Striped Bass limits ordered

[eyedaddy]

The Menhaden are also "Filter Feeders" they eat algae, which is a tremendous problem in the Bay. Oysters and Menhaden are needed to clean up the bay as well as being a food source for a lot of other species of fish. There was talk a few years ago of "Buying out" Omega Protein and shutting it down but that fell through. It sure would have done great things for the entire Chesapeake watershed.

[Frankthefitter]

Buying out? That's a fantastic idea. I'd be willing to pay for a rockfish stamp to do that. Only problem is you are simply opening up the harvest for another factory to fish. Shutting it down in my uneducated opinion could be the single biggest improvement to bay health.


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[DOGFISH]

To some extent, all of the above. The reduction is overdue. All of those 20" and 22" fish which folks are catching now are from one year spawn. Those 2011 year fish need to be protected until they get to spawn, at least once or that there are sufficient multi year fish in the system to sustain the fishery. Even if you catch a fish at 22" and keep it, remember that fish will never spawn. For this reason, that is why the limits should have been reduced this year. Those 2011 year fish need to be protected until there is another year class to follow along. Along the Atlantic coast the fish tend to be larger, so that is why the fish size limits are larger. The bay is the nursery for the smaller fish, just as is some of the other spawning rivers in other states. I am one who believes stripers should be a sport fish. However, that does not mean that sport fishing cannot overfish a species. However, when there is a commercial interest and a recreational interest, that compounds the equation. In the past several years the number of larger fish has been dropping. That is not to say that there are not some larger fish to catch but less with the numbers dropping. I have always thought the spring trophy season is counter to good reason. So lack of any other suggestion and short of stripers as a sport fish, possibly a slot limit would make more sense. However, as many here have noticed, there are huge money interests at stake. Money tends to center those interests together with larger political potential and interest. To do the same with recreational fisherman is like herding cats. There is no consensus among recreational fisherman or their organized groups. I have seen this situation from before the moratorium through now. Everyone will get into a huff at this time or year and then forgets about the time the season begins in the spring. The circle continues.

Of course a trophy fish stamp may make sense, if there is to be a trophy season. One would need a stamp and a tag for each trophy fish that they keep, similar to tarpon in Florida. That may slow the slaughter of the larger females. However, those large females then go out to the coast and continue to be under threat from anglers from other states. Just because they leave the bay, does not mean they are safe.

I must also agree that there are not nearly the number of menhaden in the bay as in the past. That continues to be a problem. I can remember trolling along for miles, in the spring, with a steady and continuous line of menhaden on the graph. Those large schools are gone.