Striped bass remain very much in the news as we enter the New Year, in large part due to the pending Striped Bass Stock Assessment Report which will be presented at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) annual winter meeting February 5-7. While not yet final, preliminary reports seemed to indicate that overfishing is occurring in the striped bass fishery, something that the majority of anglers, based on numerous Facebook posts in response to Jim Hutchinson’s article HAVE STRIPED BASS STOCKS CRASHED, have already concluded. It will be interesting to see what is presented in Arlington, VA next month, and if in fact overfishing is occurring, what steps will be taken to curb a decline in the fishery. One very disturbing trend is we should have had good numbers of keeper bass in the 28 to 30-inch range from the 2011 year class this season. Instead, we were again plagued with large numbers of shorts. According to some folks, many of those fish were harvested in Maryland before making their way back north. Whatever the reason, those fish were missing from the fishery.
Regardless of the results of the assessment report, there are serious issues involving the striped bass fishery here in New York that must be addressed sooner than later. Perhaps the stripers’ worst enemy is a price tag that has risen to the $7 range at times during the season. With a price like that on their heads, is it any wonder that the fish are being exploited. From the proliferation of gill nets that blanket the South Fork shoreline, to haul seiners who circumvent the seining ban by using gill nets in place of haul seines, to an inefficient tagging system that is wrought with abuse, resulting in harvest numbers that far exceed what were projected when the system was put into place, striped bass are taking a pounding. People that are no longer, or were never engaged in the fishery, are not giving up their tags because they know they can pass them on to someone involved in the fishery and get a share of the catch money. And let’s not forget the “recreationals” who sell through the back door of restaurants and fish markets, or the dead bycatch of draggers.
In no uncertain terms, striped bass are taking a beating and these issues need to be addressed now if we want a healthy and viable fishery going forward. Regardless of what ASMFC does, New York needs to step up to the plate and do its part to ensure a healthy and vibrant recreational fishery. New York is the only state in the Northeast where striped bass can be taken by gill nets, a dirty, non-selective fishery. There is no commercial fishing allowed for striped bass in Maine, New Hampshire or Connecticut. Massachusetts has a rod and reel only commercial striped bass fishery with no netting allowed. Rhode Island is rod and reel only, with the exception of a limited trap fishery. There is no sale of striped bass allowed in New Jersey. When you look around, New York is the lone holdout in the region with a non-selective striped bass fishery. Coastwide issues need to be addressed as well, but it’s a long and convoluted process. New York has the ability to address these local issues through our state senate and assembly. Legislators like Assemblyman Steve Englebright and Senator Phil Boyle have already shown interest in helping to correct some of these abuses in the striped bass fishery. It is important that they, and legislators in your district, hear from you.
I don’t think too many people would argue that making striped bass a gamefish and thereby removing the price tag off their heads would be the ultimate solution to healthy striped bass stocks in the future. Unfortunately, I don’t see it happening in my lifetime, but maybe it’s time our legislators and fishery managers take the bold step of limiting New York’s commercial striped bass fishery to rod and reel only.
Senator Phil Boyle – 814 Legislative Office Building, Albany, NY 12247
518-455-3411 • pboyle@nysenate.gov
DISTRICT OFFICE – 69 W Main St. Suite B, Bay Shore, NY 11706 • 631-665-2311
Assemblyman Steve Englebright – Legislative Office Building Albany, NY 12248
518-455-4804 • EngleS@nyassembly.gov
DISTRICT OFFICE – 149 Main St., East Setauket, NY 11733 • 631-751-3094
