The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board has released Draft Addendum VI to Amendment 6 of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass for public comment. Atlantic coastal states from Maine through North Carolina have scheduled their hearings to gather public input on Draft Addendum VI. This your opportunity to let your feelings be known concerning how striped bass will be managed going forward. There will be two hearings held in New York. The first will take place on September 4 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Division of Marine Resources, 205 North Belle Meade Road, Suite 1 in East Setauket. There is a possibility the venue could be changed to accommodate what is expected to be a large crowd. For more information on the Long Island meeting, contact John Maniscalco at 631-444-0430. A second meeting is being held on September 12 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the NYSDEC Region 3 Office, 21 South Putt Corners Road in New Paltz, NY. For more information on that meeting, contact Gregg Kenney at 845-256-3199.
Draft Addendum VI was initiated in response to the 2018 Benchmark Stock Assessment, which indicates the resource is overfished and experiencing overfishing. The Draft Addendum explores a range of management alternatives designed to end overfishing and reduce fishing mortality to the target level in 2020. The Draft Addendum proposes management options for both commercial and recreational sectors in the ocean and in Chesapeake Bay in order to reduce total fishery removals by 18% relative to 2017 levels.
The proposed measures include reduced quotas for commercial fisheries, and changes in bag limits, minimum sizes, and slot size limits for the recreational sector within three options, each with a set of sub-options. They are: Option 1/status quo, which would result in no change in management and allow fisheries to continue to operate under Addendum IV; Option 2, which implements equal (18%) reductions for both the commercial and recreational fisheries; and Option 3, which implements proportional reductions to the commercial fishery (1.8%) and recreational fishery (20%) based on annual harvest figures. Options 2 and 3 include a slate of specific management sub-options for consideration (see figure 1 and 2), and an additional set of sub-options will be available for the public comment period, which include a slot limit consisting of a harvest range with a minimum length of 30 inches and an as-to-be-determined maximum length which will be determined by the Technical Committee and available prior to the public hearings. A 35-inch minimum length requirement is also on the table.
Further, as part of Addendum VI, the subject of mandatory circle hook use when using bait for striped bass was discussed, and three unique management options for their implementation are being considered. They are: Option A, Status Quo, which simply recommends that states promote the use of circle hooks to reduce discard mortality; Option B, mandatory implementation of the use of circle hooks; and Option C, mandatory promotion of the use of circle hooks by developing public education and outreach campaigns on their benefits. This last option would also require updates from each state on the public education and outreach efforts in annual state compliance reports.
Draft Addendum VI is available at: http://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/StripedBassDraftAddVI_PublicComment_Aug2019.pdf or via the Commission’s website at http://www.asmfc.org/about-us/public-input. Fishermen and other stakeholders are encouraged to provide input on Draft Addendum VI either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. Public comment will be accepted until 5 PM (EST) on October 7, 2019 and should be sent to Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Striped Bass Draft Addendum VI). If your organization is planning to release an action alert related to the Draft Addendum, please contact Max Appelman at mappelman@asmfc.org prior to its release. The Board will meet at the Commission’s Annual Meeting in October to review public comment and consider final approval of the Addendum.