A renewed effort to restrict striped bass to game fish status in Massachusetts is dividing recreational and commercial fishermen.
Legislation was filed on Beacon Hill last month that would ban the commercial sale of wild striped bass in the commonwealth and also place stricter limits on the recreational fishery.
With the start of the 65th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby just days away, fishermen are concerned about the health of the centerpiece fish, striped bass, in these waters and along the coast.
There is perhaps not a fish more watched by commercial and recreational fishermen, not to mention scientists, than the striped bass. The fish is the swimming equivalent of the American eagle.
The commercial fishing quota for striped bass for the region will remain the same next year and beyond. At a meeting in Charleston, S.C., on Tuesday the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission striped bass management board voted to keep the quota the same. The commission had been poised to raise the quota.
The commercial striped bass season ended last Monday and Alec Gale of West Tisbury said it was the worst season he has seen in the six years he has been hauling fish to the mainland for the local anglers. “It was a slow season, and it wasn’t because of overfishing,” Mr. Gale said. “I think it was a lack of bait and the warm water temperature.”
More than 50 fishermen participated in the first Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass Shootout, a one-day, mostly boat fishing tournament, on Saturday, June 5. The Edgartown-based fishing contest owes its roots to the former annual Pink Squid Yacht Club spring fishing tournament and was taken over by those at Larry’s Tackle Shop.
A state legislator’s effort to make striped bass a recreational fish only is dead for now. The state’s Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture has sent the proposal back for further study.
House Bill 796, filed by Falmouth representative Matthew C. Patrick, would have closed striped bass fishing to all but recreational fishermen. The bill was filed a year ago.
Hearings begin next week on legislation that would make striped bass an exclusively recreational fish in state waters.
The Massachusetts Striped Bass Conservation Bill, 796, filed a year ago by Falmouth state representative Matthew Patrick, has been debated among recreational and commercial fishermen for months.
The commercial season for striped bass ended this past Wednesday. The closure came when fisheries managers estimated that the 1,061,898-pound quota had been taken in Massachusetts. The season ran short this year.
Last year the 1.12 million-pound quota was taken at the conclusion of the third week of August. The fishery was closed on August 22.
Recreational fishing for striped bass continues. Anglers are required to possess a state saltwater recreational fishing license. They are allowed a bag limit of two fish per day; the minimum size is 28 inches.
Despite worrying declines in striped bass and lobster stocks, regulators this week deferred any significant action to curb the fisheries. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission did take a step toward restoring menhaden, a bait fish consumed by lobsters, striped bass and nearly all other swimming fish.
