ASMFC Striped bass board winter meeting minutes

[MakoMike]

Originally Posted by WoodyCT

ASMFC bases quota on the number of fish so that maximum catch possible without crashing the stock will occur. Problem is there are many factors they don't include in calculating quota, and even more that are affecting spawning success and recruitment of juveniles that they have no way to factor into their calculations. Why can't you guys leave more than the bare minimum spawning stock biomass swimming and spawning?

Put as politely as I know how, you simply don't know what you are talking about.

The "quota" in terms of any fully recovered stock, which includes striped bass, is targeted at being the Maximum Sustainable yield, also known as MSY. That is the diametric opposite as the bare minimum to avoid crashing the stock. The Bmsy is the amount of fish that would allow the same quota, year after year and maintain the same biomass.

They do take recruitment into account in estimating the population and thus the MSY (or quota). Any factor that they do not take into account in setting this years quota will automatically be taken into account in next year's stock assessment as the stock goes up or down and that will be factored into the the next years quota. If everything was 100% accurate and there was no natural variations they could just set the quota this year and not have to change it as infinitum. It is because of the inherent inaccuracy of the stock assessment (population) and the natural year-to-year variations that they go through the quota setting exercise every year.

[WoodyCT]

Thanks for being polite Mike. I appreciate it.

My concern is that they set the quota, based on MSY as you clarified, but they have no way to quantify losses of spawning stock biomass to 1) disease outbreaks- as is happening now, 2) poaching as the fish are not recorded as mortality, 3) black market commericals- not reported as mortality, 4) recreational catch not reported/recorded, 5) sea herring bycatch not reported as mortality, 6) high grading by unscrupulous recs/comms etc. etc. etc...

With so much unaccounted for mortality how can they possibly determine an amount of biomass, ie quota, that can be removed and still maintain MSY?

I hope you, or someone else, can shed some light on this.