Striped bass are one of the most ecologically and economically important species of the Chesapeake Bay and up and down the Atlantic Coast.
Back in the late ‘70s their numbers were decimated in the Bay by overfishing, degradation of their habitat and warming waters. Fisheries managers stepped in and cut harvests and the fish recovered.
But, it’s happening again. This time, fingers are being pointed and tempers are flaring
In July, a group of recreational fishing boats harassed a commercial menhaden fishing vessel in the bay, forcing the captain to stop his boat. This, despite a new Virginia law that penalizes interference with fishing. It’s not the first time the Reedville-based Omega Protein industrial fishing fleet has been targeted. Anglers and conservationists say the industry is overfishing for menhaden, a favorite of striped bass. They say this is causing the crash of the striped bass.
But no one knows how much menhaden are in the Chesapeake Bay and the Virginia General Assembly won’t fund a study.
"Scientists, I think, do the best job that they can in determining how large the biomass is, how many egg-laying females there are," Omega CEO Monty Deihl said at a recent tour of their newest fishing vessel. "And that’s really an area outside of my expertise."
Those scientists are from a menhaden technical committee with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. They say menhaden are not being overfished.
There’s also a committee of scientists for striped bass. They say striped bass are being overfished. The commission is asking the public, from Maine to Virginia, to help determine how to cut harvests by both recreational and commercial fishermen. And recreational anglers are a focus.
"Typically, over the past few years the commercial sector, this is coastwide, is about 10 to 15% of all the striped bass fishery removals. And the recreational sector is about 85 to 95% of the fishery removals," commission member Emilie Franke said.
And nearly half the fish recreational anglers catch, die by catch and release.
Will Bransom, a recreational angler from Virginia Beach, spoke during a recent hearing. "The release mortality on the recreational side is the problem. When you go out and catch 42% harvest and 42% die, that’s the elephant in the room right there. And the only way I think you’re going to get to your rebuilding stock is by attacking the release mortality."
It’s not just Virginia anglers.
"There are other states to the north of us, and I wouldn’t mention Massachusetts and Maryland by name, that have significantly higher release mortalities," Bransom argued.
Commercial watermen are concerned with a potential 12% cut to their harvests, which are already below their allotted quota. They blame regulations piled on them since the early 1980s and say, it’s the anglers’ turn.
"The commercial has always been under but we end up taking cuts, not because we overfished or did anything wrong," commercial fisherman Kelly Place said. "We stayed within this regulatory regime but we’re expected to cover for the recreational fishery which has, almost every year, they’re catching more than they’re supposed to."
Like Bransom, Place sees northern state regulations as a problem.
"I look at the minimum size limits and like Massachusetts, New York and a number of other states and my God we’re not even allowed to catch a fish that size. And they’re hitting the strongest of all the spawners, so you can see pretty much what that adds up to."
The Commission is taking written public comments until midnight Friday. and plans a decision to be implemented early next year.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.