VA closes TROPHY striped bass season

[hammer4reel]

https://www.chesapeakebaymagazine.com/baybulletin/2019/4/23/va-cancels-trophy-rockfish-season-urges-other-states-to-follow








.

[mjz157]

Great news...hopefully other states including NJ follow suit and shut down or put severe restrictions on pre-spawn fish in the bays/rivers.

[AndyS]

What would all the party boats and charter boats do if they did that in New Jersey ?

[hammer4reel]

What would all the party boats and charter boats do if they did that in New Jersey ?


Same thing the thousands of charter boats in VA are doing .
Wishing they hadn’t pushed so hard about taking fish pre spawn every year .
And had promoted a more catch and release fishery.
.
.

[reason162]

From the article, looks like their rec anglers are on board:

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.”

[reason162]

What would all the party boats and charter boats do if they did that in New Jersey ?

What would they do if the fishery collapses?

[mjz157]

Same thing the thousands of charter boats in VA are doing .
Wishing they hadn’t pushed so hard about taking fish pre spawn every year .
And had promoted a more catch and release fishery.
.
.

this...you reap what you sow. hopefully it's not too late.

[mjz157]

What would all the party boats and charter boats do if they did that in New Jersey ?

at some point maybe some of these captains will have some business sense knocked into them and realize that the dollar they are earning today by killing all these breeders will result in the 10 dollars they could have earned in the future going bye bye.

[captmark]

What would all the party boats and charter boats do if they did that in New Jersey ?

Yes we would take a hit but its over due, we are killing the future for what a few dollars, and what about the guys in private boats they are taking just as much as charetrs and party boats

[reason162]

I honestly don't think the fleet will suffer if they go to catch/release for the Spring run. Release mortality is acceptable in 50ish degree water as well.

[Andreas Toy]

Be 100% into a slot fish during the run 24-30 inches!
Polled my customers and they unanimously feel the same!

[Gerry Zagorski]

Important to note " fishermen will be able to catch and keep two striped bass from 20 to 28 inches" so they haven't closed the fishery just limited it to keeping smaller fish and letting the breeders go..

[dakota560]

Dan as I mentioned earlier, I'm glad to FINALLY see an authoritative body put the health of the fishery before politics. Some will view this negatively, some will view it positively, personally I'm part of the later grouping. Good to see a body trying to be proactive about a problem they recognize instead of kicking the can down the road and turning a blind eye.

Every fishery comes down to protecting breeders and the spawn, our current regulations for bass do the exact opposite. Same holds true for summer flounder. Without adequate reproduction and an annual harvest level which doesn't exceed reproduction, a fishery will eventually fail. If these fisheries aren't managed for the long term, there won't be a long term.

The only caveat I'll throw in to this is there's a balance in the ocean that exists naturally and is only impacted when we impact it. Too many bass could create a different set of problems than too few. It's the whole food chain argument. Fishery management needs to factor that into their regulatory decisions and everything else should fall into place. Case in point, let Cooke Inc. / Omega Protein rape the ocean of bunker and bass regulations won't matter because the fish won't have sufficient food supply to sustain the biomass.

Would rather see preventative measures being put in place than reactionary measures which recreational anglers and commercial operators have been hamstrung by for years. That doesn't make me a tree-hugger, makes me a realist. I for one applaud Va for being proactive and putting the fishery before everyone else trying to grab a piece of the pie. Long term like with any change I think this will be positive for everyone as opposed to the alternative we were working our way towards and for those old enough to have experienced the last bass collapse you'll understand precisely what I mean by that statement.

[dakota560]

Important to note " fishermen will be able to catch and keep two striped bass from 20 to 28 inches" so they haven't closed the fishery just limited it to keeping smaller fish and letting the breeders go..

And Mr Zagorski my friend what management philosophy and specific stock does that bring to mind?!

[dakota560]

Be 100% into a slot fish during the run 24-30 inches!
Polled my customers and they unanimously feel the same!

Freddy thanks for doing that and more so sharing it with the board. I feel the same way but I'm not a For Hire Captain so me saying it is just an opinion. Those words coming from your mouth carries more credibility, much more weight and is anecdotal evidence of how this can work for the benefit off all parties sharing this very vital resource. Appreciate your comments and taking the time to canvas your client base.

