Tag Archives: striped-bass
The Case of the Poisoned Fish, by Sidney B. Silverman
In the mid-1980s, East Hampton’s summer and year-round weekend population was growing rapidly. The demand for water views in particular was enormous, and the seemingly endless construction of new homes along the shoreline caused wastewater and other pollutants to run off into the bays. The contaminants made their way into clam and scallop beds; at least two lucrative fishing areas were damaged. The death knell for commercial fishing sounded when striped bass became contaminated by PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls, and in 1986 New York State, citing health reasons, closed the bass fishery. Fishermen called the striped bass their “money fish,” providing what small profit they made each year; the other catches only covered overhead. General Electric was the cause of the contamination. It operated several plants adjacent to the Hudson River in upstate New York. The plants manufactured transformers and capacitors, using PCBs, a chemically stable, nonflammable fluid and a suspected carcinogen, for insulation. In handling this chemical, G.E. was sloppy to the point of recklessness. Read the story here 17:54
Two Maryland fishermen banned from fishing for striped bass forever
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources said that Michael D. Hayden Jr. and William J. Lednum, both of Tilghman Island, have received lifetime revocations of their striped bass privileges and have been suspended from all commercial fishing activity for the next year, followed by a four-year probationary period in all other fisheries. Their striped bass allocations are being returned to the commercial fishery allotment. In simpler terms, the two men were convicted of poaching and selling nearly $500,000 of striped bass over four years and have received lifetime bans from taking part in that fishery. Hayden and Lednum remain responsible for $498,000 in court-ordered restitution to the state of Maryland. Read the rest here 13:23:08
Baby Salmon being devoured by predators – We’re spending millions to feed the fish!
It’s a quiet, damp Friday at the Feather River Fish Hatchery and not much is happening above the surface. The buildings where they spawn the adult salmon in the fall are all empty. Outside, two workers amble down the long concrete ponds in waders, fixing things here and there. There are no visitors except one, a journalist there to pay his last respects. Below the surface are millions of baby salmon. They fill the raceways, getting fat on free chow so that they can be released in the river any day now — and be devoured by predators. The predators are striped bass, a non-native species that lives very comfortably in the river downstream. If you read Friday’s fish report with religious fervor like I do, you’ll notice that fishing for stripers in the Feather River has been amazing recently because the hatchery is slowly releasing salmon smolt into the river. It’s like ringing a dinner bell for the stripers. Read the story here 07:50
Fin Clipping – R.I. Adopts Laws to Curb Illegal Sale of Striped Bass
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) recently enacted new regulations to help prevent the illegal harvest and sale of Atlantic striped bass. The new rules, outlined in Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Regulations, Part XII Striped Bass, require recreational anglers to clip the right pectoral fin of striped bass 34 inches or larger at the time of harvest; fish with a missing right pectoral fin can’t be sold commercially in Rhode Island. DEM said the new regulations, adopted following considerable public input, will help prevent “stockpiling,” which occurs when fish are harvested on a day closed to commercial fishing and then offered for sale on an open day. The new regulations also address fish being illegally transported and sold in neighboring states, according to DEM. Read the rest here 09:00
N.J. rec fisherman “Johnny Bucktail” faces wave of anger after fish tossing video goes viral
A Monmouth County fisherman is facing a firestorm of criticism — mostly from fellow fishermen — for a video he posted online showing him tossing numerous motionless fish overboard. The video, posted Monday to Facebook and Youtube and which you can see above, shows John Contello of Hazlet on board his father’s 37-foot Sea Hunter boasting of the number of striped bass being caught as he looks down on a pile of fish in the back of his boat. He then proceeds to throw two of them through the air and back into the water. Commenters attacked like sharks. Video, read the rest here 10:41
Feds may ease fish population goals for non native, salmon eating Striped Bass
A still-controversial 1992 law intended to boost California’s striped bass population can be scaled back, the Obama administration now believes. In a modest softening of the state’s polarized water debate, a top Interior Department official voiced sympathy Wednesday for a Republican-authored bill that would end the 1992 law’s stated goal of doubling the number of striped bass living in and around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. “It makes sense to remove the striped bass from the doubling goals,” said Tom Iseman, deputy assistant secretary for water and science, adding that “the striped bass is a predator of native species.” Read the rest here 09:30
Fish cops issue striped bass warning
Federal fishing officials are warning anglers and commercial fishermen it is illegal to catch striped bass in waters outside three miles. The ban on catching stripers is in an area called the “Exclusive Economic Zone,” or EEZ, which runs from 3 to 200 miles offshore and is under federal jurisdiction. The ban, which dates back to 1990, is not in place in state waters that are inside three miles. In recent years the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement has teamed up with the U.S. Coast Guard and state agencies to,,, Read the article here 15:12
Should the striped bass be named the U.S. national fish?
