Va. Cancels Trophy Rockfish Season, Urges Other States to Follow

[Bassknuckles]

I guess this is how you put a positive spin on things and try to get other states to fix their bad management-

Va. Cancels Trophy Rockfish Season, Urges Other States to Follow | Chesapeake Bay Magazine

It’s official- there won’t be a trophy rockfish season in Virginia this spring. Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) has voted unanimously to enact an emergency closure because of worrisome new…

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From the Chesapeake Bay Magazine:

"Va. Cancels Trophy Rockfish Season, Urges Other States to Follow

It’s official- there won’t be a trophy rockfish season in Virginia this spring. Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) has voted unanimously to enact an emergency closure because of worrisome new research about the striped bass population on the Bay.

Trophy rockfish season is officially canceled in Virginia, but still on in Maryland. Photo courtesy of Capt. Chris Dollar

Bay Bulletin reported in early April that VMRC’s biologists called for the spring season to be canceled. And on Tuesday, the commission voted 7-0 to eliminate the spring striped bass trophy season in the Bay from May 1 through June 15, the Coast from May 1 through May 15, and the Virginia tributaries to the Potomac River from April 29 through May 15. Starting May 16 through June 15 fishermen will be able to catch and keep two striped bass from 20 to 28 inches.

The emergency action comes after recent scientific research showed the rockfish population “has been below the sustainable threshold for the past six years and overfishing has been occurring sine 2010.”

“Virginia has always been a conservation leader, and this is a time to step up. The recent stock assessment shows that early action is needed to slow the decline and restore this fishery to sustainable levels,” Virginia Marine Resources Commissioner Steven G. Bowman said.

In a letter sent to VMRC two days before the vote, the Virginia Saltwater Sportfishing Association expressed its support for the emergency closure. Apparently 70 percent of the anglers it polled say they’re in favor of the closure.

“As you know striped bass are highly valued by fishermen along the coast and most are willing to reduce their catch if it will help the overall fishery… Some feel that bold action to protect striped bass is overdue.”

VMRC is now urging other states to cancel trophy season, too. Maryland’s trophy rockfish season opened Saturday, April 20 and continues through May 15.

Commissioners want formal conservation measures to be adopted by the Atlantic Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC):

“ASMFC should incentivize and encourage other states to follow Virginia’s lead and take action this fishing season.”

Next week ASMFC will consider the recent striped bass stock assessment.

Bowman calls Virginia’s emergency closure “a starting point for conservation,” and says VMRC will continue to look at other measures to protect striped bass.

In a statement, CBF Senior Regional Ecosystem Scientist Chris Moore said:

“We commend the Commonwealth of Virginia for taking this proactive measure to help protect some of the most important fish in the striped bass population. These large fish are key to helping increase the population moving forward. Closing the spring trophy season signals that Virginia is serious about taking the actions necessary to rebuild the health of this iconic species in the Bay and our coastal waters.”

-Meg Walburn Viviano"

 

[Roccus7]

On the other hand, NY is pounding them on the spawning grounds of the Hudson River. Major Kudos to Virginia and shame on the Empire State!!

 

[george]

On the other hand, NY is pounding them on the spawning grounds of the Hudson River. Major Kudos to Virginia and shame on the Empire State!!

It's not like you to take something at face value. And you be picking on the wrong state when it comes to striped bass!

This is simply a PR campaign as they were going to have to do it next year anyhow. Did you know that they're asking for this amendment to reduce the bar on the biomass? They think we may be shooting too high.

Actually, if you look at the numbers, NY's doesn't take that many fish during the spawn. That's why the Hudson is in the best shape it's ever been. Our Hudson fish are now making it up to Rhode Island as tag studies have returned. And just like I feel you deserve the right to keep some fish so do they. They get a very quick shot at them and on the river the regs save the vast majority of breeders with a 1 fish between 18-28 inches or 1 fish over 40-inches. They don't do that in the bay during the spawn.

What VA is doing is what they should have done years ago. They cry that they only have small bass - lets not forget the bay keeper size is 19-inches. And then they open the spring season for the breeders. Their bass have little to no food, because Omega takes like 400-million pounds of bunker out there every year. Many if not all of them have mycobacteriosis - currently not found in Hudson Bass and the water quality is a disaster.

