"A growing number of anglers and watermen have been voicing their
concerns about the status of the Atlantic striped bass resource. Their
worries were heeded this spring when the Atlantic States Marine
Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) voted to consider changes to the management
of striped bass that would reduce fishing mortality by up to 40% and
further protect spawning fish when they are concentrated and vulnerable.
An addendum to the management plan will be developed this year; if
approved, it will be implemented throughout the species' range for the
2012 fishing year."
"The Massachusetts delegation to the ASMFC not only supported, but
also made, the approved motion in order to take a proactive and prudent
step to respond to the resource and fishery conditions currently being
witnessed."
"The action should be viewed as a precautionary move because none
of the multiple triggers in the interstate management plan that can
prompt management action in response to deteriorating stock status has
been met. According to the last coastwide stock assessment completed in
2009, the striped bass stock is not overfished or experiencing
overfishing. The biomass of reproductively mature females in the
population was estimated to be 148% of the target in 2008 (and hence
even further above the threshold level). Similarly, fishing mortality
was estimated to be at least 30% below the target (and even further
below the threshold). That said, it is clear that the stock has been
declining for several years."
"By 2008, estimated stock abundance declined 25% from the peak in
size in 2004. That peak can be attributed to the addition of
exceptionally strong yearclasses of striped bass to the population in
1993, 1996, 2001, and 2003 from the Chesapeake Bay (the major spawning
area), interspersed with average years of juvenile recruitment. Several
productive years in the 1990s and early 2000s in the Hudson River and
Delaware Bay (the other spawning areas along the coast) also helped.
Those years of great spawning success are a tribute to the management
program protecting adequate numbers of mature fish and their essential
habitat in addition to factors beyond managers' control such as spring
rainfall levels that can heavily influence larval survival. The recent
decline in abundance is in large part due to reduced juvenile production
in the Chesapeake Bay. For the last seven years, the Chesapeake hasn't
produced a particularly strong year class; in fact, the majority of the
young of the year (YOY) production during this period has been below
average. This has created a void in the age distribution of 2 to 6 year
olds. Striped bass take on average six years to grow to the 28"
recreational minimum size, and eight years on average to reach the
34" commercial minimum size. It should also be noted that only one
year class born recently in the Chesapeake was poor enough to qualify as
a "recruitment failure". Under the management plan it takes
three consecutive years of recruitment failure to trigger management
action."
