After the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC’s) Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board adopted Addendum II to Amendment 7 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass (Addendum II) in January 2024, it was generally assumed that striped bass management issues would be put on a back burner until a new stock assessment […]
When the Chesapeake Bay striped bass stock collapsed in the late 1970s, people tried to figure out why. Recreational fishermen were quick to point fingers at the commercial sector, which was not yet burdened by significant regulation. There were no gear restrictions and no annual quotas, and the fishery accounted for a larger share of […]
In 1984, New York’s recreational fishermen took home about 14.5 million winter flounder, a harvest that totaled about 13.9 million pounds and dwarfed the 1.35 million pounds of flounder that was landed by the state’s commercial fishermen in the same year. Winter flounder made up over one-third of the nearly 40 million fish landed by […]
At its June 2022 meeting, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) adopted the so-called “Percent Change Approach” (PCA) for managing the recreational summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries; the PCA will also be used to manage the recreational bluefish fishery, once the bluefish stock is no longer subject to its current rebuilding plan. […]
I was still in school the last time the striped bass stock collapsed. The crash began slowly, while I was still in college and had a summer job in a local tackle shop that let me be on the water just about every day. There were a lot of big fish around at the time; […]
Top photo by Capt. Dave Monti The Chesapeake Bay produces most of the migratory striped bass on the Atlantic Coast, and about two-thirds of those Chesapeake bass are spawned in Maryland’s waters. Maryland spawning success is so important to the overall health of the striped bass stock that, at the November 2022 meeting of the […]
About a year ago, I found myself in immediate need of a new boat. Someone at my marina had just put his 32-foot Topaz on the market, and after a quick conversation with my wife and a far longer inspection by a marine surveyor, I made it my own. At that point, I needed to […]
It’s impossible to count every fish caught by recreational fishermen, yet accurate recreational catch and landings data are an essential part of the fisheries management process. Thus, saltwater fisheries managers are constantly seeking better estimates of anglers catch, landings, and effort. Currently, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) employs the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) […]
