2025 Striped Bass Regulations

[bunker dunker]

seems like this is the never ending story,striped bass and regulations.i try to understand why someone,anyone can't sit down and come up with a set of regulations that works for all involved.when i started striper fishing it was 10 fish 18" or over.i understand things change but why are we having the same conversations every year.make a balanced set of regs and that is that.

[Broad Bill]

In the 70's and 80's, the striper stock underwent significant declines due to the massacre of large female spawners by southern states commercial fisheries. Maryland implemented a moratorium from 1985-1989 and Virginia the same in 1989. The biomass immediately bounced back due to increased recruitment levels. My point is twofold. Regardless of what percentage commercial makes up of the fishery which proportionately is about the same today as it was in the 80's, if they focus their harvest on the breeding stock they've proven they can and will do substantial damage to the stock. That's why I posted a few weeks ago that allowing Massachusetts commercial interests to harvest stripers 34" and above is asinine. Second point is the female population of the stock today is three times larger than the 80's and early 90's yet struggles as recruitment is as low as it's been in 50 years. Why? Answer that question and you'll know where to focus management efforts.

Pollution in the Chesapeake, water temperatures in the bay, lower oxygen levels in the Chesapeake, too many bunker being harvested by Omega Protein. In the 80's, there was 50 million lbs. of female breeders in the stock, in 2021 there was over 160 million lbs., don't think numbers of females is the problem as there's more around now than I've seen in my life. We just witnessed that a few weeks ago. Problem is recruitment isn't keeping pace with the exponential growth of large females in the stock and a growing spawning stock population. Question is why?

Personally I don't think large fish mortality from catch and release is the problem, stripers float when dead, maybe not immediately but within a few days when they start to decompose. Anyone seeing substantial amounts of large breeders floating on the surface? Haven't witnessed that myself or heard it to be the case.

The Chesapeake has been turned into a cesspool and we've allowed a foreign owned company to decimate the bunker population which has greatly impacted the bay's ability to support recruitment for multiple species, including stripers.
Fix that problem and you'll fix not only the striper fishery but many others that are being impacted by the exploitation of bunker in the Chesapeake by Virginia, Maryland and one foreign corporation.

You want the ASMFC to make a difference and start managing instead of playing politics, convince Virginia and Maryland to implement measures that are going to bring the bay back and stop treating it as their personal piggy bank by wiping out the bunker population that for years kept the water quality at levels which could sustain strong and sustainable recruitment levels. Push Cooke Inc. / Omega Protein out of the bay, slash their coast wide quota and reassess the situation after three years.

Don't punish recreational anglers, party and charter boat operators by removing a bonus fish, that's not the problem and will accomplish nothing but put another nail in small business coffins when they have absolutely nothing to do with causing the problem the fishery is currently experiencing.

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by bunker dunker

seems like this is the never ending story,striped bass and regulations.i try to understand why someone,anyone can't sit down and come up with a set of regulations that works for all involved.when i started striper fishing it was 10 fish 18" or over.i understand things change but why are we having the same conversations every year.make a balanced set of regs and that is that.

No different than fluke, both stocks went from being robust for years to a substantial state of decline for different reasons. With bass, female levels as just mentioned have tripled yet recruitment has fallen off the cliff. Striped bass fishery has an environmental issue in the Chesapeake caused by urban and agricultural run off and the unabated harvest of bunker in the bay by one foreign owned conglomerate. Fix those two problems and you will fix the fishery.

The fluke fishery on the other hand has a recruitment problem because the regulations took approximately 60 million female breeders out of the stock and they allow the commercial sector to operate during the spawn without any understanding of the impact it's having on reproduction. Reduce the size minimum for the recreational sector, disallow commercial operations during the primary spawn in mid-september to late October early November and come to grips with the outrageous waste involved with commercial discard and the fluke fishery will grow exponentially. The entire process is broken and will only be fixed if the entire management of these resources is moved from the Department of Commerce to the Department of the Interior or lawsuits are filed representative of the recreational community and fisheries interests which we all know will never happen.

