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Old 12-16-2024, 06:08 PM
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Default Dec 16th ASMFC Striper Meeting Recap

Some notes on today's ASMFC Striped Bass Meeting.

WARNING…. This is a lengthy post so if you want to get to the bottom line you can skip down to the bottom but I feel it’s important for everyone to take some time and read the details so you can understand why and how these decisions were made and how they were influenced.

This is my understanding of where things are as of now and there will be more future meetings to make final decisions, get the state and regions inputs and seek public comments.

I first have to say the Commission and staff did a terrific job running the meeting. Number of public attendance varied but looked like it settled in around 560 participants on the webinar.

They spent a good amount of time reviewing the data and some good news is based on the most recent updated information, the 2024 harvest estimates came down with the remainder of the 2024 data to come. As a result of that news and other considerations the Committee is now suggesting a 9% instead of the original 14% recreational harvest reduction.

I was particularly thrilled to see how much time and consideration was given to over 4000 public comments. Seems to me that these meetings have become a lot more transparent. I think this is due in large part to these meetings being done via webinar. It allows for more public access, participation and involvement all of which leads to the Committee taking more into account the will of the people.

It was great to see that NJ came out in numbers in terms of comments stating opposition to closings in Nov and December since it was our peak season. I think we were the only state that made a separate line item in public comments slides so great job submitting your comments! I think we got our point across about the inequity of these closures since the original proposals had the same dates in fisheries throughout a region while the local fisheries vary with seasonality.

As a result it now sounds like there is going to be a path for flexibility and individual states and regions can provide input on what measures they would take to achieve the reduction pending the Commission's approval. This is how it should be because the closer decisions are made to the people they affect the better and once again, the Committee took the public comments into consideration.

Of the public comments made 2653 supported taking some type of reduction while 517 supported no action being taken so this sent a clear message to the Committee that most are committed to protect this important resource.

There were a lot of lively discussions about how hurried these decisions are being made because of the tight timelines. The major concerns being how quickly the data had to be reviewed and interpreted and assumptions applied and not knowing what the results of the recent emergency action was having on the fishery.

I am most proud of our own Adam Nowalsky, one of NJs representatives on the ASFMC Striped Bass Board. He was very vocal in supporting the recreational interests and was opposed to some of the motions being made which would have reduced the reductions on the commercial side. I’ve known Adam for 25 plus years now. I always appreciated his candor, educating me on the fisheries and how the management process works. Most importantly his dedication and energy to serve us and balancing our interests with the state of the fisheries.

Adam was also the one out of 65 ASFMC Striped Bass board members that had the courage, intellect, respect and influence to introduce and have the board pass an addendum to postpone these important decisions. This gives the time needed to do a better job analyzing the data and be able to understand the effects of the recent emergency measures taken earlier in 2024. It also takes the time to make a more informed decision going forward rather than the knee jerk reactions we're used to...

Job well done Adam! You are one of the shining lights that combines intellect with critical thinking and reason into the process. Thank you for your service and dedication!

For those of you who don’t like to read and skipped to the bottom, as it is now, our regs will remain the same through 2025. Any changes will be decided in December of 2025 when which will take effect in 2026 once all this settles in.

Shew.... That was a mouthful and time to get into Chirstmas mode!
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Old 12-16-2024, 07:25 PM
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Old 12-16-2024, 11:11 PM
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Default Re: Dec 16th ASMFC Striper Meeting Recap

So let me get this straight…….the reduction went from 14% to 9%. 2 seperate meetings, one lasting 4 hours, along with 4000 public responses AND the final result was NOTHING was changed?

What am I missing here?
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Old 12-17-2024, 01:52 AM
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Default Re: Dec 16th ASMFC Striper Meeting Recap

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Originally Posted by Duffman View Post
So let me get this straight…….the reduction went from 14% to 9%. 2 seperate meetings, one lasting 4 hours, along with 4000 public responses AND the final result was NOTHING was changed?

What am I missing here?

Maybe someone had to explain how release mortality went from 9 percent to 39% in what was actually held against us in the same document they presented .

In Order for a third of our quota to be from released bass , you would have had to CR 4 times as many fish as what was kept
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Last edited by hammer4reel; 12-17-2024 at 02:01 AM..
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Old 12-17-2024, 09:04 AM
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Default Re: Dec 16th ASMFC Striper Meeting Recap

Quote:
Originally Posted by Duffman View Post
So let me get this straight…….the reduction went from 14% to 9%. 2 seperate meetings, one lasting 4 hours, along with 4000 public responses AND the final result was NOTHING was changed?