The bald eagle has long flown as the national bird of the United States. The oak stands strong and proud as out national tree. Do we now need a national fish to add to our list of national symbols? Legislation in Congress would officially designate the striped bass as the National Fish of the United States. Freshman Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-New Jersey) would make a name for himself if the bill he passes becomes law. Read the rest here 10:10
Rules Aimed at Protecting Striped Bass Will Hold
DMF director Paul Diodati is expected to recommend a final plan to the state marine fisheries advisory council on Tuesday. He said one concern during the public hearings this year and at the winter meeting was that widely varying regulations would reduce the likelihood of achieving the reduction goal. Read the rest here 12:45
12 Eastern Carolina commercial fishermen charged with illegally harvesting and selling Atlantic Striped Bass
Thirteen commercial fishermen in North Carolina and Georgia have been charged in federal court in Raleigh for their role in the illegal harvest and sale and false reporting of approximately 90,000 pounds of Atlantic striped bass from federal waters off the coast of North Carolina during 2009 and 2010, according to the . This investigation began as a result of the U.S. Coast Guard boarding of the fishing vessel Lady Samaira in February 2010, based on a complaint that multiple vessels were fishing Striped Bass illegally. Read the rest here 09:05
CHATHAM: Striped Bass Regulations Okay with Local Commercial Fishermen
While the new regulations will have an impact on supply and demand of striped bass, one local fishing official (?) says the regulations needed to be put in place. “It’s a good move. iT had to be done,” said Ray Kane, outreach coordinator for the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance. “Commercial fishermen realize it has to be done.” Read the rest here 07:59
ASMFC approves 25 percent cut in striped bass harvest
The changes will require a 25 percent reduction in the Massachusetts commercial quota and a reduction in the recreational bag limit from two fish per day at 28 inches to one fish at 28 inches, or a plan that results in a similar 25 percent reduction in the recreational harvest. The 2014 Massachusetts commercial striped bass fishing quota was 1,155,100 pounds. The season closed following a reported harvest of 1,128,337 pounds. Read the rest here 10:03
Drop In Female Striped Bass Prompts 25 Percent Catch Cutback
But the biggest dollar loss will be felt by commercial watermen. “It’s going to be a pretty significant hit for the commercial guys. Twenty percent, you’re talking about several hundred thousand pounds,” O’Connell said. That’s fish that will go unharvested and unsold. Read the rest here 11:06
Conservative regulations likely even though striped bass spawning stock is up
Last week the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced that the 2014 juvenile index which measures striped bass spawning success in Chesapeake Bay is 11.0, nearly equal to the 61-year average which is a big improvement from recent years,,,Striped bass from the Chesapeake Bay area migrate north to Rhode Island and as far as Maine,,, Read more here 19:14
Plans weighed to bolster striped bass population – stock is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring
Fewer striped bass would be fished from local waters as soon as next year under a series of options being considered by federal fisheries regulators that seek to sustain a vital coastal species that has seen a 20 percent harvest decline since 2008. Read more here 10:14
New, more restrictive regulations sought for bass fishing
Many anglers and conservation groups are putting pressure on fish managers to tighten limits on recreational and commercial fishing of striped bass. <Read more here> 18:43
Fisheries panel could limit rockfish catch in three year phase-in
Cutbacks would affect all sectors of the fishery — commercial, charter and recreational — and could include limiting the number of fish or pounds commercial fishermen could take, and jiggering the number or weight of individual fish taken by charter or recreational fishermen. Read more here 13:51
New rockfish catch limits eyed
Worried by recent declines in the numbers of Maryland’s state fish, Atlantic states fisheries regulators are weighing slashing the annual striped bass catch by up to one-third next year all along the East Coast and in the Chesapeake Bay. “It’s called being regulated out of business,” said Robert T. Brown Sr., president of the Maryland Watermen’s Association. He contended that “there’s no shortage of fish.” Read more here 21:25
Saving Striped Bass (It sounds so dramatic!)
