[Broad Bill]

In the 70's and 80's, the striper stock underwent significant declines due to the massacre of large female spawners by southern states commercial fisheries. Maryland implemented a moratorium from 1985-1989 and Virginia the same in 1989. The biomass immediately bounced back due to increased recruitment levels. My point is twofold. Regardless of what percentage commercial makes up of the fishery which proportionately is about the same today as it was in the 80's, if they focus their harvest on the breeding stock they've proven they can and will do substantial damage to the stock. That's why I posted a few weeks ago that allowing Massachusetts commercial interests to harvest stripers 34" and above is asinine. Second point is the female population of the stock today is three times larger than the 80's and early 90's yet struggles as recruitment is as low as it's been in 50 years. Why? Answer that question and you'll know where to focus management efforts.

Pollution in the Chesapeake, water temperatures in the bay, lower oxygen levels in the Chesapeake, too many bunker being harvested by Omega Protein. In the 80's, there was 50 million lbs. of female breeders in the stock, in 2021 there was over 160 million lbs., don't think numbers of females is the problem as there's more around now than I've seen in my life. We just witnessed that a few weeks ago. Problem is recruitment isn't keeping pace with the exponential growth of large females in the stock and a growing spawning stock population. Question is why?

Personally I don't think large fish mortality from catch and release is the problem, stripers float when dead, maybe not immediately but within a few days when they start to decompose. Anyone seeing substantial amounts of large breeders floating on the surface? Haven't witnessed that myself or heard it to be the case.

The Chesapeake has been turned into a cesspool and we've allowed a foreign owned company to decimate the bunker population which has greatly impacted the bay's ability to support recruitment for multiple species, including stripers.
Fix that problem and you'll fix not only the striper fishery but many others that are being impacted by the exploitation of bunker in the Chesapeake by Virginia, Maryland and one foreign corporation.

You want the ASMFC to make a difference and start managing instead of playing politics, convince Virginia and Maryland to implement measures that are going to bring the bay back and stop treating it as their personal piggy bank by wiping out the bunker population that for years kept the water quality at levels which could sustain strong and sustainable recruitment levels. Push Cooke Inc. / Omega Protein out of the bay, slash their coast wide quota and reassess the situation after three years.

Don't punish recreational anglers, party and charter boat operators by removing a bonus fish, that's not the problem and will accomplish nothing but put another nail in small business coffins when they have absolutely nothing to do with causing the problem the fishery is currently experiencing.