threshold and on a positive trajectory, with some folks pleading for a moratorium.
Be careful what you ask for; the “ends” don’t always “justify the means” especially when dealing with hot button issues. In 2023 the Board took emergency action with a 28- to 31-inch slot limit to protect the 2015-year class of stripers, the thought being that this generation of fish would be protected above the slot and therefor contribute to better recruitment. Some of us got our hands slapped for daring to ask what might become of the 2016 and 2017 classes in that narrow harvest scenario, or what would happen next if this kneejerk plan didn’t work. We were told this emergency action would lead to salvation. It has not.
Two years later, based on angler effort data compiled through the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) – which ASMFC forecasts will show an uptick in 2025 as this more robust 2017-year class enters the harvestable slot – the Board again is deciding on whether or not to ratchet down angler effort, either “no harvest” (2 months) or “no targeting” of striped bass (1 month). If the Board votes to implement more draconian measures – outside of the standard “addendum” process of public comment – and next year’s MRIP forecasts show even greater MRIP overestimation of angler effort, we could be facing yet another Board “emergency” with nowhere left to go but down.
For those thinking they can simply “catch and release” their way through a striped bass moratorium, consider this language contained with the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act of 1984 – “during a moratorium period, it is unlawful for any person (1) to engage in fishing within the moratorium area and (2) to land, or attempt to land, Atlantic striped bass.”
When dealing with nuclear options, know your history and be mindful not to burn your fingers.
