ASMFC is having its summer meeting during the 1st week of August. On August 1 they're meeting about Striped Bass and will be discussing Addendum II to Amendment 7, which is a plan formalizing how the stock can be rebuilt by 2029. The entire Striped Bass package can be seen here:
August 2023 Striped Bass
I've extracted the Addendum II particulars and attached it below. My initial read revealed that it's basically all the potential options to formalize things to restore the stock, including the current reduced slot, commercial restrictions, and the possibility of some closed seasons. It's not too long a document, but here's a distillation that was posted on a different website. I'll add my comments later today, but it's time for me to saddle up and go striper fishing...
It's a relatively short document, and doesn't have any truly bad options in it, at least apart from the status quo options that are always included. But the trick will be to keep the best items in the document, and to keep bad stuff out, when the Management Board meets on August 1.
The Addendum addresses three basic topics: The recreational fishery, the commercial fishery, and fast-tracking additional actions once new stock assessments come out.
The recreational options all include both a narrow slot--perhaps the current slot, or perhaps one a bit different--along with a short no-harvest season closure, when catch-and-release fishing will still be allowed. The only bad thing here is one option that would allow 30-33 inch fish to be harvested, which again exposes the 2015s, although that is only one of three potential slots. Season closures tend to focus on the mid- and late season, and are broken down by region in some cases It would be nice to add an option for a spring closure that would prevent targeting pre-spawn fish staging in areas like Raritan Bay, although that might not allow enough of a harvest reduction.
Commercial options focus on putting a maximum size cap on commercially harvested fish. While that is an attractive idea, it raises two other issues. First, because the commercial quota is denoted in pounds, a size cap would allow the commercial fishery to kill more fish than it does today, which might be counterproductive. So there are also options for adjusting the commercial quotas, which would be applied on a state-by=state basis depending on each state's current minimum size, or on an overall basis depending on the original quotas in earlier management plans, which would put all states on an even plane. Capping the commercial size limit could also lead to substantial dead discards in states where non-selective gear is used. Delaware's fixed gill net fishery, which even Delaware officials note is particularly "dirty" is a case in point.
Finally, there are options that will allow the Management Board to act in response to new stock assessments, if action is needed to rebuild by 2029, without going through the usual, year-long public hearing process, so that if an assessment comes out in the fall, responsive regulations can be in place for the start of the next season.
August 2023 Striped Bass
I've extracted the Addendum II particulars and attached it below. My initial read revealed that it's basically all the potential options to formalize things to restore the stock, including the current reduced slot, commercial restrictions, and the possibility of some closed seasons. It's not too long a document, but here's a distillation that was posted on a different website. I'll add my comments later today, but it's time for me to saddle up and go striper fishing...
It's a relatively short document, and doesn't have any truly bad options in it, at least apart from the status quo options that are always included. But the trick will be to keep the best items in the document, and to keep bad stuff out, when the Management Board meets on August 1.
The Addendum addresses three basic topics: The recreational fishery, the commercial fishery, and fast-tracking additional actions once new stock assessments come out.
The recreational options all include both a narrow slot--perhaps the current slot, or perhaps one a bit different--along with a short no-harvest season closure, when catch-and-release fishing will still be allowed. The only bad thing here is one option that would allow 30-33 inch fish to be harvested, which again exposes the 2015s, although that is only one of three potential slots. Season closures tend to focus on the mid- and late season, and are broken down by region in some cases It would be nice to add an option for a spring closure that would prevent targeting pre-spawn fish staging in areas like Raritan Bay, although that might not allow enough of a harvest reduction.
Commercial options focus on putting a maximum size cap on commercially harvested fish. While that is an attractive idea, it raises two other issues. First, because the commercial quota is denoted in pounds, a size cap would allow the commercial fishery to kill more fish than it does today, which might be counterproductive. So there are also options for adjusting the commercial quotas, which would be applied on a state-by=state basis depending on each state's current minimum size, or on an overall basis depending on the original quotas in earlier management plans, which would put all states on an even plane. Capping the commercial size limit could also lead to substantial dead discards in states where non-selective gear is used. Delaware's fixed gill net fishery, which even Delaware officials note is particularly "dirty" is a case in point.
Finally, there are options that will allow the Management Board to act in response to new stock assessments, if action is needed to rebuild by 2029, without going through the usual, year-long public hearing process, so that if an assessment comes out in the fall, responsive regulations can be in place for the start of the next season.
