Testimony of Dick Russel on H796

"Striped bass have been called the aquatic equivalent of the American bald eagle."

Author and environmental journalist Dick Russell who wrote the book Striper Wars testified in January in support of H796. That bill if passed into law would designate the striped bass as a game fish in the waters of Massachusetts.

You can read his testimony in it's entirety at his website.

LINK

Hearing on Massachusetts striped bass bill this Thursday

The legislative hearing for H796, a bill that would protect striped bass in the waters off Massachusetts happens this week.

Stripers Forever has all the details and will be there in force. LINK

The opposition will be there as well.

You can help make a difference by becoming a member of Stripers Forever, it's free and only takes a minute to register. Stripers Forever’s only goal is to make striped bass a game fish, which means it would be managed for the benefit of the recreational fishing public, now and for future generations.

Become a member

Some good news from Stripers Forever

Striper art by Flick Ford

Stripers Forever suggests that their members write the governors of the states that voted for the commercial rollover (RI, CT, NY, NC) to complain about the actions of the their state directors. 

ASFMC Denies Increase in Commercial Striped Bass Harvest

Anglers rally to defeat proposal for commercial sector to kill more fish

    Coastal Conservation Association commends the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) for denying a proposal to increase the commercial harvest of striped bass at its meeting this week in Newport, Rhode Island. The proposal would have allowed commercial fishermen to add at least half of their uncaught commercial striped bass quota to their quota for the following year. Many anglers from CCA Maine made the journey to Newport to express their concern over the status of this important fish, and their voice made a difference. 

    "The Striped Bass Board understands that anglers at the north and south of the striped bass range are not seeing the numbers of fish they saw even just a few years ago," said Richen Brame, CCA’s Atlantic States fisheries director. "There is cause for concern and we commend the ASMFC for taking a conservative approach."

    In its formal comments before the ASMFC against the proposal, CCA cited several disturbing trends in the striped bass fishery, including a dramatic decrease in the number of striped bass caught and released by recreational fishermen, particularly in the northeastern states of New Hampshire and Maine, the prevalence of the fatal disease Mycobacteriosis among the Chesapeake Bay spawning stock, and a Fish and Wildlife Service annual survey that encountered the fewest striped bass in the survey’s history.

    “While officially the stock is not overfished and not undergoing overfishing, there are signs that the overall abundance is declining,” said Brame. “The proposed action to allow the commercial industry to take more fish was not a remedy for any of the problems we are seeing with striped bass. Increasing abundance is what will fix those problems.”

    While the motion was defeated by a vote of 8-6, the margin of the victory means recreational anglers will have to maintain vigilance at the ASMFC to protect the recovery of striped bass.

    “After the vote on the original motion, there was immediately another motion to allow the commercial sector to rollover 25 percent of their uncaught harvest to the next year, which was also defeated,” said Brame. “We will continue to see efforts like this and it was very encouraging to hear Board members remark on the number of comments they received against this proposal from the public. Our members will have to be ready to stand up for conservation.”

    The following states voted against the rollover proposal: Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Voting for the proposal were Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Potomac River Fisheries Commission, North Carolina and the National Marine Fisheries Service. The Fish and Wildlife Service abstained.

How Do You Say Striper?

We crushed em today on the inside, blowin way too hard on the outside to chase Fat Albert.

TAKE ACTION! Stop commercial striped bass quota rollovers

Stripers Forever – the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission – ASMFC – the group of East Coast states that regulate striped bass, is taking public comment and holding public hearings on a proposal to allow states with commercial quotas to transfer the quota that they did not report as caught in one year to the next year. This means that if, in a given commercial state, the quota was 1,100,000 pounds, and only 990,000 was caught in 2011, then in 2012 the new quota could be 1,210,000 pounds.  

Stripers Forever thinks this is just a thinly disguised attempt to add to commercial quotas, and that it is a very bad idea.  Here is why:

1.  If the state fails to reach its quota over the course of an entire season, it is a very good indication that there simply are not as many striped bass out there as the fishery managers estimated.  Given the fishing reports that we have been receiving this is a very likely scenario.  Just adding one year's deficit to the following year simply compounds unwarranted pressure on the fish.  Fishery management needs to be more risk averse, not more intent on vacuuming up every possible fish for the market.

2.  Transferring uncaught quota to the next year provides an incentive for some commercial fishermen to sell their catch under the table and, as a bonus, receive a larger quota the following year.  Time and again some members of the commercial community have shown their willingness to sell under the table.  Every year there are arrests and convictions.  The ASMFC ignores this and makes no estimate of the illegal catch nor allowance for it in their management plans.  They are sticking their head in the sand.  

Stripers Forever is urging all their members to write to the ASMFC and let officials know that you oppose any commercial quota rollovers. 

You can find the draft plan and a link to submit a public comment HERE.

Passage would allow unlimited, indiscriminate harvest of striped bass

Updated below

California Assemblywoman Jean Fuller (R-Bakersfield) has introduced legislation, AB 1253, to remove gamefish status for striped bass. The bill will be heard in the Water, Parks & Recreation Committee of the California State Assembly in Meeting Room 437, on Tuesday, April 28, at 9 a.m.

The bill is opposed by an unprecedented coalition of recreational fishing, commercial fishing and environmental restoration groups and businesses.

(Via: YubaNet)  LINK

Voice your opposition to this legislation here.

Update on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 11:22PM by El Guapo

Dan Bacher reports that massive opposition to AB 1253, a bill attacking Bay-Delta fish populations, resulted in the gutting of the bill in the State Assembly yesterday. LINK