The perceived decline in striped bass stocks was underscored by a report out of Maryland last month that shows fewer young fish than last year in Chesapeake Bay, the place where stripers spawn.

The annual young-of-the-year index for striped bass released by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources is 5.6, well below the average of 11.6. Last year, the index was 7.87; in 2008 it fell to 3.20. In 2007 the index was 13.39.

The young-of-the-year index is considered a barometer on the health of striped bass, which spawn in the spring each year.

Nevertheless, fisheries managers say there is no need to be concerned. A statement issued by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources said: “While this is the third consecutive year of below average striped bass production in Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay, the population remains above the management action trigger set by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.”

It takes a striped bass at least six years to grow to 28 inches, the minimum size for taking. It takes up to 10 years for the fish to reach sexual maturity.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission oversees the management of striped bass in Maryland and other coastal states. Fisheries managers with the commission are now considering raising the commercial limits for next year.

“The index is below average, but it is not at the level one would define as a recruitment failure,” said Nichola Meserve, a striped bass fisheries management plan coordinator for the regional commission.

On Tuesday the striped bass management board will meet in Charleston, S.C., to consider whether to relax commercial striped bass fishing rules in the region by increasing quotas. The board is considering raising the commercial quota for the coming year because it believes stocks are improving. The commission recently held a public hearing to gather comment on the proposal.

Miss Meserve said fisheries managers believe that striped bass populations are healthy and are not being overfished. But she said the most recent index will be examined carefully before a decision is made.

Thomas O’Connell, director of the Maryland Fisheries Service, agreed. ”We are carefully monitoring the juvenile striped bass situation,” he said. “As stewards of the primary nursery area for Atlantic striped bass, it is our responsibility to protect this essential habitat and work with our state and federal partners along the Atlantic coast to ensure that spawning striped bass are adequately protected, and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission management benchmarks continue to be achieved.”

Vineyard fishermen have markedly different views about the state of the striped bass fishery.

“It is beginning to scare the hell out of me,” said Cooper A. Gilkes 3rd, who runs a tackle shop in Edgartown. Each spring, Mr. Gilkes and other anglers watch for the first arrival of the juvenile striped bass, and what they have been seeing in recent years has been a source of worry. “We haven’t had a worm hatch with young fish. We haven’t seen this in four years, so to me there is a hole. That hole is getting bigger and bigger,” Mr. Gilkes said.

Earlier this year a bill was filed in the Massachusetts legislature to make striped bass a game fish only. The bill failed, but was backed by fishermen from Massachusetts to Maine who have observed declines in striped bass.

This summer there was no shortage of striped bass off Chatham, where a large portion of the state’s 1.1 million-pound quota was taken in August. And Massachusetts commercial fishermen overshot their quota by 108.7 per cent, landing 1.2 million pounds of striped bass.

But for Vineyard commercial fishermen, this was one of the worst striped bass seasons in recent memory. Alec Gale, who operates a business shipping the striped bass caught by local fishermen, said the summer was the worst he’d seen.

The number of bass caught was down this year in the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. In this year’s fall derby, 2,700 fishermen caught 384 striped bass. Last year, the number was 423, and that was considered low.

“Why is it I can go fishing for striped bass during the spring derby and find so few stripers? Yet, they keep telling me everything is fine. It boggles my mind,” Mr. Gilkes said.

Steve Purcell, owner of Larry’s Tackle Shop, echoed Mr. Gilkes’s concerns. “I am a charter fishing captain and every year it gets worse and worse,” he said. “It is harder to catch fish. You still have those good days and an occasional blitz. Some catch fish better than others. But it started in July. You couldn’t catch a striped bass. None were caught in Edgartown. Beaches were good at night, but boat fishing was bad. There has definitely been a steady decline. I am watching it every year.”

Mr. Gilkes had a suggestion. “I would like everyone to get together. I don’t care about whether it is commercial or recreational. I would like everyone to get together and slow it down. The indications are there,” he said, adding: “Somebody is wrong.”