NMFS, ASMFC and MAFMC all have their heads in the sand. You can have as much science as you wish, as much peer review as you want but if data and common sense is going to be ignored in favor of economics, politicians and sectors instead of the health of the stock, there really is no functional purpose of fisheries management.

[bunker dunker]

i understand all that but still no reason why those in charge can't come up with
a set of regs that works.seems like the hunting and fresh water regs stay constant but the marine has always been all over the place.

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by bunker dunker

i understand all that but still no reason why those in charge can't come up with
a set of regs that works.seems like the hunting and fresh water regs stay constant but the marine has always been all over the place.

BD, name two major differences between marine fisheries and freshwater and hunting and you'll answer your own question.

[hartattack]

ASMFC Striped Bass Board Meeting Report – Key Takeaways (November 2024)​
Overview:
Tom Fote, a longtime advocate for recreational anglers and sustainable fisheries, offers a critical perspective on the recent Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Striped Bass Board meeting. With over four decades of experience, Fote has been a leading voice in striped bass conservation and played a pivotal role in creating the New Jersey Striped Bass Gamefish Bill, banning the commercial sale of striped bass in the state. As one of the earliest advocates for striped bass recovery, Fote remains dedicated to ensuring that management decisions reflect the interests of recreational anglers, environmental realities, and community needs.
Key Takeaways:​
Exclusion of Public Input:
The ASMFC meeting restricted public commentary, undermining a process that has historically included stakeholder engagement.
Emergency actions now guide striped bass management, bypassing public hearings, which Fote criticizes as a breach of the established framework.
Fote urges state commissioners to advocate for public participation in all stages of decision-making.
Environmental Conditions, Not Biomass, Affect Recruitment:
Recruitment issues are driven by environmental factors rather than the size of the spawning stock biomass.
Fote warns that focusing regulations only on biomass size will not address the underlying ecological challenges, making management efforts ineffective.
Proposed Reductions and Poor Timing:
The ASMFC plans to discuss an additional 15% striped bass harvest reduction in a special meeting in December 2024, despite limited data on the effectiveness of 2024 reductions.
The meeting’s timing—during the holiday season and peak fishing periods—further limits participation from the recreational angling community.
Economic and Social Impacts Ignored:
The ASMFC has not conducted economic studies on how regulations affect charter operators, recreational anglers, and fishing communities.
These decisions disproportionately impact subsistence fishers, raising environmental justice issues, as rising fish market prices leave low-income anglers unable to fish for food.
Division Within the Recreational Fishing Community:
Fote highlights growing conflict between catch-and-release advocates and those who fish to provide food, weakening the once-unified voice of recreational anglers.
This division allows policymakers to implement harmful regulations with less resistance from the fishing community.
Unaddressed Environmental and Chemical Threats:
Fote emphasizes the need to address issues like endocrine disruptors and climate change, which are skewing male-to-female ratios in fish stocks and affecting reproductive health.
Inconsistent Fisheries Management:
Fote contrasts striped bass policies with Southern New England’s lobster management, where stakeholders were consulted extensively despite ongoing environmental recruitment challenges.
Call for Unity Among Recreational Anglers:
Reflecting on his efforts to pass the New Jersey Striped Bass Gamefish Bill, Fote urges recreational anglers to revive the unity they had in the 1980s, when they worked together to rebuild striped bass stocks.
He advocates for a renewed push toward coastwide gamefish status for striped bass to ensure future policies reflect the interests of all recreational anglers.
Closing Thoughts:​
As a pioneer in striped bass conservation and an advocate for recreational anglers, Tom Fote’s leadership has shaped New Jersey’s fisheries policy. His report serves as a call to action: The recreational fishing community must unite, prioritize environmental solutions, and demand inclusive management processes. Fote’s legacy—marked by the passage of the New Jersey Striped Bass Gamefish Bill—shows that when anglers work together, they can achieve lasting change. Now is the time to reclaim that collaborative spirit to protect the future of striped bass and the interests of recreational anglers.