[Skolmann]

I’ve been in favor of and been an advocate of having a slot limit for both striped bass and fluke for years. Similar to what Florida and other southern states did with redfish (& snook to a lesser extent) to bring those fisheries back from the brink of collapsing.

[dakota560]

What would all the party boats and charter boats do if they did that in New Jersey ?

Andy I think you're looking at this from a short term perspective. What did the party and charter boats do in the 70's and 80's when the fishery collapsed? They can still catch larger fish and release them, catch a few smaller fish and retain them so short term it should work. Long term the fishery should flourish as should their businesses. What would the alternative be, stay on the path we're on until the fishery is closed? Wouldn't you agree that would be more devastating than this alternative?

[fish45]

What would all the party boats and charter boats do if they did that in New Jersey ?

Problem is we all know you can't continue to take all these trophy fish that need to spawn. No big spawners equal no fish down the line. Ashame seeing all these big fish slaughtered.

[fish45]

We are killing the future of our sport for a few dollars and it needs to stop ! These big girls are the backbone of future generations of bass, kill them and it all goes away.

[Capt. Lou]

If we get a long overdue slot fishery and CNR large fish that’s a step in the right direction ! Hopefully most Striper states will follow !
Our next step is to address the menhaden commercial fishery , long over due to reel in this slaughter of the most important bait fish on our coast!
I applaud Virginia for implementing this law, might be just in time !

[jmurr711]

Plenty of breeder blackfish getting killed everyday in April too but no one cares kill 6 bass u get sent to guillottine.

[RescueDogger]

I've fished stripers and blogged in the middle Chesapeake and Rappahannock for 5 years before moving up here this year. The mighty Omega menhaden vacuum-sucking overfishing commercial machine is the problem in the Chesapeake, not the trophy season. There are no party boats on the bay.

Cutting the trophy season (1 fish per season, registration required) while continuing to allow Omega to crush the ecosystem is a bit like Congress cutting defense spending by 5% while voting more entitlement tsunamis into law (sorry for the libertarian jab). Cutting the trophy season is a facade, much like cutting the family ice cream outing on Saturdays while purchasing a new 68' Hatteras.

Here is Omega protesting limits on their efficient overkill.
https://www.wavy.com/news/omega-protein-challenging-menhaden-catch-limits-on-chesapeake-bay_20180326074154209/1078343872

And here they are poaching again.
https://www.fredericksburg.com/news/va_md_dc/virginia-omega-fend-off-punishment-for-ignoring-menhaden-catch-cap/article_0dad1043-ede9-58c5-89b0-113e3c15cde3.html

From this board, it sounds like the problem up here is recreational fishing. But Virginia is so deeply dependent on politics that they have no idea how to go up against a company the size of Omega. Ugh.

[a-baum]

What would all the party boats and charter boats do if they did that in New Jersey ?
You're asking the wrong question. The question should be "What would all the party boats and charter boats do if the striper fishery wasn't there?"

[Skolmann]

What did the party and charter boats do in the 70's and 80's when the fishery collapsed?

Back then there was a thriving spring fishery for ling, whiting, mackerel and flounder.

[ESFISH]

Virginia commercial season stays open plus miles of gill nets set for black drum keep killing bass every day.

[mjz157]

Plenty of breeder blackfish getting killed everyday in April too but no one cares kill 6 bass u get sent to guillottine.

last i checked blackfish population wasn't in serious trouble. apples to machine guns.

[dakota560]

Back then there was a thriving spring fishery for ling, whiting, mackerel and flounder.

Precisely my point, they're all gone. So what Andy is suggesting is do nothing so we can add another species to that list. At some point these stocks need to be rebuilt or there won't be any alternatives to turn to.

[jmurr711]

last i checked blackfish population wasn't in serious trouble. apples to machine guns.

not according to scientists but the bass are yet i see alot more bass being caught then tog. Not to mention the ACRES of bass offshore in the winter

[dakota560]

last i checked blackfish population wasn't in serious trouble. apples to machine guns.

