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Striper
Nov 9, 2018 10:54:57 GMT -5
Post by hookedup on Nov 9, 2018 10:54:57 GMT -5
Although I like to blame Omega for the lack of striper in the Chesapeake Bay and within the 3 mile limit, this article in today's Virginian Pilot lists the other part of the problem: Fishing for striped bass has always been a fall tradition, even though catching the species the past few years has been a bit of a roller-coaster ride. Let’s face it: we were all spoiled by the days several years ago when stripers were big and thick in the lower Chesapeake Bay and along the coast. Catching them typically was as easy as getting on a boat and putting out some lures. Casting, trolling, it didn’t matter. The fish were so plentiful that it was rare to ever get skunked. About the only thing that took pressure off the massive schools of striper was bad weather. And it had to be some serious bad weather to stop us. Those big fish don’t come around legal waters inside of three miles of the coast much anymore. The fish that make northeastern waters now head straight south on their migration and end up around offshore wrecks and structures around the Chesapeake Light Tower. You’re not supposed to even practice catch-and-release out there. Bigger fish that make northern regions of the bay their home most of the year rarely make it to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. While some come close, the past couple of years, they’ve made it to points west of Cape Charles on the Eastern Shore. And the number of fish topping 25 pounds – you know, the ones we used to throw back – isn’t what it used to be. So what happened? How did a world-class fishery simply turn off? Look in the mirror. We crushed them and gave them little chance to keep their numbers high. Both recreational and commercial fishermen share equal blame – all those big breeding females taken for trophies and freezers full of meat. Only time will fix things. The rockfish have made a dramatic return once before. Hopefully, they will once again.
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Striper
Nov 9, 2018 11:52:32 GMT -5
Post by kbh on Nov 9, 2018 11:52:32 GMT -5
Very similar to the collapse of the snook fishery in South Florida. Only many years of totally closed seasons and very limited seasons now has brought them back. Unfortunately now its the red tide and blue green algae that's doing all the dirty work. Especially on the West Coast where there main breeding grounds are. Nothing sadder than to be over in Marco/Naples area and see the dead fish including many snook laying everywhere.
BTW, What's Omega? At first reading I thought you were blaming Obama.
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Striper
Nov 9, 2018 12:41:33 GMT -5
Post by outtadblue on Nov 9, 2018 12:41:33 GMT -5
Omega is a company that harvest menhaden for fish oil.
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Post by kbh on Nov 9, 2018 13:13:08 GMT -5
Omega is a company that harvest menhaden for fish oil. Oh yeah, I should've known that. Bastids!
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Striper
Nov 9, 2018 15:40:19 GMT -5
Post by Twisted on Nov 9, 2018 15:40:19 GMT -5
Here's some good news on the front: The data are in and the results are official: Juvenile striped bass numbers are healthy in the Chesapeake Bay and its major tributaries. Virginia and Maryland say seine surveys conducted over the summer show young-of-year stripers – those spawned this past spring – top historic averages and signal good fishing for commercial and recreational anglers in a few years. Mary Fabrizio, who heads Virginia’s survey, said annual sampling has important economic and ecological value and helps in managing the species. “By estimating the relative number of young-of-year striped bass, our survey provides an important measure of annual and long-term trends in the bay’s striped bass population,” Fabrizio said. Fabrizio is with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester Point, which conducts the survey for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. VMRC manages nearly all the state’s fisheries. David Blazer, director of Fishing and Boating Services at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, called their state’s results “encouraging” for their efforts to protect and maintain the striped bass fishery.
“Consecutive years of healthy reproduction is a great sign for the future of this iconic species,” Blazer said. Virginia began monitoring striped bass in 1967, and Maryland in 1954. Researchers scoop up samples using 100-foot beach seine nets at designated sites, or index stations, several times throughout the summer. VIMS samples the James, York and Rappahannock river watersheds, while the Maryland DNR samples the Choptank, Potomac and Nanticoke river watersheds and the Upper Chesapeake Bay. This year, VIMS collected and measured 1,875 juveniles, logging a mean value or recruitment index of 10.72 fish per seine haul. This is greater than the historic average index of 7.7. Maryland’s DNR collected 1,951 juveniles, with an index of 14.8 – higher than the historic average of 11.8. At the nonprofit Chesapeake Bay Foundation, senior regional ecosystem scientist Chris Moore called the resurgence of young striped bass a “promising sign.” “Hopefully, these fish will grow and thrive in the bay in the coming years as a result of the improving water quality we’re seeing under the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint,” said Moore. Striper abundance can ebb and flow dramatically from year to year depending on predation, fishing pressures, disease, weather and environmental factors. The bay stock hit historic lows in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but when Virginia, Maryland and Delaware enacted fishing bans in the ’80s, the population began to rebound. Today, it’s considered recovered. Striped bass are a top predator in the bay ecosystem and an important sport fish. They can live around 30 years, migrating in a vast range from the St. Lawrence River in Canada to the St. John’s River in Florida. Females mature around age 4 and males around age 2. Adults swim up coastal rivers to spawn, then their fertilized eggs drift downstream and hatch into larvae that rapidly grow into juveniles. Juveniles stay in nursery sites such as the Chesapeake for up to four years to mature, then swim to the Atlantic Ocean to join the migration.
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