[Brandon]

here we go, first crabs, now stripers

2008 Maryland Young-of-Year Striped Bass Survey Shows Below Average Reproduction

 

[27 sailfish]

It was not a very wet spring- old timers swear a wet spring means alot of small Rock.

My worry is the chart that shows the overall population.It is going down and if you carry the downward line out about 5 years :eek2::eek2: - it is bad.

The bay needs more grass - both for crabs and baby Rock.With the amount of small Blues this year- that might also cause the YOY to be down.The Blues not only eat small Rock but will also cause them to move to other areas.Some claim to be seeing more Blues then in 20 years.

Since the YOY nets are always in the same spots-perhaps the YOY were not there.

 

[goose70]

"This spring water temperatures fell below levels known to be lethally cold to striped bass eggs and larvae," explained Durell. "Survival of these sensitive life stages is a major determinant of spawning success."

Hopefully this is the answer. The problem with the YOY index is that you don't know that you have a problem until you have a big problem. One year of below average (although 3.2 is very low) isn't cause for alarm, but several years may be and, by that point, you're going to see significantly reduced adult populations in the future.

Skip, what "overall population" chart are you referencing? I'd like to see it (and wonder how they come up with the numbers for it).

 

[Francis]

Does anyone know how many sites are visited during the YOY studies?

In "Chesapeake Stripers" Keith Walters explained exactly how the YOY was determined and it was very informative. I wonder if this many years later it is still done that same way.

 

[Brandon]

Check the link in that article, the link takes you to a site that explains everything

 

[Francis]

perfect, thanks

 

[Francis]

Never mind I got it. . .

 

[Barefoot]

I wonder if this many years later it is still done that same way.

I know that at least one of the locations has changed, but in general, the survey is done the same every year.

 

[flattyfrank]

Since the YOY nets are always in the same spots-perhaps the YOY were not there.

Good point, Skip. conditions vary from year to year. That was seen last winter with the wds for the crabs. And
dnr is not always forthcoming with a completely truthful assessment of the surveys. With the crabs, you'll recall that when the long awaited wds was finally announced, dnr said there was a slight increase in juvenile crabs, but would not divulge the exact figures. Come to find out that the slight increase was a whopping 16 percent, which is huge when we were led to believe the was a minisule increase. Brandon, sorry for the jack, but felt the perspective was needed.

I don't doubt that there was a poor YOY count. Stripers have been on the decline for the past 10 years, due to poor water quality and the disease that accompanies it.

 

[Ray Parvis]

From my personal experience, the fishing is not as good as the early 90's after the moratorium. The quality and quantity has been in decline and the chart does look like we are heading back to where we were.

*Edit to remove my oversight of the chart below. Sorry Paxfish, I didn't read between the lines. LOL

 

[paxfish]

It does show every year. And yes, we are heading to where we were.

 

[Scott McGuire]

It was not a very wet spring- old timers swear a wet spring means alot of small Rock.

My worry is the chart that shows the overall population.It is going down and if you carry the downward line out about 5 years :eek2::eek2: - it is bad.

Hi Skip,

I just wanted to point out that the chart does NOT show anything about the striper population.

 

[Scott McGuire]

Good point, Skip. conditions vary from year to year. That was seen last winter with the wds for the crabs. And
dnr is not always forthcoming with a completely truthful assessment of the surveys. With the crabs, you'll recall that when the long awaited wds was finally announced, dnr said there was a slight increase in juvenile crabs, but would not divulge the exact figures. Come to find out that the slight increase was a whopping 16 percent, which is huge when we were led to believe the was a minisule increase. Brandon, sorry for the jack, but felt the perspective was needed.

I don't doubt that there was a poor YOY count. Stripers have been on the decline for the past 10 years, due to poor water quality and the disease that accompanies it.

You're drinking the coolaid, Man.

That insignificant increase in small crabs doesn't change the target for adult crabs. Try getting your information somewhere other than "the podium".

 

[27 sailfish]

Goose - the chart I saw was from the ASMFC and showed the overall population.There has been a downward trend the last few years which is expected since more people are fishing for Rockfish.

What scares me is when I drew a line following the angle and walked out to 2012 :eek2: - it was below the thereshold ASMFC wants.

In my book - the catch should be reduced (for everyone) rather then waiting for the population to get low again.

No one could have seen the mild winters and the explosion of catching that goes on during the winter.Years past- nature gave the Rock a break because it was windy/cold or the ice was too thick.

Now-we all look forward to Dec/Jan and fishing in sweatshirts.

Hope our YOY is better next year :thumbup:.

 

[paxfish]

Here's the overall chart:

The data only carries through 2006. You can extrapolate 2007 for yourself. ASMFC feels that there is a pulse of fish waiting in the wings to augment the SSB and keep us above the threshold. I hope they are right.

We shall see.

 

[27 sailfish]

Pax - thank you , that is the chart I was trying to find.The downward angle is scary-it's 40* :eek2:. I guess the ASFMC does not look forward past the end of the chart.

Not sure were that "pulse" of fish is coming from - most feel the numbers are down.Sure we catch Rock but not like 5 years ago.

 

[spynet000]

Skip- how would you compare the fishing now out of Sandy Point compared to years past? Say 5 years like you were talking.

Dave

 

[Scott McGuire]

The Pulse would be the 2001 and 2003 year classes. The 2001 year class should be fully recruited to the SSB this year, the 2003 should be partially recruited to the SSB this year.

They are looking ahead, that's how they forecast to expect a pulse.

 

[27 sailfish]

Crowbait - I hope they are right - it would be a shame if the great fishing fell apart, again.
I look at all the big Rock being taken and cringe.
The 2001 class should be 29-31 inches - they are the future because the bigger fish are getting thinned out.Watch Va. beach this year as compared to last year.

Spynet00 - 5 years ago off Sandy Point it was better fishing IMHO.We caught alot of mid 30 inch fish using Eels or trolling.In Nov. we had fish up to 40 lbs. near Love Point.Catches of 25-40 fish a day were common if you knew how to troll over them.

I might be howling into the wind but I'm just old enough to remember how fast the rock fishery went downhill and how hard it was to get it to comeback.

 

[flattyfrank]

You're drinking the coolaid, Man.

That insignificant increase in small crabs doesn't change the target for adult crabs. Try getting your information somewhere other than "the podium".

no, small crabs don't change the target. for that matter, big crabs don't change the target either. but small crabs become big crabs. fact of the matter is dnr led us to believe that a small increase occurred, while the juvie population increased last winter by almost 16% When those juveniles reach the adult stage, which they are right now, the adult population will be much closer to the target than it was in the spring. As to where I got my info, I was at the meeting where Ms Fegley announced the results as a slight, minimal increase in the juvie population. I got the actual increase from the following site,

Maryland's Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey

The graph which shows the more than slight increase in juvies was not presented when the survey results were released.