Wednesday, September 25, 2019

My Comments on Draft Addendum VI

ASMFC's Striped Bass Draft Addendum VI proposes regulations to address the current overfishing of the Atlantic striped bass stock. The public hearing have already taken place in CT and most other states. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend CT's or RI's hearings. The following is my comment on Draft Addendum VI, sent to comments@asmfc.org. I strongly recommend at least briefly reading through the draft addendum before reading this. (Atlantic Striped Bass Draft Addendum VI)

My name is Rowan Lytle. I'm a 22 year old fish addict that never had to see the striped bass population at its worst, but never got to see it at its best either. I've not been striper fishing long. I won't pretend to know all the ins and outs of the fishery. But I do pay as much attention as I can. I talk to people who have been watching far longer than I. And even in the short time I have partaken in this fishery, I have seen the quality diminish. The data supports what I've seen and what the most experienced people I've met say. And I think I can speak for a lot of us in saying that the measures proposed in this draft addendum fall well short of what this fishery need.

Any measure that only results in a 50/50 chance of success is frustrating for us to see. We need to have a much higher standard than that. This commission's only real tangible success was restoring the striped bass stocks after the last big crash. I'd think it wouldn't want to drag its only successfully saved fishery down by implementing measures that are as apt to fail as they are to succeed when the opportunity was there to implement stronger measures.

The only measures proposed by Addendum VI that I support are as follows:

Option 2: Equal 18% percent Reductions of quota on recreational and commercial sectors
Sub-Option 2A-1 -1 fish at 35” for the Coast Ocean Recreational Fishery
Sub-Option 2B-1- 1 Fish at 18” for the Chesapeake Bay
Option 3.2.B Mandatory use of non-offset circle hooks

These measures should go a long way to protecting the strong 2015 year class, but should not be maintained so long that once that year class reaches legal size they then get decimated. With such poor reproductive yields some years and great yields others, keeping the size and limits the same can shift fishing pressure on and off the most important and at-risk stocks within fairly short time spans. I know it's a lot to ask of this extremely slow moving commission, but if regulations don't consistently change in accordance to strong and week year classes and spawning stock biomass, there will be no way of getting out of this population crash without another moratorium. Because fishing pressure is far from the only pressure impacting this species, I don't foresee a way to properly manage these fish for many years to come without changing the regulations periodically.

Also, it is my concern that new regulations will do very little when so many doesn't pay attention to them. Without strong penalties and enforcement, a fish that tastes good and costs a lot at market is going to be severely poached. A state can even go drastically over quota in a given year and not get any sort of push-back whatsoever. That is unfair to us and unfair to the fish, and shows that this commission may as well just be for show. 

Finally, since the mortality of released fish is a clear concern, mandatory circle hooks will help but are not enough. States should at least be strongly encouraged, if not required, to advocate for good, scientifically based fish handling and release practices. Encouraging use of single barbless hooks would also be a very good idea, and I wouldn't be opposed to an outright ban of barbed treble hooks for use on striped bass. Closing mid winter and mid summer seasons would also decrease the number of bass that would expire after being released. Seeing as a number of states already have closed seasons to protect bass at their most vulnerable, this has precedence. 

If I ever have children and even grandchildren, I would very much like to be able to take them to places I've fished for striped bass over the last four years. And I'd very much like to be able to point out a big striper blitz and say "See that? See how beautiful that is? This is better than it was when I was a kid. This is the healthiest this fishery has ever been."
My confidence that I will be able to do that, to see that, wanes every day. 
This is not enough. DO YOUR JOB. Protect this fishery.
Thank you for allowing an avenue to comment on this addendum.

Whether you did or did not go to one of the public hearings, please submit a comment if you care about these fish and want to see this kind of thing at least as often as we get to now:



Submit comments by email to comments@asmfc.org with the subject line "Striped Bass Draft Addendum VI" before 5 pm on October 7th. Thank you.

8 comments:

  1. Really well done commentary RE Stripped bass RM. Thank you!
    Will

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  2. How do you ban certain hook types for striped bass fishing in practice? When I'm trolling my fly, I am at times just as likely to get a bluefish, a striped bass, or a searobin. In fact yesterday caught both bass and bluefish. Same water, fly presentation. Spoon fishing then bring in the black sea bass and the fluke as well, and for a time in the summer the squeteage.

    Just wondering how you would see a barbless or no treble type rule implemented. I also don't understand the circle hook implementation with repsect to other fish in the same water if they are permittted. Is it simply chance? Catch a bass with wrong hook, suffer consequences? So therefore use a bass approved hook for all fish?

    In trout streams it is really simple: the rule goes with the run.

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    1. Either mandatory barbless and/or ban of treble hooks would need to extend to all marine waters in the states in question regardless of target species since only the angler can know what he or she is actually targeting. I'm far less for banning trebles than I am mandatory barbless for this reason. Mandatory barbless hooks for all waters and species does have precedence: It has worked brilliantly in Manitoba, and frankly trebles would do much less damage were they required to be barbless.

      The circle hook implementation is explained in the draft addendum.

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    2. Yes I read that link you gave before reading your letter and saw that. The numbers were quite remarkable. I agree that trebles without barbs. Most of my fishing this year has been on fly but I have used spoons occasionally and when the "harbor" blues were running, a number that I caught with barbed trebles had to be kept (I typically keep them anyway as I like eating them). Eye damage, messy extractions from skull etc. There's no doubt that a single barbless hook is way less mortal than a triple barb.
      The other interesting thing was the what -- 8 or 9% mortality figure for released bass. That was aggregate. Good question would be where flyfishing release is versus bait fishing release.

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    3. Those numbers aren't unlikely to be skewed, they come from studies with a pretty limited reach. They have been weaponized to attack fly and light tackle anglers. Here's the bottom line:
      ANY method has the potential to be a big player in high release mortality if in the wrong hands.
      Fly and light tackle can lead to fish being fought to exhaustion if proper fighting strategies are not used.
      Bait fishing can lead to gut hooked fish that die as a result.
      Heavy tackle in very deep water can lead to fish dying of barotrauma.
      Regardless of tackle or fishing method, poor handling on the bank or on the boat can result in mortality.

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  3. Good info Rowan. Tie, fish, write, CONSERVE and photo on...

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