The 48th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby begins tonight, a minute past midnight. The contest is long-awaited, one of the true signs of Vineyard life after the peak of summer.
This year’s month-long contest is the world series of saltwater contests, attracting fishermen from up and down the Atlantic coast. This is the first year since 1984 that the striped bass will be included in the derby that bears its name, along with competitions for bluefish, false albacore and the bonito.
The striped bass, valued not only as a premier game fish but also as a commercial catch, is the subject of a three year, multi-million-dollar study by several federal agencies because of its apparently dwindling population.
The three year joint federal-state study of the striped bass populations in Massachusetts waters will start later this month, according to Francis W. Sargent of Orleans, Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries, Department of Natural Resources. The announcement was made at the annual winter meeting of the Massachusetts Striped Bass Association, held Monday evening at American Legion Hall, Wollaston, where Mr. Sargent was the principle speaker.
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.
Many striped bass fishermen are reporting a poor catch early in the season. The commercial fishery opened June 23. New rules are in place this year with lower daily bag limits and reduced fishing days.
