Virginia Switches Striper Limit to 1 Per Day

[jdindino]

Link: https://wtop.com/virginia/2019/08/virginia-fisheries-officials-limit-anglers-to-1-striped-bass/

[Big Mike]

Are you listening Maryland?

[ronaultmtd]

I understand the charter industry has issues with the regulations, but unless we protect the fish from over harvest, there will be no fish. And this is just one piece of the puzzle. This is a holistic problem that needs a holistic solution...water quality, habitat, the menhaden over harvest by Omega Foods...and global warming with all its ancillary effects...I personally have imposed a total moratorium on harvesting any Stripers...and really, do they taste that great? Not my favorite table fish..

[J. Rentch]

Agree 100% with you Mike!

[YakMan1731]

Are you listening Maryland?

What he said ^^^

[nhunter344]

I understand the charter industry has issues with the regulations, but unless we protect the fish from over harvest, there will be no fish.

Agree 110%. I don't understand their kick the can down the road approach to this. I understand its tough and its going to hurt their bottom line for awhile, but do they just want to keep regs as they are until there is no bottom line? Through my eyes, there are only two reasons for their unwillingness to change. Complete ignorance, or a willingness to completely decimate the fishery for temporary monetary gain. Neither is flattering to the industry.

I hope Maryland is paying attention but Im also realistic. MD's blue crab regulations have led to most of the blue crab being sold in the state being imported from the gulf coast. If they aren't willing to enact meaningful legislation to protect their signature species, I don't hold out much hope for others.

I dunno, maybe Im right or maybe Im just under-rested, under-caffeinated and in a generally cranky mood today.

[belairfishing]

I dunno, maybe Im right or maybe Im just under-rested, under-caffeinated and in a generally cranky mood today.

Nah...it's easy to be cynical about it. I read about this issue on tidalfish and stripersonline a lot, and there is plenty of blame to go around, but my thinking is put the blame aside and solve the problem. It absolutely astounds me the numbers of fish that are harvested. Back in the beginning of July I made a trip over the bridge to Crab Alley Bay - I wrote about it here - and there must have been 75 boats down there, right on top of one another. Many were charters, figuring 4 to 6 people taking their limit, plus the rec boaters. That, combined with the dead fish floating in the bay, and the trophy season - and people wonder why the fishery is in decline.

[Mark]

Is it absolutely necessary that charter captains allow clients to keep their fish? Would their business be hurt if they advertised up front that they are a C&R boat? Frankly, they must do a lot of C&R now given the scarcity of legal fish.

A well known charter boat docks on the opposite side of a creek near my Pasadena house. During my walks along the creek I've seen the boat come in from outings. When the boat ties up the passengers often line up on the dock each holding two fish for a photo opportunity. They may number 6 or 8 people. In the summer, I believe this boat makes two trips per day.

I don't know for certain, of course, but I can surmise by their appearance and chatter that many of the passengers are not experienced anglers. They appear to be office parties or families out for a day on the Chesapeake with a little fishing thrown in. That in itself is fine. But I have to wonder how many of those fish they bring back wind up in garbage cans at their homes because the people who caught them have no idea how to clean or cook them. Or maybe they decide it's just too much trouble. Given the cost of charters, those fish are not an economical meal. A trip to Safeway's fish department is much less expensive. The customers, I assume, are mainly paying for the thrill of the catch -- not what happens in the kitchen later. They can have that same thrill with C&R.

In my limited times on charter boats I've contributed stripers to the box. I didn't want them, nor did I take them home. Someone else did. I felt pressured somewhat by the captain and even the other passengers to keep them. In fact, there were times I hoped my catch was sublegal so the decision to keep or release did not arise. The "keep all legal fish mentality" seems to be ingrained in the local charter business. But wouldn't it be interesting to find out that both parties in the equation would really prefer C&R but they just go with the flow to avoid dissonance on the boat.

Not too long ago in the CCA magazine there was an article about a woman charter captain (in Louisiana I believe) who stipulated that her trips were C&R only. The article indicated that she was a groundbreaker because of both her gender and her insistence on C&R. I applaud her approach.

Of course, we now know that C&R striper mortality is higher than we thought, especially on boats that live-line or use bait. So, C&R is not the ultimate panacea to this matter. But those fish I see in photo ops on the dock are certainly dead. And I believe many of them died unnecessarily.

[belairfishing]

Is it absolutely necessary that charter captains allow clients to keep their fish? Would their business be hurt if they advertised up front that they are a C&R boat? Frankly, they must do a lot of C&R now given the scarcity of legal fish.

A well known charter boat docks on the opposite side of a creek near my Pasadena house. During my walks along the creek I've seen the boat come in from outings. When the boat ties up the passengers often line up on the dock each holding two fish for a photo opportunity. They may number 6 or 8 people. In the summer, I believe this boat makes two trips per day.

