JCAA claims striped bass are NOT overfished or down in numbers...
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ASMFS Striped Bass Board Delays Action
on Addendum to Striped Bass Plan
On Monday, August 1st the Atlantic States Striped Bass Board decided to postpone action on an addendum to the Striped Bass Management Plan. There were only two states opposed to this postponement. No action if any will be taken on this addendum until the November ASMFC Annual Meeting.
If this addendum had been put in place, there would have been public hearings on a draft addendum that could have reduced the harvest of striped bass by up to 40%. By delaying the implementation, we will have the information from the turnkey stock assessment that will be completed in September. With this new information, ASMFC will review the stock assessment and determine if any action is warranted.
Tom Fote, New Jersey's Governor's Appointee, pointed out that over the years we have frequently jumped the gun and proposed addendums that have later been proven unnecessary. The best example is the 1999 addendum that called for a reduction of catch in the older year classes of striped bass. New Jersey's legislature passed legislation to change the regulations to comply. The fishermen in New Jersey liked the new regulations which created a slot fish. Two years later ASMFC decided there was no problem with older year classes and forced New Jersey to change the regulation with new legislation. This did not make our Governor or our Legislature happy.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service along with all but two of the states agreed that decisions should be made on latest science available. This means a delay until appropriate and reliable science proves the need for action.
The ASMFC included a statement in their draft document that justified the option of the reducing the striped bass catch on their interpretation of data suggesting that recruitment of the juvenile index in the spawning areas were down. Commissioner Fote pointed out that a table on page 14 indicated that in 2007 the Hudson River stocks had the highest juvenile index on record. In 2009 the Delaware River stocks had the third highest juvenile index on record. This data also shows that in the preceding years we have been above the average in both the Hudson and Delaware River. These charts also point out that the Maryland's JAI is close to average and Virginia's JAI is above average.
Below is information from the ASMFC draft addendum. This information shows that we are well below the targets that would require an addendum. It also indicates when new data will be available.
The SCA model estimated the 2008 fishing mortality rate on age 8-11 fish as F=0.21, which is well below the fishing mortality threshold and target levels of 0.34 and 0.30, respectively. Based on the proportion of total removals by recreational and commercial sectors in 2008, the F for age 8+ fish from the recreational fishery is 0.18 and from the commercial fishery is 0.03. Similarly, the F for ages 3-8 striped bass is 0.16 from the recreational fishery and 0.06 from the commercial fishery. Tag-based estimates of fishing mortality for striped bass 28 inches and greater along the coast and in the Hudson River, Delaware Bay, and Chesapeake Bay are all 0.20 or less in 2008. The next stock assessment update will be presented to the Striped Bass Management Board in November 2011. A benchmark assessment is scheduled for 2013.
Figure 3. Estimated female spawning stock biomass (SSB), total abundance, and recruitment (age-1 abundance) of striped bass, from the 2009 statistical catch-at-age model. Source: ASMFC 2009 Striped Bass Stock Assessment Update.
7 See the 2009 Stock Assessment for Atlantic Striped Bass (ASMFC, 2009, Washington, DC, 281 p.), available by clicking here.
Jersey Coast Anglers Association has been relentless in requiring the use of reliable science to make fisheries management decisions. Black sea bass and scup, which are recovered and not overfished and overfishing is not taking place, have been held to quotas that treat these species as though they are overfished, overfishing is taking place and are not recovered. Striped bass had one of the best data sets of any species on the Atlantic Coast. We need to make sure decisions for striped bass are made on the benchmark stock assessment and not on the whim of the managers.
Jersey Coast has been concerned about the harvest of the forage species and the water quality in the Chesapeake Bay. According to the study below, the problem continues and the disease is spreading to a large majority of the Chesapeake. Some of the research is concluding the reason the fish are so susceptible is there is not enough forage to keep them healthy. The underlying problem is we are fishing down the food chain and need to address this. The statement below
Additionally, research indicates that non-fishing mortality in Chesapeake Bay striped bass has increased significantly since 1999 (Jiang et al. 2007). Draft Document for Board Review. Mycobacteriosis, a bacterial disease currently infecting greater than 50% of the resident Chesapeake Bay striped bass, is associated with this increased mortality.
Jersey Coast Anglers Association supports the action of the Board to wait until we have an updated stock assessment. JCAA believes that we should wait until the Benchmark Assessment since that will be a peer review. This would give the Atlantic States Striped Bass Board the best science to make an informed decision on how to manage the striped bass stock. JCAA is truly concerned about the fishing down of the forage species. Part of the concern of the health of the Chesapeake striped bass stock is the lack of menhaden in the bay. The ASMFC needs to address the ecosystem problem dealing with forage species and the stocks that depend on healthy stocks of all forage species.
