VA closes TROPHY striped bass season

[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..

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.

Originally Posted by 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..

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

Originally Posted by Andreas Toy

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.

Originally Posted by AndyS

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]

Originally Posted by AndyS

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 !