I don't know for certain, of course, but I can surmise by their appearance and chatter that many of the passengers are not experienced anglers. They appear to be office parties or families out for a day on the Chesapeake with a little fishing thrown in. That in itself is fine. But I have to wonder how many of those fish they bring back wind up in garbage cans at their homes because the people who caught them have no idea how to clean or cook them. Or maybe they decide it's just too much trouble. Given the cost of charters, those fish are not an economical meal. A trip to Safeway's fish department is much less expensive. The customers, I assume, are mainly paying for the thrill of the catch -- not what happens in the kitchen later. They can have that same thrill with C&R.

In my limited times on charter boats I've contributed stripers to the box. I didn't want them, nor did I take them home. Someone else did. I felt pressured somewhat by the captain and even the other passengers to keep them. In fact, there were times I hoped my catch was sublegal so the decision to keep or release did not arise. The "keep all legal fish mentality" seems to be ingrained in the local charter business. But wouldn't it be interesting to find out that both parties in the equation would really prefer C&R but they just go with the flow to avoid dissonance on the boat.

Not too long ago in the CCA magazine there was an article about a woman charter captain (in Louisiana I believe) who stipulated that her trips were C&R only. The article indicated that she was a groundbreaker because of both her gender and her insistence on C&R. I applaud her approach.

Of course, we now know that C&R striper mortality is higher than we thought, especially on boats that live-line or use bait. So, C&R is not the ultimate panacea to this matter. But those fish I see in photo ops on the dock are certainly dead. And I believe many of them died unnecessarily.

Mark,

I have been doing a charter on the Susquehanna Flats for 15 years with my brother and my neighbor - we chose from year 1 to go during catch and release season. I know there is an argument that fishing over spawning fish is not a good idea, but we don't take a picture of every fish we catch, and often release them ourselves quickly, instead of bothering the captain. Last year, when the Flats got washed out from all of the rain, we fished out of Easter Bay with the same charter, and between the 3 of us we didn't keep one fish.

I consider a fishing charter to be a luxury item - I wouldn't do it if I couldn't afford it, and I don't do it for the meal. Before I hurt my shoulder years ago, any vacation I would take with my wife I always added a round of golf in. Now, I add a private charter and a party boat fishing trip whenever we go to warmer climates. Full disclosure, I did keep a red grouper in Naples a couple of years ago, and I kept some yellowtail snapper in the keys, but those are hardly overfished species!

I read that article, with great interest, about the C&R guide. There are more than we think I bet. This organization (https://saltwaterguidesassociation.com/blog/) has a lot to say about the state of the striped bass fishery - I think someone on this board exposed it to me, but I have read everything they have written on the subject, and they see like a well run organization. I am considering sending them some money - they actually fund real scientific studies.

Steve

[nhunter344]

Not too long ago in the CCA magazine there was an article about a woman charter captain (in Louisiana I believe) who stipulated that her trips were C&R only. The article indicated that she was a groundbreaker because of both her gender and her insistence on C&R. I applaud her approach.

I think the Mid-Atlantic has a lot to learn from the Gulf Coast. I've been on plenty of charters the entire length of the Gulf Coast and every single one of them encouraged me to C&R only and had one tell me he couldn't prevent me from keeping fish just like I couldn't prevent him from heading back to the dock . They learned from the depletion of redfish stocks in the 70's and 80's and still have those conservation measures in place. Here, we collapsed the fishery in the 80's, managed to barely fix the population, and then allowed unsustainable yields for the most crucial of the species, the reproducing females.

Despite all of this, taking a picture of a dead cow hanging from a tackle shop scale is still considered a Mid-Atlantic angling badge of honor.

OMEGA and ASFMC's handling of menhaden stocks is a rant for another day.

[moc]

I understand the charter industry has issues with the regulations, but unless we protect the fish from over harvest, there will be no fish. And this is just one piece of the puzzle. This is a holistic problem that needs a holistic solution...water quality, habitat, the menhaden over harvest by Omega Foods...and global warming with all its ancillary effects...I personally have imposed a total moratorium on harvesting any Stripers...and really, do they taste that great? Not my favorite table fish..

I have done the same Ron. I may catch one for the camera, but I am not keeping any stripers on a regular basis. At best I may keep 1 per month during the Fall if that. Like you said, other fish taste a lot better. Perch are great, and so are speckle sea trout, flounder, snakeheads, and bluecats. I will give the poor stripers a break. There are some anglers out there who enjoy catching rockfish, but they would not release them, nor will they take the time to eat them. They give them away on a regular basis as if they are a commercial fisherman. They might think that they are helping out a friend with free fish, but they are contributing to the decline of the rockfish population over time by over harvesting them.

[jdindino]

I myself much prefer white perch, yellow perch, and flounder - and walleye when I’m fishing in Ohio.

I’d love to try snakehead and fish for them, just haven’t figured out where to go yet to try that’s not too far from Bowie.

Jim


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