Striper management Addendum VI

[dales529]

Quote from Addendum VI
"Roughly 90% of annual Atlantic striped bass recreational catch is released alive, of which 9% are estimated to die as a result of being caught (referred to as “release mortality” or “dead releases”). Catch and release fishing has been perceived to have a minimal impact on the population, however a large component of annual striped bass mortality is attributed to release mortality accounting for roughly 48% of total removals in 2017 (49% in 2018). The current recreational striped bass management program uses bag limits and size limits to limit the number of fish that are harvested. However, these measures are not designed to reduce fishing effort and subsequent release mortality. While the proposed measures herein result in lower overall removals, the majority of them also increase dead releases. In order to address dead
releases, effort controls that are better designed to reduce the number of fishing trips that encounter striped bass should be considered (e.g., closed seasons)."

Goal of addendum VI is a 18% reduction in harvest but the above reads like reduction of EFFORT via closed seasons etc.

OK now lets look at the current OCEAN Run of large fish: All fish seem to be 35" or greater which appears to be the reg change they favor but yet all those fish under this proposal would be harvested legally . Granted at a 1 fish limit you could assume a harvest reduction by eliminating the trophy and bonus fish. However those extra releases would die by 48% and put a hurting on the for hire fleets.
If this big fish run happened in the spring at 35" or greater it would do little to stop the harvest of some spawning females pictures and releases again would die by 48% so whats the real gain

Next if the slot limit lets say 24"to 28" or whatever was instituted then ALL the current fish being caught in the OCEAN run would have to be released and again 48% would die anyway.

Next if there were fish in the 24" to 28" mixed in how many outside of that range would need to be released and again at 48% release mortality rate. Not to mention if you caught 6 at 24 to 28 , kept one and released 5 then 2 of the 5 you released are dead anyway.

Bottom line is I dont think any one can manage this and any one plan works.
There almost needs to be an OCEAN set of regs and a BAY / Estuary set of regs. Slots in bays and larger in ocean and of course that will change like the wind and the big fish will be in the bays and the slots in the ocean. So thats no answer either

I wrote this based on the language in addendum VI as quoted in the top of this post and before I get hung out I dont believe 48% of what we release dies anyway but thats how its written. I also dont believe we have to put the recreational for hire Striper fleet out of business if we dont have to.
If we already release 90% of our catch isnt that enough?

In conclusion make sure you dont catch any stripers that are female and in the spawn LOL.

Just sayin none of this is easy and we dont do ourselves any favors by beating on the recreational community of anglers and for hire fleets.

[hammer4reel]

Reading that it says we release 90 percent of our catch.
Of which 9 percent die.
So for every hundred fish 10 are kept, 9 die , so 81 percent live another day.


So it’s not 48 percent of what we catch dies .

It’s saying almost half of what we are charged with taking were release mortality .

BIG DIFFERENCE.

.


.

[Rocky]

This is a good conversation to have. Many fishermen need to learn what is going on. There are a few good guys here that spend a lot of time, money, and energy fighting for fishermen rights. Wether it is size limits or seasons lengths they fight for the right reasons.....to keep us fishing on a healthy fishery.

[Angler Paul]

The best way to conserve the stocks and to keep most fishermen content would be to allow one fish at 28" or greater but with a closed season during the spawn. No C&R fishing should be allowed during the closed season either. I believe this could be accomplished through conservation equivalency by extending our closed season through March or April. I intend to ask our state to develop an option to do just that once the ASMFC decides what they are going to do. Paul Haertel

[papabear2611]

Omega Protein Exceeds Limit, Keeps Harvesting

The Canadian menhaden-reduction operator says it has exceeded the catch cap set by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in the Chesapeake Bay but will continue harvesting pogies anyway.

https://www.sportfishingmag.com/omega-protein-exceeds-limit-keeps-harvesting/[/URL]

The largest harvester of menhaden in U.S. waters, Canadian-owned Omega Protein, acknowledged that it has exceeded the cap in total harvest for Chesapeake Bay menhaden, yet it is continuing to haul in pogies. The company has said it will instead comply with a considerably higher catch limit set by the state of Virginia.

