[Brandon]

I was reading the Virginia Fishing Forum on Tidal Fish and spotted a thread with an article from Stripers Forever talking about the the striped bass crash and why all this illegal netting going on in North Carolina and in Maryland as well as in other places should be a grave concern for all of us.

NOAA released 2010 striped bass catch data recently. Below is what the chart looks like. When you see this chart you realize where we just might be headed, about where we headed in the late eighties. :eek2:doh

I pulled together the Maryland catch just out of curiosity. Same Story.

Data Source
Recreational catch includes all fish harvested and released alive.

 

[LTF]

Good job to the writer of the article and Brandon for pulling together some good factual data that proves that the numbers being caught are way down. We all know that it's not for lack of trying.

 

[jaynik]

Scary data. Is there any sort of standardization for each year's data? Specifically, do we know if the number of commercial boats were the same for each of the years? Same for recs? Probably impossible to obtain those data, but would make the charts less debateable. Either way, if those charts do indicate a decline in the population, what a scary drop beginning in 2007! What in the world happened then?

 

[crabby and son]

That would have been good to present at the TFAC meeting the other night. I believe O'Connel said that the fishery was in good shape. It looks like a CFIT to me! ( controlled flight into terrain. ) I would think that a fishery manager would have access to this material. Better quit the denial and pull back on the stick............Gary

 

[David]

I'm sure most of us are not surprised by the data. NETS NEED to stop in Maryland period including on the coast. Sadly reductions in the rec/and Charter industry need to follow suit. We need to focus on hatchery raised fish continuously to supplement the wild stock along w/making better incentive for raising in pens for the food industry. We are simply taking more than nature can sutain so if we don't add to it well we will be back in a moritorium. We really need fisheries on a NATIONAL level to dictate to the states because most of our States are not regulating as the need shows. And then there is the POACHING problem in our STATE and coastwide.Really sad we are back where we started in 86.

 

[Brandon]

I know Wild Bill has posted some data a while ago that someone else did, but I think the 2010 numbers just came out so I put them together to see what Maryland's catch looked like. It's not that surprising if you think about it, we have Myco in striped bass in the Chesapeake which is NOT being accounted for in the population models. Scientific data suggests that as many as 75% of the striped bass have it. I did do some research lately talking with some scientists who are working on myco and it appears some of the stripers if they make it to the ocean can overcome it, but still estimated that about 50% can result in mortality.

Add in water pollution to the equation and that fact that we are harvesting at the current past levels and that will whack the population pretty good.

Then add in all the poaching going on in Maryland, the trawlers in North Carolina, and the poaching that goes on outside 3 miles by both commercial and recs and its adds up pretty quickly.


Bottom line is we need to get rid of nets, crack down on all poaching by both commercial and recs and start thinking about the possibility that we might have to cut back both commercial and recreational allocations.

My main fear is that we have to go into another moratorium which will be bad for everyone and the economy which relies on striped bass.

Brandon

 

[HJS]

For the past 10 years I’ve been taking a 3 week fishing vacation during early August to the Kennebec region of Maine, fish for stripers until I drop. My successes over these years in Maine exactly parallels the graph of Atlantic Coast Recreation Catch, except the precipitous drop from 2006 to 2010 was waaay more pronounced in Maine. I went from catching a couple 100 in 2006 to catching only 22/25 during 2009/2010… pretty much same effort over the years too. All the other shore and boat fishermen I talk to while up in ME during 2010 reported the same decline. So, based on my Maine experiences, the graphs are spot-on.

 

[27 sailfish]

That does not make an sense.

DNR limited the PSCR trollers to six rods and barbless hooks. Since that was such a huge topic - figured that was the only thing wrong with the Rockfish.

Sorry , but had to throw salt in that wound.


Now , maybe , just maybe fish managers will start to listen to what many have been saying for years.

Good start would be to go to a one fish per angler summer limit - EVERYWHERE. Not just the bay but off the coast as well.
One quick rule change would cut the harvest by roughly 50%. Might only be needed a year or two.
Everyone pitches in - equal across the board.

 

[wino]

I have been tod the Snook population was in dire straits in south Florida until the net ban was implemented. Once the net ban took effect the stocks of juvenile Snook began to increase. More than any other fish the Snook is revered down here like rockfish up north. There is an almost religious fervor when it comes to Snook, people who cheat are reported to our DNR all the time especially spear fishermen who like to kill them in the inlets when they are spawning. Last year a spear fisherman with a big female Snook was caught going to his truck by a FWC officer, lost his truck a 2009 Ford 250, all his diving equipment, huge fine and 16 weekends in the pokey. This is what Maryland needs to do.

 

[27 sailfish]

Wino - Right there sums it all up with poachers and how Fla. and Md are so different.