What am I missing here?
The regulation changes along with the data will be reviewed in 2025 for implementation in 2026.

Yes the meetings are long but this is something you don’t want to rush through. We also don’t want the ASMFC making last minute knee jerk, unilateral decisions in a vacuum. Now that the regions and states have been given some flexibility on how and when they that want to achieve their reductions, that’s going to take time as well.
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Last edited by Gerry Zagorski; 12-17-2024 at 09:43 AM..
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Old 12-17-2024, 09:53 AM
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Default Re: Dec 16th ASMFC Striper Meeting Recap

I just put the Pirate flag order on hold till next year.......
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Old 12-17-2024, 09:55 AM
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Default Re: Dec 16th ASMFC Striper Meeting Recap

Quote:
Originally Posted by hammer4reel View Post
Maybe someone had to explain how release mortality went from 9 percent to 39% in what was actually held against us in the same document they presented .

In Order for a third of our quota to be from released bass , you would have had to CR 4 times as many fish as what was kept
Dan you're right on the money with your comments. If you look at the 2024 stock assessment there was just shy of 6 million fish making up the entire recreational and commercial catch which captures both harvest and discard mortality. About 2.4 million of those fish are categorized as recreational catch and release mortality. The last year, our recreational statistics are almost 50/50 harvest and discard mortality which there's simply no data or reason to support that conclusion. If there were 2.4 million stripers killed from catch and release, we'd have striped bass washing ashore all over our beaches and you'd see floaters up and down the coast which is simply not the case. The more we address prudent fishing with circle hooks and the discontinuance of treble hooks using bait, catch and release percentages have actually increased. I'd love to have one person from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center "NEFSC" or National Marine Fishery Service "NMFS" explain how they arrived at discard mortality as they truly have no clue at all. It's a number they arbitrarily make up to restrict recreational catch.

Last edited by Broad Bill; 12-17-2024 at 10:50 AM..
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Old 12-17-2024, 10:39 AM
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Lightbulb Re: Dec 16th ASMFC Striper Meeting Recap

Chesapeake bay is a garbage dump.

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Old 12-17-2024, 05:42 PM
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Default Re: Dec 16th ASMFC Striper Meeting Recap

Quote:
Originally Posted by hammer4reel View Post
Maybe someone had to explain how release mortality went from 9 percent to 39% in what was actually held against us in the same document they presented .

In Order for a third of our quota to be from released bass , you would have had to CR 4 times as many fish as what was kept
Agreed and been saying the same thing on Fluke for years, proposed mortality rates are overinflated and not the rule but an exception of the rule.
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Old 12-17-2024, 06:17 PM
Broad Bill Broad Bill is offline
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Default Re: Dec 16th ASMFC Striper Meeting Recap

Posted a reply earlier and deleted it so as to not include names. Why would any of us believe ASMFC, MAMFC or the State of Virginia will do anything to change a problem they themselves created causing a 42% decline in the summer flounder quota for 2024 and 2025 and a potential moratorium in the striper fishery.

We've all worked throughout our lives. How many chances does an employee, executive or in this case agency or members get before realizing the problem is the agencies and members themselves. Government is the only institution where you actually get recognized and promoted for failing.

Everyone of these institutions are as corrupt as they get and now we're expected to applaud the same people for kicking the proverbial can down the street for yet again another two years before addressing the problem and implementing remedial measures before it's too late. And what happens over that two year window with the unabated exploitation of menhaden in the Chesapeake by Cooke Inc. while corrupt Virginia politicians and businesses get filthy rich.

Yesterday's ruling, in my opinion, is symptomatic of the systemic failure of the process, completely ignored the problems facing the fishery and constitutes business as usual which all but guarantees continued failure within these stocks. All lip service and no substantive action, no different than the BS we've endured the last twenty or more years. The powers to be are deferring the problem so in 2026 we'll be looking at a full season closure as opposed to two months and forget about summer flounder because all these younger age class fish we saw this year won't be making an appearance next year as they're being killed by year round offshore commercial operations throughout the winter.

I'd refrain from accolades to any individual whose been involved for years in the decision making process causing these catastrophic problems until changes are made to actually protect and grow these fisheries. You want to fix the striper fishery, focus your efforts on managing the attached graph and stop harvesting the big female breeders. You want to fix the summer flounder problem, protect the fall spawn and provide protection to the spawning stock. Stop making decisions which favor the commercial sector and start making decisions which benefit the stock.
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Last edited by Broad Bill; 12-18-2024 at 09:04 AM..
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