I attended the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meeting Dec. 16, when the 2026 regulations for striped bass were decided. This was a hybrid meeting. I attended virtually. There were 515 people in attendance, with six staff members from the ASMFC.
The meeting began at 10 a.m. and ended at 2:30 p.m. There was considerable discussion about the regulations, and one disappointment was the change in the number that each sector – recreational and commercial – must give up in 2026 in order to comply with the rebuilding plan.
At first, the commercial representatives moved and seconded a motion to reduce the amount of their catch from 9% to 1%. When that motion failed, they came back with another to reduce their catch from 9% to 5%. That motion passed.
The recreational sector will still have to give up the entire 9%. The good news is the current regulations will remain the same in 2025.
Each state and area will have different regulations. Delaware will have to figure out a system to reduce its take of striped bass by 9% via seasonal closures in Delaware Bay. The coastal waters from Connecticut to North Carolina will be regulated by no-harvest days.
Maryland will have seasonal closures in the Chesapeake Bay, with no-harvest and no-target fishing, and no-striped-bass-only fishing trips from for-hire boats. Virginia will have pretty much the same conditions as Maryland for its portion of the Chesapeake Bay.
In the past, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia have come together and made the regulations the same for summer flounder and black sea bass. I doubt this is going to work for striped bass. There is just too much difference in the methods employed for fishing for stripers in the Chesapeake and Delaware bays.
I must admit, I was expecting a harsher reduction than 9%. We will probably lose a few days of the Delaware Bay summer season and the same for our ocean season. Otherwise, things should pretty much remain the same, and that’s a good thing.
Until they have to shut it all down.
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