By June, the fish will be racing through these waters on the way to coastal New England as part of their northern migration, a biological spectacle akin to the movement of salmon on the West Coast. But with the striped bass population in decline, competition for the prized catch has intensified between recreational and commercial fishermen, setting up a showdown over a fishery that generates, according to one study, several billion dollars a year. Read more here
Worried about the Cape’s striped bass? Look in the mirror. – A call for anglers’ self-regulation
Once again this summer, a striped bass honey hole off the coast of Chatham will make it difficult for Capegoers to appreciate the severity of the species’ overall decline. Since 2009, the Eastern Seaboard’s most prized game fish has arrived to these waters in droves. No doubt, recreational fishermen, myself included, have taken advantage. capecodtimes Read more here 10:26
The Cape Cod Fisherman – About time…
It’s been 19 yrs since the NMFS/ASMFC said striped bass were restored and the moratorium on a directed fishery was lifted here in MA. Since then a fishery has developed, which is unlike almost any other, anywhere. At first, the majority of fishermen, were already fishing for other things, like fluke, back sea bass, tuna, cod etc. The striped bass fishery has remained at a fairly large quota, while we’ve seen the quota’s (and abundance) for other fisheries shrink. Now, in 2014, 19 yrs – Read more here 09:37
Striped bass died by the hundreds in Blackhall River – Old Lyme fish kill blamed on cold snap
Old Lyme – On the banks of the Blackhall River near low tide, dozens of lifeless striped bass lie helter-skelter amid the mud and marsh grass, their metallic patterned sides still luminous. Read more@theday 10:52
CCA Maryland: Don’t increase harvest of striped bass
“As you are undoubtedly aware, the 2013 striped bass stock assessment projects declines in the spawning stock biomass,” the letter read. “CCA Maryland is intensely concerned by these projections and uncertainties and find them particularly troubling in light of the fact that 2011 was the only relatively strong spawning year Maryland has recorded out of the last six.” more@somdnews 05:19
Striped Bass In Trouble, It’s Time For Recreational Anglers To Drastically Limit Their Catch
In his book, “The Founding Fish,” John McPhee makes the argument that the American shad, given its role in our nation’s history is indeed “America’s fish” (the little fish makes Forrest Gump-like cameos alongside George Washington, George Pickett and John Wilkes Booth). [email protected] 12:26
Rules on striped bass fishing could become tougher
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission announced last week that the female spawning stock biomass for Atlantic striped bass has continued to decline since 2004 and is estimated at 128 million pounds, about 31 million pounds below the target, although overfishing is not to blame. [email protected] 19:39
Watermen Say Striped Bass to Blame for Low Crab Numbers
A picture circulating the Internet since the first weekend of November shows a striped bass cut open with roughly 20 small crabs spilling out of it. Watermen that spoke with WBOC said this is not a freak occurrence. director of DNR’s blue crab program – no scientific data to support a supposition that Striped Bass predation is causing a significant depletion of . more@wboc 14:54
Striped Bass Spawning in Chesapeake Bay Still Below Average
The state of Maryland has released the annual young of the year index for striped bass, and while the number is better than last year, it is still well below the 60-year average.The index measures how well striped bass spawn each year in the Chesapeake Bay. Numbers were released on Friday by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. more@vineyardgazette 15:33
Petition Calls for Drastic Cuts to Striped Bass Fishing Limits
In recent years both commercial and recreational fishermen on the Vineyard, as well as along the eastern seaboard, have noted a decline in the abundance of striped bass. Scientists are also reporting a decline, but the threshhold isn’t yet low enough for fisheries managers to limit fishing. Those who signed the petition believe it is time to cut the fishing effort this year before it gets worse. continued
VIMS finds an ‘off’ year for rockfish
Juvenile striped bass, or rockfish, made a poor showing in Virginia waters this year, but researchers said it’s likely only a natural variability in recruitment and no cause for alarm.http://articles.dailypress.com/2012-11-09/news/dp-nws-bad-year-bass-20121109_1_striped-bass-vims-number-of-young-fish
ASMFC says Striped Bass on a downward trend – Watermen comment on proposed options
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