AFSMC Striper Meeting

[ag3]

It's not going to happen, my guess is 1 at 32 coastwide. But I firmly believe we should reward and incentivize states to be conservative by giving some type of credit in cases like this, for volunteering to take less fish. Had we been taking 2-fish this whole time the fishery would have been cut back years ago.

We'd like to think we were doing the right thing and saving fish, but sadly the system doesn't let you save fish. If you don't take them, then someone else will.

I’m hearing they are considering a daily limit for charter and party boats. Not a trip limit. And also a possible closure in August and September, which is pretty much the Montauk and Block big fish season.

 

[ag3]

A slot would definitely reduce catch. Think about this. During July and August in Montauk and Block, countless 40”+ bass are caught and harvested. On some days, you can’t catch a fish under 36”. And some days you can’t catch a fish under 40”.

A slot of 28”-34” would reduce harvested fish big time in that area.

 

[ag3]

Treble hooks for bait fishing should also become illegal. These definitely increase mortality on released fish.

 

[Bucktail]

A slot limit puts ALL the recreational harvest pressure on a specific year class or two effectively eliminating them from the population and causing a lot of C&R mortality on fish out of the slot. There are more than a million rec anglers in NY , if they each take one slot size bass per year that will do more damage than spreading out the kill.

 

[george]

I’m hearing they are considering a daily limit for charter and party boats. Not a trip limit. And also a possible closure in August and September, which is pretty much the Montauk and Block big fish season.

I can't see how they could give a daily limit. If a boat does two half day trips they are different anglers. All of which have right to a fish. Besides the numbers show the party and charter boats take few fish.

As for as closure in the middle of the season, again I seriously doubt they would ever do that. It's just too much of a money fish and that would be devastating to the NY economy.. This is all part of the drama I mentioned in my previous post. We are light years ahead of where we were back in the 80s and we never did that then. We simply raised the minimum size to 36 inches and shut down the commercial sale. There was never a closure. Even in the days when the only bass you saw where in magazines.

 

[Roccus7]

And so it goes...

Hell we can't agree on what the next steps should be, imagine the feeding frenzy at ASFMC when the discussions of proposals begin...

Maybe it's best if we forced a moratorium on ourselves again, at least at that point there's no debating about best ideas, and I'm only being half facetious...

 

[george]

I have confirmed nothing will happen this year. Well at least that s what I was told. I have a podcast on this issue coming out in about a week or so. I'm waiting for the report on the peer review first.

One thing I've discovered is the fact that no states agree on anything. The most surprising and you could say larger pieces of the puzzle is microbacteriosis. According to the reps I've spoken with, it appears that every striped bass in the Chesapeake has it. I will dig deeper on the podcast but this silent killer could eventually be a serious issue.

 

[Roccus7]

I have confirmed nothing will happen this year. Well at least that s what I was told.
One thing I've discovered is the fact that no states agree on anything.

Aye George, there's the rub. If the best the regulators can do is a "One Size Fits All" approach like 1 fish @ 28" or greater, there is the freedom for individual States to evaluate and regulate themselves around the framework of the Council's actions. For example common sense would dictate ZERO fishing on the spawning rivers and the associated estuaries from March 15 - June 1, but protests by economic pressures from the spawning States would go off the charts, soundly defeating this proposal.

IMO the "Conservation Equivalency" procedure is an abject failure; look at the bill of goods that MD sold ASFMC regarding circle hook bait fishing use that allowed MD to change the size limit in the Chesapeake. MD's proposal to the council stated ALL bait fishing in the Bay would be using circle hooks, but after approval, MD ended decided to exempt people from circle hooks if they were not targeting stripers. In the end, there was little or no improvement in mortality of released stripers, but MD their got size reduction. Of course States could follow the example of "The Garden State" and ignore all Council recommendations and do their own thing, only to have it blessed by the Commissioner.

Since the Council is a "Confederation" bold, but necessary Council-proposed restrictive measures will never get approved. The Council process is such that proactive regulations will be defeated and the only time anything can be agreed upon is when there's a complete meltdown of a species so no one State can say they're being picked on. It's time for the Council to recognize that the "One Size Fits All" approach is ecologically foolish and propose regulations for striped bass that do factor in each State's biome in regulating this fishery.

My opinion of the Council and the current striped bass situation is like that of the apocryphal story of Nero fiddling while Rome burns; they will continue their normal MO of proposing and debating half-baked, vanilla ice cream measures until the fishery collapses again forcing a moratorium. Sadly this could be avoided if they would grow a pair and change their MO from Reactive to Proactive management.

 

[george]

I might have missed it, but has anyone suggested a reverse slot? To be clear I'm not suggesting it but that's what they have for Halibut in certain sectors of Alaska. In that case, a halibut would have to be under 48-inches or over 80-inches. I'd equate that to like under a 20-inch or over 45-inch striped bass. So all of the 21-44-inch fish are protected.

I'm just throwing it out there.

 

[Roccus7]

I might have missed it, but has anyone suggested a reverse slot? To be clear I'm not suggesting it but that's what they have for Halibut in certain sectors of Alaska. In that case, a halibut would have to be under 48-inches or over 80-inches. I'd equate that to like under a 20-inch or over 45-inch striped bass. So all of the 21-44-inch fish are protected.

I'm just throwing it out there.

No one has proposed that yet, but I see no problem with it, a great way to protect the prime breeding stock. Let's see if anyone on the Council has the cajones to propose and shepherd it through...

 

[pequa1]

Wish they would do something similar with fluke, and no one needs a bag limit of four...

 

[Bucktail]

Wish they would do something similar with fluke, and no one needs a bag limit of four...

Really? Four fluke is just fine thanks.

 

[george]

Wish they would do something similar with fluke, and no one needs a bag limit of four...

Sorry my good friend I think it's fair. Not alot of meat there. Unless they're 4 10 ponders ?