Striper Stocks - Overall Bad News - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

l.i.fish.in.vt · 11-03-2005, 12:07 PM

i the the question is if if striper stocks are healthy then were are the fish?nobody i know seems to be able to find them on a consistant basis, recs as well as commercial. are there that many fish that we as fishermen never see.but than maybe the people i know just don't know how to fish.

Mr. Sandman · 11-03-2005, 12:55 PM

Mako Mike,

The question is: did the ASMFC change the method this year to predict population as Burns cites and if they used last years method would the mortality be deemed "overfished"?

This comment kills me...he has got to go:
Paul Diodati of MA suggested that since the stocks appeared to be healthy, that maybe the stocks could be fished harder than originally thought, and that the overfishing threshold could therefore be raised.

MakoMike · 11-03-2005, 12:58 PM

Sandy,
No question they changed some of the variable that go into the VPA, but that begs the question which is, which methodology is a better estimate of the population. The technical committees of the ASMFC don't have any political axe to grind, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, and say that they thought the changes would produce a better estimate. The peer review will ultimately tell the tale, but even if it supports the TC I don't expect Burns to get down off his soapbox.

Mr. Sandman · 11-03-2005, 01:12 PM

If the over fishing threshold remained .41 and they tweaked the model and it now comes in at .40 where the previous model would predict .6 or more it begs to ask what is the error of the prediction. (All scientific measurements and predictions should have a formal error analysis. Results should some % confidence band.)

Moreover, if that is really the case (they change the model as Burns cites) That implies that in past several years that we have been way over fishing and it appears to me they the formula was conveniently tweaked to meet the sub .41 limit. It does smell a little fishy...

zimmy · 11-03-2005, 01:17 PM

Just based on anecdotal evidence... I grew up vacationing in a little community of cottages on the upper Chesapeake. In the ninety's (starting maybe around 1992) a competition started for biggest fish of the year for people in the cottages. Not alot of big fish in that area of the bay in particular, so 33-34 inches usually won. However, there would be tons of fish in the 24-30" range caught from september until late november. I believe the competition has stopped as the last few years there have been so few fish and the ones they have caught are small (18" is a keeper). Add in phisteria, the bunker problem, water quality issues and the fact that mortality is either 0.4 or 0.6

.

Coastwide 1 fish 24-28" or bust (xcept for Chesapeake and Hudson as they are a bit different).

JohnR · 11-03-2005, 01:57 PM

Simple Fix: Stop looking at bass management as an us -v- them mentality and spread the conservation, slash commercial and recreational takes by 33%, ban netting in known bass transit times/areas (ie Greast South Channel NOW!!!), implement a slot limit, establish 10 year moratoriums of any commercial take of herring / menhaden / mackeral within three miles of coastline. Problem will be fixed in no time, well, 10 years anyway...

Not so simple fix: Everything we do these days...

Justfishin' · 11-03-2005, 03:00 PM

Well said John! All factors have to be weighed to establish what a sustainable fishery should/will be- not just a simple head count. I also agree with everyone that bases their concern on 'feet in the water' observation- something seems amiss, the gamefish and bait seemed kinda scattered this year (when I could get out).

CANAL RAT · 11-03-2005, 03:22 PM

a simple solution MAKE STRIPED BASS A GAMEFISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JoeP · 11-03-2005, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by l.i.fish.in.vt

i the the question is if if striper stocks are healthy then were are the fish?nobody i know seems to be able to find them on a consistant basis, recs as well as commercial. are there that many fish that we as fishermen never see.but than maybe the people i know just don't know how to fish.

While I tend to believe that ASMFC changed its methods to do as Sandman stated - make it "appear" that things are OK when they are really not, I lack a sound factual basis upon which to conclude this.

However, I agree 1000% with John (and Hab's) that from a fisherman's point of view and from the point of view of most of the guys I talk to on occasion things out there in the surf are not as consistent as they should be. This alone leads me to believe there is a problem.