The Slow-Motion Collapse of Striped Bass Populations Along the East Coast

[TheAnglingReport]

Hi Everyone. I wanted to post the full text of an article from the March issue of The Angling Report newsletter. Feel free to agree or disagree. You can checkout the article on our website here:
http://anglingreport.com/article/3444/

And visit Stripers Forever by going here: https://www.stripersforever.org/about-us/

"The slow-motion collapse of striped bass populations along the East Coast of the United States continues apace, according to a new press release from Stripers Forever. The destruction of this resource in the face of overwhelming evidence about what is happening is somewhere between sad and infuriating. Does government in the United States at any level work anymore? The release reads as follows: “The great majority of the anglers from North Carolina to Maine, responding to the 13th annual fishing survey taken by Stripers Forever, reported catching fewer and smaller striped bass in 2015, reflecting a continuing downward trend in the quality of and thus angler interest in the fishery on the Atlantic Coast. Fully 84 percent of the 2015 survey respondents described the striper fishery as ‘worse or much worse’ than in previous years, says Brad Burns, president of Stripers Forever, a conservation organization advocating game fish status for stripers by ending the commercial fishery and managing the species coastwide for recreational fishing. The survey results also show a participation decline in the striper fishery for the second consecutive year which negatively affects guides, tackle businesses and fishing tourism. “‘It seems evident that most of the older, larger prime breeding fish from the great spawning year classes of the 1990’s and early 2000’s have been removed from the striped bass population,’ Burns continued. ‘The striper biomass is now considerably smaller as a result of the poor to mediocre year classes that have generally characterized the fishery since 2003. And it is important to note that almost 85 percent of the survey respondents said that the 2011 year class—highly touted by the Atlantic States Marine Fishery Committee which manages the striped bass fishery—has not produced nearly as many surviving small schoolie-size stripers as expected. A clear majority of anglers responding to the 2015 Stripers Forever survey believe that the large stripers so vital to future spawning should not be harvested and that a high percentage of the current commercial catch should be set aside for conservation. Further, 75 percent of all Stripers Forever members are willing to buy a striper stamp to finance a buyout of the commercial striper fishery.’” Postscript: The complete results of the annual survey are presented under “Recent News” on the Stripers Forever website at: (www.stripersforever.org)."

Thanks - Michael from The Angling Report

[Terry Thomas]

Thanks for the report. Had a chance to fish the Cape Cod area this past summer. Couldn't believe what an awesome experience we had!

[Rossflyguy]

They should start practicing CNR. I'm sure theyre keeping a large majority of those fish.

[Darian]

Sounds a lot like what's happening here. There're a lot of medium/small Stripers around but the population, overall, continues to decline for a variety of reasons even tho CNR is practiced here and I'd bet that many recreational fisherman already practice CNR back there.

Two things that're mentioned in the article that have negative impact on the east coast fishery is the commercial catch and the lack of game fish status. At least Stripers here are afforded game fish status and there is no overt commercial fishery.

[TyV]

Please STOP! What a complete and total overreaction! Seriously, I grew up fishing more than 100 days a year on the east coast saltwater fisheries...and I rarely saw a striped bass/rockfish. The population was all but wiped out for most of my childhood and adolescence. The striped bass recovery is a great lesson in fisheries management!

Sure, things may need to be tweaked...but the drama and frankly utter BS of your post and article are just that...BS. Slow Motionn Collapse...give me a break. Show concern when the numbers show a dip...but this is nonsense. The numbers today are so far from what they were for a couple of decades...I just have to shake my head.

What is your reason for posting such nonsense? If you want action to tweak the fisheries management that brought about the greatest resurrection of a species in this countries history...great...but please don't act like the world is ending...it isn't...it almost did long ago...but it is in fact still in great shape compared to where it was.

#FACTS