The Atlantic Striped Bass population is currently experiencing overfishing and is facing a rapid decline according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). In the past, a similar and arguably more drastic population decline was seen but was successfully reversed beginning in 1972 due to the engagement and cooperation of all stakeholders involved in the Atlantic Striped Bass fishery. This species has been described as one of the most economically valuable finfish on the east coast according to a study performed by Southwick Associates and its popularity among recreational anglers cannot be denied.
In light of recent concerns for the state of the striped bass, fishery research is being conducted through the University of New England’s PSM Ocean Food Systems Program.
The objective of the research is to obtain a better understanding of recreational angler perception of the Atlantic Striped Bass fishery through a voluntary survey and hopes to provide insight that aids in future management decisions.
The survey is brief and should take no longer than 5 minutes. Additional information regarding the research will be accessible at the beginning of the survey.
Click Here To Take The Survey
This won’t work.
Bass needs to be a sport fish before the last person catches the last one.
Not allowed to be kept for commercial or recreational purposes for at least 10 yrs.
100 percent agree CNR only till numbers go up
Conservation Equivalency needs to end!! It’s just another way to skirt the intent of the regulations and it allows for the taking of more striped bass!!
i do believe commercial fishing should be limited more they catch and keep all. no size or amount limit. private fishing should be able to keep 2 fish per day per person and 24″ to 48″ the size now stinks very tough to catch in that limit size. it wasn’t until late September before my son and I caught one we could keep…. very discouraging want to keep fishery’s alive but really limits to tight
Plenty of fish out there. The current model needs to account for holdover bass in each state. Not all breeders migrate through the Chesapeake.
Far from what it should be.
In a word: Seals. The seals devastate striped bass stocks, devouring millions of schoolies (remember they take as much, of any size, they want). The commercial fishery takes big brood females, and years of inconsistency in regulations throughout the range has led to a crashing population once again. I cannot be convinced that the seals are not the primary culprit for the loss of striped bass. There are too many seals, not enough (or too many, depending on who you ask) predators and the entire ecosystem is wildly out of balance. You cannot simply allow one population to go unchecked, unmanaged and expect all of the other species will be “just fine.”
I agree with you ? %
Plenty if seals stealing 40+ fish from me last season. Spooled my lined and damaged my power pro on rocks.
Wrong. Have seals pushed the bass off their older haunts – yes. Have they significantly impacted the bass population – no. Recs are doing most of the damage.
I made the striper the NJ State Saltwater Fish. My intent was to call attention to the declining fishery.Rutgers University Marine Biologists continue to study the striper.Pollution,overfishing,commercial fishing,mishandeling catches, keeping undersize fish all contribute to the decline if the fishery.We need more enforcement officers to catch many bad offenders.Ray Dziadul rjdcimco@comcast.net
Let’s not teach recreational anglers how to successfully catch and release, never holding the fish by its stomach or touching its gills.
Let’s not make lures with single barbless hooks the law, and instead continue to throw plugs with two or three barbed treble hooks.
Let’s not put forward bag and size limits based on science, and then strictly enforce them on all waterways so there is nowhere the slobs are safe.
Lets not work on a solution to the horrible waste that over fifty percent of all commercially caught and sold fish end up dumpstered (look it up).
Let’s just kill more seals to balance offset our f…ups. That should do it.
I crush my barbs with pliers. Seems to help. Sell trebles with baroness hooks?
I hate spellchecker.
BARBLESS
I hate spellchecker.
BARBLESS
I find it insane that people are insisting that seals and commercial fishermen are the problem. This is a fundamental fishery management issue. First off, recreational fishermen harvest more fish than ANY other group, therefore, have the MOST significant impact on the population. Second, recreational fishermen who catch & release cause massive mortality purely for the “fun” of the fisherman. I’ve heard the statistic that 10% of all released fish die. I’ve seen people go out and catch 50-100 bass on a “fun” trip, which means 5-10 dead fish for sport. And the idea of a catch and release charter targeting large bass is probably the most pointless damage of all. Third, speaking of charters, the charter boats should be explicitly disallowed from including the crew in the boat limit.
Commercial fishing certainly does damage to the fishery and maybe it shouldn’t exist. However, it’s not going away anytime soon and, as I said, the recreational fishery does far more damage than the commercial one.
“A fundamental fishery management issue.”
Dead on.
According to the “only for me” logic, after we knock down the seal numbers, we should thin out the bluefish, who also eat young bass. Then weakfish, sharks, swordfish, tuna.
Oops. Sorry. We already did that.
Bill is spot on. NOT a seal issue. Management issue and start mandating circle hooks!
Not for nothing poaching enforcement and penalties a joke raise the fines make it hurt. Must have continuatey up and down striper Coast to make this work. One set of regulations not this state by state bull Shit
We need an open seal hunting season, or just kill all of them, and we need to reduce the commercial season, and enforce slots and limits better at the docks and canal. No way I want to go back to the 90s when the stripers were gone and the moratorium was in effect. How many stripers do you need to keep???
As a bass fisherman for over 50 Yrs. I agree with some of the above comments. There are many factors to consider the shape of our striped bass population as of today. Commercial bass fishing keeps what we throw back! We want the girls to breed not sold the next day. The slot limit is doing nothing but throwing fish back to try and catch a larger one (sometimes more than 20 fish caught and released at any one time) doing damage to over half. The slaughter of many fish along the Canal is out of control. Time to have a designated place where the Enviromental police can baby sit. No need to have a plug with (2) sets of trebel hooks. And as far as the seals go they eat everything that swims,sand eels,herring,mackrel etc.. the bass will go out deep to eat leaving the impression thaere are no fish around. Catch one fish a day over 24″ eat fresh and enjoy. Frozen fish sucks.