Aiming for more uniform management of striped bass fisheries along the Atlantic coast, the state Division of Marine Fisheries will not seek an alternative to new regulations that were approved last year by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
In response to high mortality rates among striped bass in 2012, the ASMFC approved a 25 per cent reduction in commercial quotas and a reduction in the recreational daily catch limit from two to one fish. The goal was to reduce juvenile mortality by 25 per cent in a little more than a year. States were then allowed to propose alternatives, or conservation equivalencies, as long as they met the same reduction goal.
During public hearings in January, including one in Tisbury, the DMF presented two alternatives calling for increased size and catch limits for charter fishermen. Both were approved last week at the ASMFC’s winter meeting in Alexandria, Va., along with all of the proposals by other states and jurisdictions. Only New Hampshire, North Carolina and Washington D.C. did not propose alternatives to the original regulation.
DMF director Paul Diodati is expected to recommend a final plan to the state marine fisheries advisory council on Tuesday. He said one concern during the public hearings this year and at the winter meeting was that widely varying regulations would reduce the likelihood of achieving the reduction goal.
“The more equivalencies, the more difficult to evaluate conditions in the fishery,” he said, adding that more complex regulations would be harder to understand. “All of these things play into lowering your success rate.”
Most of the public comments last year supported the unaltered regulation. People doubted the ability to analyze the alternatives, and foresaw easier enforcement of the original rule. Other concerns related to the proposed allowances for charter fishermen, since not all anglers would be able to afford that option, and more people might pursue for-hire permits, undermining the regulations.
The DMF does not plan to recommend either of the alternatives for Massachusetts.
DMF deputy director Daniel McKiernan said consistency has been a concern for all of the ASMFC member states. “The feeling was that if the rules are consistent and they are clear and understandable, you get better compliance, and assessment could be improved,” he said. He added that because striped bass are a migratory species, it can be challenging to understand the effects of each jurisdiction.
The ASMFC striped bass management board has recommended that given the wide range of proposals, neighboring states should work together to manage their fisheries.
“Where the regulations are consistent, the compliance and enforcement is expected to be seamless,” Mr. McKiernan wrote in an email. “Where they differ it will be more challenging.” But he added that it will likely be a few weeks before the DMF knows which states will be adopting an alternative.
To address the problem of stockpiling during the commercial season, Mr. Diodati is recommending a new requirement that commercial fishermen remove the right pectoral fin of each striped bass 34 inches or greater on days when fishing is not allowed. The recommendation was inspired by a similar rule for the Alaska salmon fishery that helps distinguish between subsistence and commercial catches. Striped bass without a right pectoral fin would be prohibited from entering the marketplace.
If approved, the new regulations will be ratified by the secretary of the state, with all measures in place by the start of the 2015 fishing seasons.
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