By the end of the day Monday, the first day of the commercial striped bass season, the Menemsha Fish House had brought in 297 filleted pounds of the elusive — and profitable — fish.
A recent stock assessment for the Atlantic striped bass has concluded that stripers are overfished, prompting renewed discussion about management efforts.
The first hint of spring weather drew visitors in considerable numbers to the newly constructed Tashmoo Creek at Vineyard Haven, where the firm Turner and Breivogel is making the waterway which will turn the lower half of Lake Tashmoo into an arm of the sea. Although plans of the creek were drawn before the opening was votes, and these plans have been available to anyone, the appearance of the creek, as it begins to take shape, exceeds by far the popular conception of what it was to be.
As striped bass begin their annual to migration to the Chesapeake Bay, fishermen can look forward to another few years of decent fishing. But a sudden drop in the number of juveniles in 2012 will eventually reverberate up the coast.
Three years have passed since the publication of the book, The Mortal Sea, but its impact continues. The 378-page history of the dramatic decline of fish in the western Atlantic took 10 years of investigative work to write.
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 approved last year by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
New regulations aimed at increasing the coastwide population of striped bass have been approved by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. The rules will reduce recreational catch limits by half and commercial quotas by 25 per cent.
New regulations aimed at curbing mortality rates among striped bass are focusing on the larger, spawning females whose numbers have fallen in recent years. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is collecting comment.
Tighter conservation measures for striped bass are on the table for discussion this month. A weeklong series of public hearings in Massachusetts begins today on Nantucket on a plan to lower catch limits for recreational and commercial fishermen next year.
