Gloomy rockfish fisheries report

[Big Mike]

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has come out with a very gloomy report on the health of the rockfish population. They haven’t issued new guidance yet but be prepared for catch reductions, if not an outright moratorium again. One of the assessments included a 10% mortality rate on released fish exasperated by the higher minimum catch limits that was contributing to the decline.

I know the weather messed with lots of our fishing last year but my experience was a definite decline in number and quality of fish I caught. Hate to see any more restrictions but long term they may be needed.

[NattyBoh74]

I'd rather see them lock them out completely to get a bump up on the population etc. We need to do what we need to do to protect them.

[ronaultmtd]

The problem is not in any one state...it is across the entire Atlantic Coast migration states. The States north of us fish for the big breeders all summer long...One thought would be to declare a moratorium on all tournaments, eliminate trophy seasons and to restrict Fishing for Stripers to strictly C&R with barbless hooks until the fishery recovers...

[Mark]

Last month at the Edison NJ fly fishing show I listened to a charter captain speak at a seminar. He fishes for big stripers on the fly in Long Island Sound. I'm sorry. I cannot remember his name. He said he was on an advisory board currently looking into the problem of declining stripers. He cited our YOY numbers in the Chesapeake and said the large 2011 class was supposed to be the savior of the species. In his opinion anglers hammered that class into oblivion, thanks in part to relaxed regulations. Even in MD we reduced our limit from 20 to 19 inches based in part on optimistic YOY numbers. He said there are few catches from the 2011 class now. Those fish should be over 30 inches and anglers in NY are just not seeing them in that size in large numbers anymore. He offered no solutions. But damned if I was going to raise my hand in a room filled with guys seeking big stripers and say we were allowed to keep 19 inchers in the Chesapeake. Even though the Chesapeake is the hatchery for most of the coastal stripers, I've often wondered why our local size limit was so small. However, if fisheries scientists are now determining that too many undersized fish die during C&R then a complete moratorium is one (temporary) solution. When it is over, we will again fish ourselves into the present situation. The cycle will repeat.

I think there are things that can be done locally in lieu of a full moratorium:

1. Eliminate striper fishing entirely during the MD spring spawning season
2. Stop striper bait fishing – too many gut-hooked fish even with circle hooks
3. Stop warm water fishing for stripers by any method when Chesapeake water temperature reaches a certain level
4. De-barb hooks on lures and flies used to catch stripers all the time
5. Make stripers a game fish

Each of the above (except maybe #4) has dire economic consequences for some group or groups here in the Chesapeake Bay. Lobbyists will be all over Annapolis on this matter if any of them rise to the surface of consideration, you can be sure. Further there are not enough DNR police to enforce the above. This problem is very difficult to solve with so many competing interests. It's an issue that will never completely go away until the fish do.

[belairfishing]

I was just on a charter boat out of Naples, FL last week, and one of the deckhands worked striper charters in Jersey (not sure where specifically.) He said when they take groups of 4 out, they limit out on the trophy fish, in his case I think it was over 40 inches. I can't imagine why ONE person would feel the need to keep TWO fish over 40 inches on the same day, or EIGHT on one boat. He told me he would ask the clients, "Are you sure you really want to harvest these fish? - these are the breeders." Almost always they do.

[CUDADUDE]

So any responsibility towards Omega and their harvest practice. Do you think fishermen up north know what we allow to happen in the Chesapeake?

[brianisoutside]

There are other means and methods that don’t come up often.
We could simply limit the Chesapeake anglers to one fish a day of any size, this would allow us to keep a bleeding 16 fish if necessary.
There’s also the approach of a tag and one 35+ fish per season, maybe there’s more than one season in a year I don’t know. This fish would have to get called in and tagged in the same manner a deer does. That technology is already there for dnr.


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