Sorry, my good friend, had every state followed New York's lead, as it was suggested they would, we wouldn't be in this shape.

 

[Bassknuckles]

Here is an article from Maryland, I think it is very well written and explains the importance logically. Hitting the points about runoff from farms, diminished alternative sportfish and purse-seining are right on. New to me was learning about the invasive blue catfish sucking up newly spawned bass. I don't agree with the entire article especially about recreational anglers being largely responsible but it is very good read.

From the Baltimore Sun:

"Maryland overfishing imperils rockfish population

On Tuesday, Virginia did what Maryland should: close its 2019 spring recreational striped bass trophy season.

“The recent stock assessment shows that early action is needed to slow the decline and restore this fishery to sustainable levels,” Virginia Marine Resources Commissioner Steven G. Bowman said in a statement.

Yet Maryland, one of the worst offenders when it comes to overfishing Atlantic striped bass — what we like to call “rockfish” — has chosen to go forward with a trophy season this year despite mounting evidence of the dangers.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) just released a peer-reviewed report that finds striped bass are overfished and that manmade overfishing — taking too many fish too fast — is accelerating the decline. (When a fish population is overfished, there are fewer fish in the water than that population needs to replace itself.)

Recreational anglers are largely responsible. Since 2008, they have killed eight times more striped bass than commercial fishermen, with Maryland anglers harvesting a huge haul: nearly three times the number of fish taken by Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware and North Carolina — combined.

There is only one stock of Atlantic striped bass between Maine and North Carolina, and 70-90 percent are spawned right here in the Chesapeake Bay. These bass grow in our estuary until they mature and migrate along the coast. As the stock’s largest nursery, Maryland is obligated to protect new generations. And the ocean states are in turn responsible for conserving mature fish so they can return to spawn. The science is clear: This highly migratory species must be managed as a whole and cannot be separated into political schools of “my fish” and “your fish.”

In years of good recruitment like 2011 and 2015, abundant new fish are spawned to make up for bad years, “natural” mortality and manmade removals. But Maryland’s own recruitment surveys show the peaks of good years are trending lower, and lows in bad years are getting worse. Sadly, the new NOAA data indicate Maryland removed much of the strong 2011 class before they could mature.

To be sure, multiple factors contribute to the striped bass decline. The Chesapeake Bay as a whole is in trouble. Runoff from farms and manmade surfaces leads to hypoxic dead zones and sediments that smother habitat. Forage fish are decimated by localized depletion from purse-seining (industrial extraction by huge nets), and invasive blue catfish suck-up newly spawned young bass. The parlous state of the bay has also severely diminished alternative sportfish such weakfish, flounder, and croaker — which drives Maryland anglers to focus almost exclusively on striped bass.

Though external factors are real, they do not absolve us from the responsibility to act. Striped bass are managed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), a group of states from Maine to Florida. By charter, ASMFC should act when a fishery falls below certain thresholds. The commission is set to meet Tuesday to consider “reductions needed to achieve fishing mortality reference points” for striped bass. That’s fisheries-management-speak for “how do we turn this around?” A 50 percent reduction in mortality across the fishery would be a good start — and for Maryland that probably means seasonal closures and a one-fish limit.

If Maryland won’t learn from Virginia and set that restriction on its own, ASMFC should vote to do it for us. Of course, when and how the ASMFC acts is often driven more by politicking than science. At the next meeting, some may lobby to change reference points to make bad numbers look better, or even promote a specious claim that “bay fish aren’t ocean fish” to divide the fishery and gain local control. These statistical gymnastics are bad for everyone’s long-term interest and should be voted down. Neither approach will help rebuild the fishery, and neither will sustain our multi-million-dollar recreational economy built around striped bass.

NOAA’s peer-reviewed science is proof striped bass are in deep trouble. Many on the ASMFC deny this reality, and they will undoubtedly work to postpone the inevitable and advocate for more studies before acting. This is unacceptable. Maryland must work with ASMFC now to cut harvests and start rebuilding immediately — or striped bass will be fated to slide downward into another moratorium."

Mark Eustis ([email protected]) is a recreational angler and Chesapeake Bay advocate.

 

[george]

Great post knuckles. All you really need to know is:

"with Maryland anglers harvesting a huge haul: nearly three times the number of fish taken by Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware and North Carolina — combined. " I'll also add that they take 1/2 the com catch also