I guess you haven't checked in a while. Review the latest from the Tautog 2016 Stock Assessment, in particular SSB and recruitment numbers from 1982 thru 2015. First chart represents coast wide numbers, second chart is NJ / NYB. SSB in '82 of almost 26,000 metric tons of blackfish, in '15 it's down to 6,000 metric tons. That's a 75% - 80% drop in biomass. Recruitment approximately 6 million down to slightly over 2 million, an almost 66% decrease. Those are significant changes in stock attributes. And if you look at the harvest of size fish, it's the same as summer flounder. More larger fish are being harvested and less smaller fish. Most of that is regulation driven but again we continue harvesting a higher percentage of the big breeders. Add to that the illicit harvest of smaller fish for the live fish markets and it's no wonder the stock is trending the way it is. In my definition, that would qualify as serious trouble.

[mjz157]

I guess you haven't checked in a while. Review the latest from the Tautog 2016 Stock Assessment, in particular SSB and recruitment numbers from 1982 thru 2015. First chart represents coast wide numbers, second chart is NJ / NYB. SSB in '82 of almost 26,000 metric tons of blackfish, in '15 it's down to 6,000 metric tons. That's a 75% - 80% drop in biomass. Recruitment approximately 6 million down to slightly over 2 million, an almost 66% decrease. Those are significant changes in stock attributes. And if you look at the harvest of size fish, it's the same as summer flounder. More larger fish are being harvested and less smaller fish. Most of that is regulation driven but again we continue harvesting a higher percentage of the big breeders. Add to that the illicit harvest of smaller fish for the live fish markets and it's no wonder the stock is trending the way it is. In my definition, that would qualify as serious trouble.

Thanks for the info - was not aware blackfish stocks were in bad shape as well as I don't fish for them all that much. Regardless people should not be keeping big breeders for any of these species. We continue this path we will be fishing for Searobins soon.

[dakota560]

Plenty of breeder blackfish getting killed everyday in April too but no one cares kill 6 bass u get sent to guillottine.

Disagree that no one cares. Changes have been made to black fish regulations in an effort to protect their spawn (1 fish effective 5/1) but maybe that has to change as well. Problem with tog is they are very slow growing and recovery will take time.

Don't think anyone is up in arms about killing 6 bass, it's the fact we're harvesting too high a percentage of large breeders that has people rightfully concerned. If the females haven't dropped their eggs yet which this year's early arrival suggests, are you really just harvesting 6 large females over 30 lbs or killing ~12,000,000 eggs and the future of the fishery in the process?

There might be acres of fish off shore today, keep messing with recruitment and they'll disappear as well. These fish get absolutely pounded year round even during the spawn, they need time to rebuild. Again I applaud Va. for their decision and as someone else mentioned something needs to be done about Cooke Inc. / Omega Protein raping the ocean of bunker. That's all politics and needs to be addressed. Why should one company have the right to negatively impact a public resource at the expense of everyone else. Money and greed. Needs to change.

[dakota560]

Something to think about. Why is there never this type of conversation on the fresh water forum. Two reasons. First for all practical purposes there is no commercial fishery with fresh water stocks. Might be some limited but no where to the extent of salt water.

Second, fish fall into three basic categories in fresh water. They don't naturally reproduce in the wild and are stocked every year, they do naturally reproduce but need protection (large mouths, small mouths, walleye etc. which are C&R for two months during their spawn) or they're prolific breeders and can sustain themselves (yellow perch, crappie, bluegills etc.) Recruitment is one of the key variables factored into every fresh water species being managed and it works extremely well. Balance between catch and recruitment.

Salt depends exclusively on natural reproduction for the fish we typically discuss, why is it so hard for fisheries management to structure regulations to insure recruitment levels are maintained annually which exceed overall catch levels. That is precisely why I have concerns about models being used for summer flounder management which don't incorporate size and sex attributes which drive egg production and recruitment. Same reason I have issues with commercial harvest of summer flounder during the spawn without knowledge of the potential consequences that harvest has on killing eggs. NMFS stated recruitment is down for six years while their own data supports it's been down for a much longer period of time. Yet they increase commercial harvest by 40% for '19, how can a management body in good faith arrive at that decision if recruitment in fact is what ultimately drives every fishery. It's unfathomable.