Federal regulators took steps to bring the striped bass population back from the brink last month when the Atlantic State Marine Fisheries Commission voted to approve restrictions on the size of fish recreational fishermen are allowed to keep.

The new regulation makes permanent the emergency actions to protect the striper stock taken by the ASMFC this summer. Recreational fishermen will be restricted to keep one fish a day between 28 and 31 inches during the season.

The commercial striped bass fishing season has ended early in Massachusetts, after the state Division of Marine Fisheries projected the annual quota for the fish was reached last week.

An emergency regulation restricting recreational striped bass fishermen to only keep fish between 28 and 31 inches has been extended through October 2024.

In an effort to protect one of the last large classes of fish now reaching breeding age, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission dropped the recreational maximum keeper size limit for a striped bass from 35 inches to 31.

There is no purer pleasure for anglers on Martha’s Vineyard than the tug on the line of the first striped bass of the season. That first hit in early May or June renews a seasonal relationship that is as old as the Island itself.

Winners of the June 12 event no longer will be the ones who catch and release the most fish, but those who meet the contest quota fastest.

A good fishing partner is as invaluable as a key to the gate at Quansoo.

It was the fall of 1984 and striped bass were in trouble. Along the East Coast, states were beginning to take action.

The venerable saltwater fishing contest entering its 75th year, will eliminate striped bass from the competition this fall.

As striped bass stocks have declined, the debate over how to best manage this prized fish has become more heated.