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New slot limits for Bass

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I posted this in the Main earlier. Email from MA fisheries:
 

I know some of you may have some questions regarding what you may have heard about the Striped Bass regulations for 2023. So I wanted to reach out to you and let you know where things stand currently.

 

As of May 2, 2023 ASMFC declared an emergency action to support stock rebuilding of the Striped Bass population. The Striped Bass Management Board voted to take emergency action to implement a 1 fish at 28” to less than 31” slot limit for ALL recreational striped bass fisheries coastwide. This action is in response to the 2022 recreational harvest which is nearly double that of 2021. Current projections indicate that the stock has a very low chance of rebuilding if the higher 2022 fishing mortality rate continues as is. The reduction in slot size from 35” to 31” is designed to reduce the harvest of the 2015 year class, one of the last remaining strong year classes in the striped bass population.

 

Under this emergency action ALL STATES must comply as soon as possible but no later than July 2, 2023 or be at risk of being found out of compliance and run the risk of a full harvest moratorium. Please note until this change is formally adopted in Massachusetts the current striped bass regulation remains: 1 fish at 28” to less than 35”, however recreational anglers are encouraged to release all fish 31” or greater in order to maximize the conservation benefit. DMF is working with other New England states to align our implementation date and have rules in place later this May. The public will be notified once the new emergency regulation is formally adopted.

 

The Striped Bass Management Board will also examine additional measures for 2024 if needed to meet the 2029 deadline to rebuild the Striped Bass population.

 

To receive emails and updates on official announcements to permits, public hearings, opening and closing of fishing seasons, and other important news please subscribe to DMF’s advisory updates by following the link below:

https://www.mass.gov/how-to/subscribe-to-dmfs-advisory-updates  

 

As always please feel free to contact me at any time with any questions and concerns. I will of course alert and keep you up to date to the any and all recreational saltwater fishing regulation changes, and season openings and closures.

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The trouble with a lot of people is they can't  see past their own wants and desires. If you look at the possiblities for fishing in the future you should have no problem with the new slot Just to much I and now in this conversation , not enough looking to the future. I grew up fishing small streams and remote brooks with my father, we always walked away making shure we left fish for the future. Its nice when you return next year and find fish once more.

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On 5/5/2023 at 7:59 AM, Gwiz said:

If things are really this bad why not just close everything down? Make it catch and release with single barbless hooks.

That is imho likely to be the next step if this slot doesn’t make it at least more likely than not to reach the rebuilding benchmark by 2029.

====Mako Mike====
Makomania Sportfishing
Pt. Judith, RI
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On 5/5/2023 at 3:54 PM, Gotcow? said:

At the rate we're going it will soon be something special just to catch one.

 

Some of us have been there. :( 

"…if catching fish is your only objective, you are either new to the game or too narrowly focused on measurable results.” - D. Stuver

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On 5/5/2023 at 1:12 PM, zak-striper said:

Based on all the whining, p-ssing and moaning I'm seeing on Facebook, I don't have a lot of confidence that people are going to honor this change to the regulations.

 

If you want to see some Boone and Crockett whining, check out The Hull Truth.

Massachusetts EPO:

1-800-632-8075

 

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On 5/5/2023 at 4:31 PM, Ditch Jigger said:

 

Some of us have been there. :( 

Yes we did.  You could fish for days without seeing a fish.  I think it was 1984, one morning I took a day off from lobstering, and got up early to throw plugs on the canal.  I saw one fish break all morning, dropped a plug on him, and landed a 37' fish.  I'll bet a half dozen guys walked up to me just to see the fish. Like they couldn't believe their eyes. 

I brought the fish to Besse's Mkt to sell. Roy Besse could believe his eyes. Said he was going to filet it, and place it right in the display case.

The Sultan of Sluggo

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On 5/5/2023 at 4:31 PM, Ditch Jigger said:

 

Some of us have been there. :( 

And don't want to go back.

"I have always believed that outdoor writers who come out against fish and wildlife conservation are in the wrong business. To me, it makes as much sense golf writers coming out against grass.."  --  Ted Williams

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On 5/7/2023 at 8:14 AM, bob_G said:

I'm afraid we're already half way there.

Yes.  I'm already having flashbacks to 1978.

 

But the big difference is that today, unlike the late '70s and early '80s, we have a potentially effective management system in place.

 

The last time, as today, we had good fishing for larger bass, but recruitment failure in the Chesapeake Bay that was generally being ignored.  Bob Pond was spending his own money trying to make people aware of the problem, but everyone just pointed to the currently good fishing for larger bass and assured folks that all was fine.  There were no peer-reviewed stock assessments.  That was no ASMFC management plan.

 

Even when the decline became evident, the states were too worried about disadvantaging their own fishermen, recreational and commercial, compared to fishermen in neighboring states that managers only began to put in more restrictive measures when it was too late for them to prevent the crash.  I recall that, after New York's legislature adopted a 24-inch minimum size, then-Governor Mario Cuomo was thinking seriously about a veto, and it took calls from some New England governors, most particularly the Governor of Massachusetts, to get him to change his mind and sign the bill.

 

Today, we have far better fisheries science informing decisions, we have the Atlnatic Striped Bass Conservation Act and the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act empowering the ASMFC to impose its management measures on reluctant states, and we have what weems to be a newly-concerned Management Board that's willing to impose meaningful, if some what overdue, measures to protect the resource.

 

Hopefully, that will be enough to prevent a collapse.

 

The one thing out of our control is recruitment in the Chesapeake Bay.  But even there, if regulations are strict enough to alloiw an appreciable number of females to excape into the spawning stock, the elements will be in place for a successful spawn when favorable spawning conditions occur.

"I have always believed that outdoor writers who come out against fish and wildlife conservation are in the wrong business. To me, it makes as much sense golf writers coming out against grass.."  --  Ted Williams

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On 5/7/2023 at 10:08 AM, CWitek said:

Yes.  I'm already having flashbacks to 1978.

 

But the big difference is that today, unlike the late '70s and early '80s, we have a potentially effective management system in place.

 

 

Potentially effective is not effective.

 

I have zero faith that the ASMFC will do what is necessary until after the total collapse.

 

Then it will take a generation to maybe get the fishery back on it's feet again.

 

An there's no guarantees that the spring weather will be hospitable to a good spring spawning cycle.

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For them to make such a dramatic move just as the season approaches, at least to me indicates things are far worse than any of us realize. Plus, compliance and enforcement is impossible. 

 

Just this morning I saw a guy catch a 36" fish, throw it in his truck, and take off like a scalded dog.  This is the first week in May, in front of a bunch of people.   Nothing can stop this short of a total closure. 

 

The Sultan of Sluggo

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