ANNAPOLIS, Md. – With errant states falling in line with new striped bass catch curbs, East Coast fishery managers agreed last week to consider imposing still more limits on recreational fishing later this year to help the struggling fish recover.
The striped bass management board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates inshore fishing for migratory species, accepted revised plans May 1 from Maryland, Pennsylvania and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission for making required cutbacks in recreational and commercial harvests.
The board had rejected the three jurisdictions’ plans in March, putting them in jeopardy of having the federal government shut down all fishing for striped bass if the deficiencies weren’t corrected.
At issue for Maryland and the bi-state Potomac fisheries agency were their plans to delay action until 2026 if their 2024 commercial harvests exceeded the reduced level ordered by the Atlantic States commission.
The commission in January had ordered reductions in recreational and commercial catch amid concerns over an unexpected jump in recreational catch along the coast and surveys finding poor reproduction in the Chesapeake Bay, where most of the coastwide stock is spawned.
Under rules that took effect May 1, recreational anglers are limited to landing just one fish per day within narrow minimum and maximum size limits. The annual harvest quota for commercial fishers was reduced by 7% from the 2023 level.
The Atlantic States commission specified that any exceedance of the commercial quota must be corrected by deducting that amount from the quota for the following year. Maryland and Potomac fishery managers said they couldn’t respond that quickly because of a months-long lag in compiling harvest reports.
But after the commission rejected their plans, the two jurisdictions’ fishery managers submitted revised plans in April. They said they would track the commercial harvest more closely using preliminary weekly reports and by December would pre-emptively reduce the overall 2025 quota to offset any projected exceedance.
Overharvesting isn’t likely, given recent history. With one minor exception, commercial landings in Maryland since 2014 have been under the quota. The 1.2 million pounds harvested in 2022 — the most recent year for official figures — would still be below the state’s reduced quota set for 2024 of 1.3 million pounds.
Even so, “we’re not going to be risky in our projection,” said Mike Luisi, a fishery manager with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and member of the commission’s striped bass board.
The new catch limits have been controversial, especially in Maryland, where the Delmarva Fisheries Association and Maryland Charter Boat Association filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Atlantic States commission’s orders. After hearing arguments in April, a U.S. District Court judge denied the their petition for a preliminary injunction blocking the cuts from taking effect. The groups have appealed the denial.
Pennsylvania sought to delay the new one-fish-per-day and size limits on recreational fishing, citing the administrative burden and potential for angler confusion of changing rules midway through its April–May striped bass season in the Delaware River watershed. After the delay was denied, the state Fish and Boat Commission adjusted its rules in April to comply effective May 1.
If any of the three jurisdictions had failed to adjust their plans, the Atlantic States commission could have asked the U.S. Commerce secretary to impose a moratorium on all striped bass fishing until they came into compliance.
After accepting the revised plans, the striped bass board agreed to form a workgroup to explore options for reducing the number of striped bass that die after being caught and released — a common recreational fishing practice.
The Atlantic States commission in 2019 had ordered an 18% reduction coastwide in fishing-related mortality after studies showed that large numbers of striped bass were dying from catch-and-release in hot summer months when warm water temperatures stress the fish. The latest round of mandated reductions followed reports that the coastal recreational catch nearly doubled in 2022, threatening to derail efforts to restore striped bass abundance before the end of the decade.
The workgroup will examine the effectiveness of closing the striped bass fishing season during critical times of the year and of further barring “targeting” of the fish for catch-and-release during such closures. Maryland and the Potomac River commission have both imposed such closures during spawning season and the peak of summer, but other East Coast states have not. The group will also evaluate whether certain types of fishing tackle are more or less likely to kill fish after they’ve been hooked and released.
The group is expected to report back to the striped bass board in October, which may lead to new rules addressing catch-and-release mortality.
Conservation groups welcomed the move to study further limits.
“We must all face the hard truth that striped bass are struggling,” said Allison Colden, Maryland executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “We’re seeing continued low juvenile striped bass numbers, dwindling commercial catch and a trend of fewer large citation-sized fish caught by anglers. Without getting striped bass management back on track across all sectors — commercial and recreational — there might not be a striped bass fishery in the future.”