A pair of Stripers for the Future seminar sessions will be held on Saturday, March 16, 2024 at the Saltwater Fishing Expo in Edison, NJ. Stripers for the Future is a research and education campaign initiated in 2011 by John Tiedemann of Monmouth University designed to educate anglers on how they can contribute to the conservation and long-term sustainability of the striped bass fishery.
The Stripers for the Future Roundtable Seminars will explore the science of, and various approaches to, catch-and-release to help advance striped bass conservation. The sessions will include short presentations by leading fisheries biologists, top striped bass anglers and marine recreational fishing industry and organization representative followed by Q&A style roundtable discussions.
The first session on March 16 at 3 p.m. will explore the science of catch-and-release. Moderated by Steve Liesman, founder of Save A Million Bass (www.saveamillionbass.org), this session will feature presentations on factors impacting injury and stress in striped bass; new findings from studies on striped bass catch-and-release mortality being conducted by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries; and employing science-based best catch-and-release practices from Keep Fish Wet (keepfishwet.org).
The second session begins at about 5 p.m. and will be moderated by Jim Hutchinson from The Fisherman Magazine (thefisherman.com) and features presentations by renowned striper anglers like Chuck Many, John Kravchak, and Alberto Knie designed to provide anglers with insights on best catch-and-release practice techniques from the boat, the kayak and the surf.
“Catch-and-release is an effective practice in offsetting recreational impacts to the striped bass population and releasing stripers allows anglers to contribute to the sustainability of the fishery,” said John Tiedemann, assistant dean of the School of Science at Monmouth University. “However, poor catch and release practices can injure and stress fish prior to release and, in some cases lead to post-release mortality.”
Fisheries managers assume a 9% mortality rate on striped bass caught and released by recreational anglers in saltwater ecosystems, meaning that approximately 9% of all stripers released by saltwater anglers may not survive. Tiedemann said the key to ensuring the effectiveness of catch-and-release as a conservation tool is for anglers to be aware of best practices to minimize injury, reduce stress, and increase chances of survival of released fish.
“We believe that an understanding of striped bass biology and proper catch-and-release techniques should be a piece of every striped bass angler’s arsenal, which is the ultimate goal of these roundtable presentations on March 16th,” Tiedemann added.
