Maine had it's call today and presented some very interesting data that catalyzed the drive for this emergency action.
Here's a comparison from 21 to 22 for Recreational Striped Bass Retention by State as recorded in the MRIP program. Look at the big bump in NY, > 400% increase!!
Here's the accompanying data for Recreational Releases. Remember that 9% of these numbers were recorded as Recreational Release Mortality.
Some Maine Anglers including myself, share their catch data with the DMR. From these data, the following size distribution for Maine was generated. The key take home message here is that in 2023 the mean length of the 2015 class of fish, last magnificent spawning year, and the class that entered the slot in 2022, will be just over 31", so that's why the slot maximum of 31" was established, to save a good chunk of that fish class. Also, the 26" bump in the graph is the 2017 spawn class, the last "decent" spawn in the Chesapeake. Some of those will be popping into the slot this year.
Here's a graph of the number of recreational fishing trips with striped bass as the primary target. Once again, NY had a big bump.
So what did this big recreational harvest in 2022 mean for striped bass. Well in brief, there would be NFW that the stock would recover by the 2029 deadline that was recently set without significant action. Things looked good at the close of 2021, with >90% chances of recovery, BUT when the 2022 data are considered, that number drops to 15%!!
So that's the story, tough times call for tough measures. This is an emergency measure. The "regular" measure that will be put in place for 2024 may further refine changes, and will include commercial considerations and the Chesapeake Bay fishery, which were not included in this emergency action.
Here's a comparison from 21 to 22 for Recreational Striped Bass Retention by State as recorded in the MRIP program. Look at the big bump in NY, > 400% increase!!
Here's the accompanying data for Recreational Releases. Remember that 9% of these numbers were recorded as Recreational Release Mortality.
Some Maine Anglers including myself, share their catch data with the DMR. From these data, the following size distribution for Maine was generated. The key take home message here is that in 2023 the mean length of the 2015 class of fish, last magnificent spawning year, and the class that entered the slot in 2022, will be just over 31", so that's why the slot maximum of 31" was established, to save a good chunk of that fish class. Also, the 26" bump in the graph is the 2017 spawn class, the last "decent" spawn in the Chesapeake. Some of those will be popping into the slot this year.
Here's a graph of the number of recreational fishing trips with striped bass as the primary target. Once again, NY had a big bump.
So what did this big recreational harvest in 2022 mean for striped bass. Well in brief, there would be NFW that the stock would recover by the 2029 deadline that was recently set without significant action. Things looked good at the close of 2021, with >90% chances of recovery, BUT when the 2022 data are considered, that number drops to 15%!!
So that's the story, tough times call for tough measures. This is an emergency measure. The "regular" measure that will be put in place for 2024 may further refine changes, and will include commercial considerations and the Chesapeake Bay fishery, which were not included in this emergency action.
