VA closes TROPHY striped bass season

[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-prot...209/1078343872

And here they are poaching again.
https://www.fredericksburg.com/news/...e3c15cde3.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]

Originally Posted by AndyS

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]

Originally Posted by dakota560

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]

Originally Posted by jmurr711

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.

Originally Posted by Skolmann

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]

Originally Posted by mjz157

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

Originally Posted by mjz157

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]

Originally Posted by dakota560

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.