"Just noticable difference"
I wonder if fishermen don't seem as concerned about the biomass because the states they fish in for bass seem "fine". It's hard to care about what's happening in Va when you live in NJ,NY, or Mass. People sometimes have difficulty understanding these are the same bass that passed by them. If they were only highly concentrated in 2 places in 2009, what happened to the rest of the millions of bass? What happened to the millions (4 million by some estimates) of bass that spawned in the Hudson River last year? How come fishing at Montauk for the late summer and fall was one of the poorest seasons in recent years?
This was posted earlier in this thread by Captnemo, post #17. I'm posting it again for people to re-visit it. I would like them to consider the great fishing that was to be had off Block Island this year in the summer, or the fantastic fishing now happening off the coast of Va, in light of the real life fishermens' experience and the biologists' statements here:
Quote:
Originally Posted by
captnemo
"Large concentrations of bass in some areas doesn’t necessarily equate to a healthy stock:
Man, there were some crazy striped bass blitzes in Montauk this year. The kind that make you just drop your rod and say “Holy *@$%!”. Truly extraordinary stuff. Understandably, such blitzes might make one believe that striped bass are extremely abundant. Unfortunately that is not the case. In other regions, particularly the Northeast, there are widespread complaints about the lack of quality stripers.
In Maine, guides are going out of business because of the very real lack of what was once a thriving fishery.
As guides like Capt. Dave Pecci and Capt. Doug Jowett point out,
it’s not due to the lack of forage as there seems to be abundant bait concentrations in the areas that they fish. Indeed I fear that Maine’s position at the northernmost part of the striped bass migration makes it a bellwether state.
In light of such Montauk blitzes, I ask you to consider the below passage taken from a University of New Hampshire Department of Natural Resources document titled
A Guide to Fisheries Stock Assessment.
This is the document used to educate members of the fisheries management councils on how fisheries stock assessments are conducted:
“Fishermen will actively seek out areas with greater fish concentrations. As a result, their catch-per-unit effort could remain stable in the face of a declining stock. Consider a stock that contracts its range as the population shrinks, or increases its range as the population grows. Despite the changing range, catch-per-unit effort may remain relatively constant if the fishermen focus their effort on the center of the range, where fish density remains relatively stable.”
With this in mind,
I would think managers would be practicing extreme caution when managing striped bass, particularly in light of its immense recreational value. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Delaware and Pennsylvania want to open two-month fishing seasons targeting mature male striped bass. Maryland has proposed to extend non-quota management for its trophy fishery in 2009 and until stock assessment indicates that corrective action is necessary, and Virginia wants to extend its season.
All of these measures will increase fishing mortality on striped bass.
In my opinion they are reckless, and they show no respect for the views of those hardworking Maine guides that are being forced out of business.
Undoubtedly, there seems to be a trend toward killing more bass rather than a move in the other direction.
That’s understandable given the recent stock assessment and the states’ understanding that their anglers want to kill more bass. But I think there’s a large majority of folks that would rather proceed down a precautionary road. One which insures that we have plenty of big fish around in the future. It’s up to these anglers to let their state reps know their wishes. It seems as if the kill-more-fish-now folks are the only ones being listened to at this point, and that has to stop."
Captain John McMurray
http://www.laterallineco.com/blog/ca.../striped-bass/
1 Attachment(s)
A bowl of M&Ms always looks bigger in the middle
Sent by Finchaser. This is the first day of a tourney now going on in Va. I'm happy for the guys who won, I'm sure they're happy. :clapping:
Why should they behave any differently than they have been behaving. There are plenty of bass in Va now, right? It's important to note they didn't break any laws. They were fishing to catch and keep bass as the law allows. There is really nothing to be said about following the laws as written. I want to make it clear that the guys below were only out fishing and trying their best to win a tournament. There is absolutely nothing on the books that suggests any of that shouldn't be happening.
And if a few 50# bass are caught and brought home for dinner, so what? You can always grow more 50s in the ocean right? That's what all those bunker pods are for...for the bass to feed on, right?
How many people saw bunker pod after bunker pod in NJ this year, miles of bunker in the late Spring. No bass under them, for miles. Thousands of bunker with no predators, how could that be? :don't know why:
Bass aren't like Doritos, ya can't just make another 50 when ya take one out of the biomass. It takes a 50 an average of 18-20 years to get to that size.
Here's a weight and length chart to give ya an idea how long it takes bass to get to certain sizes:
Attachment 9113
Results of the tourney, 1st day:
CITATIONS:
STRIPED BASS: 48 lbs. 8 oz. caught by Mickeal Siebert of Highland Springs, VA
STRIPED BASS: 48lbs. 1oz. caught by Nathaniel Weller of Norfolk, VA
STRIPED BASS: 54 lbs. caught by David Strbavy of Aylett, VA
STRIPED BASS: 50 lbs. 2oz. caught by William Hoover of Norfolk, VA on the Gannet
STRIPED BASS: 42 lbs. 9oz. caught by Shawn Shapiro of Norfolk, VA on the Gannet
STRIPED BASS: 42lbs. 14oz. caught by Thomas J. Blanton of Virginia Beach, VA on the Gannet
STRIPED BASS: 40lbs. 5 oz. caught by Edwin J. Keyes of Carrollton, VA on the Top Notch
STRIPED BASS: 44lbs. caught by Matt Temple of Virginia Beach, VA
STRIPED BASS: 48lbs. 8 oz. caught by James P. Morris of Spotsylvania, VA
STRIPED BASS: 47lbs. .85 oz. caught by Troy Johnson of Fredericksburg, VA
STRIPED BASS: 40lbs. 1 oz caught by Jeff Ervine of Roanoke, VA
Will history repeat itself? Lessons from the Moratorium
From the records I read, the Striped Bass Moratorium was put in place in 9-11-84. The stocks had collapsed on a Coastwide basis. There was a noticible lack in the variety of year classes coming in to the rivers to spawn. Here are some links to the Moratorium...
Striped bass Moratorium: Fecundity Studies, YOY Catch data
YOY catch data is the statistical record of fish caught in biologist nets.
These nets are pulled at the same places every year. Great care is taken to make the statistical analysis as scientifically unbiased as possible. If the YOY (Young of the year) numbers are down, it could indicate a problem.
These were some of the first statistical indicators that there was a problem back in the mid 1970's to early 1980's. When YOY indicators declined, the biologists knew there was a problem. However by that time it was too late, and in 1984 the fishery was closed down for the whole East Coast.
We have seen similar poor YOY results for the Chesapeake in 2009 and 2008. Stripers Forever published the findings, and it may be in this thread as well. If anyone wants to post up again, that would be great.