That poacher ( spear fisherman ) lost all that for just ONE illegal fish. Figure the truck was about $40,000 , dive gear - guess $500.00 or so , a good size fine plus 32 days in jail. Again - for one fish.

I'll put money on it - other divers in the area heard about that and would not even consider shooting a Snook out of season.

Now in Md - hell , get caught with over 100 poached Rock - it gets reduced to around 12 and poacher gets a small fine and PBJ.

Other Md poachers just smile and keep on stealing fish.

 

[Wild Bill]

Thanks Brandon for posting these numbers. They are the same as what I posted a while back but they had not been released because the numbers for the last quartile were not in and SF estimated based on the 2009 numbers. It is good to see the graph now that the numbers are official.
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I have seen this coming for the past three years and have tried to sound the alarm. At first very few agreed, but now more and more recs are seeing first hand a serious decline. It can be deceptive because some of the frequent posters are very good fishermen and are willing to go where the concentration of fish are along the coast. We had some fantastic fishing this past Wed and Thurs in NC with fish to 46 pounds. If you took a newbie on a trip like that he would think there are loads of stripers and no problem. I know there is a problem when we run north out of OI and meet the VA Beach charter boats the whole way down to Duck. Some have 20 mile radar and if there were a good school of fish along the way, they would have stopped on them and not burned all that fuel. There are still some nice fish in the ocean in winter but far, far fewer schools and the schools are not as large.<o></o>
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Ban the nets in MD and cut the coastal rec limit to one fish for starters.<o></o>
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Captain Skip-<o></o>
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"Now , maybe , just maybe fish managers will start to listen to what many have been saying for years."<o></o>
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I doubt it. Fish managers will not go by these numbers but by the ASMFC stock assessment numbers which have not reached critical yet.<o></o>
<o></o>

 

[Ski]

Exactly right Wino. Levy strict fine and penalties, and enforce the hell out of them.

 

[00760]

This info is great ammo for the cause and I think this board and others like it raise awareness among all who are concerned. Unfortunately, unless all the graphs, data and general *****ing that is generated doesnt get to the channels that count nothing will be changed.
More petitions collected from all three boards? What about other fishing sites like fryingpan or the hull truth? How can we combine as a large group and bombard the lawmakers and corrupt commisions and get the point across?
The commercials have significant pull with alot of the lawmakers and ultimately, money talks. WE HAVE THE NUMBERS ON OUR SIDE.
I cant even count how many emails I have sent over the past month and I have only gotten two responses back.
The political agenda has never been about the resource. Money determines how the General Assembly manages the menhaden stocks. Omega donates to the governor and other politicians and they are pretty much left alone. The same holds true in NC where the processing and trawl owners dictate every move the commision makes. They have have comms on the freakin board!
All of us need to join and use our numbers as leverage and get this out to the media and put pressure on the right people.
Brandon, did you get my email regarding the aerial photo? Sportfishing Mag was looking for one for the april issue....That graph woulda been nice to send a couple of weeks ago

 

[reeltor]

Our problem children get a "vacation" or spend 5 weekends in the pokey.
Then they go to hearings and make jokes in front of everyone, including DNR, about how funny the whole thing is.

I can't wrap my head around our mgmt's logic. Bow to the almighty dollar till the resource is hanging by a thread, drop a moratorium, then do the whole thing over again. Insanity.

 

[hippie]

Wino & Skip, I agree with you men however, don't forget the people we are dealing with. They are the people who can't make it in society therefore they have to break the laws. All the laws no matter how harsh or lienient make no difference to the criminal. The criminal does what he wants without ever thinking ahead of the consquences. Besides that, alot of these people enjoy being in jail. It is truly too easy on them. In the cold of winter I've had people come up to me asking if they hit me will I put them in jail.

Looking at the results on striper population growth/fall it is clear something should be done ASAP! As I said before, why is Md one of the few states to allow any type of netting in their waters? De. banned it from the De. Bay and now they have fish coming back. Why not Md!

Better days ahead, I hope! Bob

 

[Gerald]

So now the crabs are eat'n all the rockfish?

 

[Ele]

Well, it looks like the same old BS on Tidalfish. Everybody talks, but nobody walks. When the DNR has meetings, where is everyone? Maybe a handfull show up. Somebody said, "we have the numbers," well you can't convince me by what I see at these meetings.

Even when some of these bills come through the Legislation, nobody is there to fight for it, except of course, the watermen. But, then again, they are organized, all 200 or so of them. We are not.

Ele

 

[Gerald]

Ele,
Call me when your going to the next one.

 

[Ele]

Sure will, Gerald.

Ele

 

[paxfish]

This Sucks. Zam told me everything was fine 5 years ago.

Drats! Foiled again!