ASMFC Maintains Chesapeake Striped Bass Harvest

Commission shelves reduction of striped bass harvest in Chesapeake Bay: Some Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission members concerned about disappearance of rockfish in northern waters

A proposal that could have slashed Maryland's annual striped bass catch by more than 50 percent in 2012 was shelved Tuesday morning by the commission that oversees East Coast fisheries. The 9-6 vote by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's striped bass board will most likely postpone any further discussion of a harvest reduction until 2013, when a new population assessment is due.

"I think it was appropriate," said Ed O'Brien, an official with the Maryland Charter Boat Association and the National Association of Charterboat Operators. "It puts pressure on the states to look at their own management to make sure they're doing all they can to protect the fish."

But supporters of the measure warned that the vote just delays the inevitable.

"We will wake up in two years — after the next stock assessment — and find out that things are much worse than they were, and that the needed cuts will be much bigger," said Bradford Burns, founder of Stripers Forever, a non-profit conservation group.

There's lots more in the article, but it's mostly just speculation by one side or the other.  The sides are fairly predictable; northern states and representative of recreational fishermen pushing for more controls on the Striped Bass harvest while southern states, commercial and charter fishermen favoring the status quo.

Personally, having conducted an extensive personal research project into the abundance of Striped Bass in Chesapeake Bay, I think they're in trouble, and the sooner the restrictions are put in place, the less severe they will need to be, and the shorter the time period over which they will need to be imposed.