The ASMFC recommended a 51,000-metric-ton cap on menhaden harvest in the Chesapeake Bay, while Virginia has set that cap at 87,216 metric tons.

The lower limit was “arbitrarily low and unscientific” according to an Omega statement. It further cited safety of its fishermen, claiming that rough weather outside the bay that forced its industrial seiners to work inside the bay.

The ASFMC has denied that there is anything "arbitrary" about the 51,000-ton limit, a spokesman telling Undercurrent that the agency has used the same approach to set limits for many species in many fisheries. The ASFMC is scheduled to further consider menhaden on Oct. 28.

In a statement issued Sept. 13, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation observed that the ASMC cap was overwhelmingly adopted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) as a precautionary measure to ensure that the menhaden population left in the Bay can support species that prey on it, such as striped bass and bluefish, as well as marine mammals and birds.

Foundation scientist Chris Moore pointed out that scientists, conservationists, anglers and concerned citizens all participated in the bay menhaden cap. “This violation is unfortunately another example of Omega’s refusal to do the right thing when it comes to the region’s natural resources. It continues a long history of damaging environmental actions that have included millions of dollars in fines for water quality violations.”

Despite strong objections from a coalition of anglers’ and conservation groups, Omega Protein was recently certified as a sustainable fishery by the Marine Stewardship Council.

[shrimpman steve]

Sustainable fishery, that’s a farking joke

[Charlie B]

I wonder how many strippers are taken as by catch with the bunker...Charlie

[reason162]

Originally Posted by papabear2611

Omega Protein Exceeds Limit, Keeps Harvesting

Just know that Omega's brazen thumb nosing at regulators can be traced back to our own NJ fluke grab of 2017.

If you recall, NJ forced the issue with ASMFC by going out of compliance on fluke quotas, betting on Wilber Ross to break precedence and rule in their favor. Well, the various industry groups got what they wanted: Ross sided with NJ, pulling any remaining teeth from ASMFC's jurisdiction.

With bunker you can bet that Omega Protein took that as a green light to defy any regulations set forth. Any state looking to undo conservation measures has a friend in this administration. They will side with big business every time.

And anyone bemoaning the bunker rape in VA can look back and reflect on their position during the 2017 fluke season, the groups they supported, the tactics they endorsed.

[JeffZ]

Originally Posted by Charlie B

I wonder how many strippers are taken as by catch with the bunker...Charlie

No worries. Per omega they vaccum up the bunker out of the nets and the game fish are gently released.

[dales529]

Originally Posted by hammer4reel

Reading that it says we release 90 percent of our catch.
Of which 9 percent die.
So for every hundred fish 10 are kept, 9 die , so 81 percent live another day.


So it’s not 48 percent of what we catch dies .

It’s saying almost half of what we are charged with taking were release mortality .

BIG DIFFERENCE.
.

Dan
You are correct. Thanks for the input. Below quote from the addendum supports your answer and the 48% accounts for release mortality on total removals


Quote from the addendum
"Total recreational removals (harvested fish plus released fish that died as a result of being caught) increased from a low of 2.7 million pounds (434,665 fish) in 1984 to a high of 75.8 million pounds (7.6 million fish) in 2013. Total removals decreased to an average of 53.5 million
pounds (5.8 million fish) since the implementation of Addendum IV in 2015.

In 2017, recreational removals were estimated at 53.7 million pounds (6.4 million fish). Of those removals, 37.9 million pounds (2.9 million fish) were harvested (Table 3). In 2017, 38.0 million striped bass (equivalent to 176 million pounds) were released alive resulting in an estimated 3.4
million dead releases (15.8 million pounds), which accounted for 48% of total striped bass removals in numbers of fish (Table 4). In 2018, 49% of total removals were attributed to dead releases (2.8 million fish or 12.3 million pounds). Recreational dead releases make up a large portion of total removals because most of the catch is released."


I do however believe that the addendum still allows depending on final options approved either taking female breeders or culling /releasing larger fish to find a slot limit which could result in the release mortality rate estimates going up much higher than 9% .
especially under the new MRIP