Urgent Call To Action: Striped Bass Special Meeting

The Importance of the 2018-Year Class

• A Critical Year Class: The 2018-year class represents one of the last strong groups of young striped bass after several years of poor recruitment. This cohort is essential for the striped bass population to recover and rebuild.
• Vital Timing: These fish will reach a key size in the 2025 season, making them particularly vulnerable to overfishing as they hit 28”. Remember all the 26” and 27” last summer? That’s the 2018-year class and will be turning 28” in time for 2025. Protecting this year class ensures that they can mature, reproduce, and contribute to future generations of striped bass.
• Lessons from the Past: When previous strong year classes, like the 2015-year class, entered the fishery, overfishing caused significant spikes in fishing mortality. This harmed rebuilding efforts and reduced the population’s ability to recover. Avoiding a repeat of this mistake with the 2018-year class is crucial.
• Future of the Fishery: With recent poor spawning years, the 2018-year class carries much of the responsibility for sustaining striped bass stocks and maintaining healthy population levels in the near term. Its protection is critical to ensure fishing opportunities for years to come.

What’s Being Decided?

The ASMFC is exploring several management options to address the challenges facing striped bass populations, including:

1. Adjusting the Slot Limit: Lowering the slot limit to protect the 2018-year class from overfishing. This year class will become of size in the 2025 season.
2. No-Targeting Closures: Prohibiting even targeting striped bass during specific periods to reduce mortality. These measures are difficult to enforce and could unfairly impact states with shorter fishing seasons.
3. No-Harvest Closures: Temporarily pausing striped bass harvest while allowing catch-and-release fishing. This approach reduces direct harvest pressure while maintaining recreational access to the fishery.
4. Equitable Measures Across States: Ensuring all states share reductions fairly, while addressing concerns that northern states with shorter fishing seasons may face disproportionate impacts.
5. Commercial Fishing Reductions: Adjusting commercial reductions by focusing on reducing actual landing numbers (which have not been reached in recent years) vs proportionately reducing quota sizes, an important delineation as, in theory a reduced quota to a previously unmet number might not have much impact if it is unlikely to meet new restricted number in the upcoming year.

What You Can Do:

Option 1: Think about this, research it, formulate your own opinion for what you think is right and voice your comments before the deadline on Tuesday, December 10, 2024 8pm EST. Even if you disagree with our perspective and comment otherwise, we still greatly appreciate your stewardship for striped bass. I am happy to know our intentions are aligned.

Option 2: Do what Hogy Lure Co and many of our colleagues like GotOne are doing and sign ASGA’s (American Saltwater Guides Association) letter. ASGA has made it easy for us to stand up for striped bass by drafting a letter urging the ASMFC to adopt the measures below, ensuring fair and effective conservation policies.

ASGA’s Recommendations for Striped Bass Management: Here’s the gist of American Saltwater Guides Association (ASGA) science-backed recommendations:

• Lower the Slot Limit: Lower the Slot Limit: Protect the 2018-year class by reducing the slot limit to ensure these critical fish are not overharvested as they reach key sizes in 2025. The 2018-year class represents one of the last strong recruitment years and is vital for rebuilding the population after several poor spawning seasons. When the 2015-year class—another strong cohort—entered the slot, overharvesting caused a spike in fishing mortality, hindering recovery efforts and depleting the stock. Strategically lowering the slot limit will protect this year class by limiting harvest and prioritizing catch-and-release fishing, allowing these fish to contribute to successful reproduction years. At the same time, anglers still can keep a few fish for the table, balancing conservation with recreational enjoyment.
• Implement Meaningful Commercial Reductions: Focus on reductions in actual landed catches rather than quotas, ensuring practical decreases in fishing mortality.
• Avoid No-Targeting Closures: Oppose no-targeting closures due to enforcement challenges and their disproportionate impact on states with shorter fishing seasons. It’s simply not practical.
• Promote No-Harvest Closures: Support enforceable no-harvest closures during specific periods, which reduce total fishing mortality while still allowing catch-and-release access for recreational anglers, guides & businesses. This has worked in the past with striped bass and other species.
• Ensure Equity Across States: Advocate for fair and balanced measures that do not disproportionately impact northern states with shorter fishing seasons.

The American Saltwater Guides Association (ASGA) represents conservation-minded fishing guides, private anglers, and businesses committed to sustainable fisheries management. Their mission is to promote "Better Business Through Conservation" by advocating for science-backed policies that ensure healthy fish stocks and vibrant fishing opportunities for future generations.

I’m asking you to join me in signing this letter—it’s quick, easy, and impactful.  

Read and sign their full letter here:  https://www.saltwaterguidesassociation.com/striper-action-alert/

Conservation Insights from the Hogy Community

Our recent Wisdom of the Crowd survey revealed how conservation-minded our Hogy fishing community is. I can’t tell you how grateful I am so many of you took this survey as I feel very optimistic that we’ll have the support we need to bring to the AMFC. Here are a few bullets from the results:

• Over 75% of respondents said they primarily practice catch-and-release fishing.
• 68% are willing to remove back hooks from plugs to reduce fish mortality.
• An impressive 40% already support ASGA's "Local Singles Program," which promotes gear modifications to reduce mortality.
• 85% expressed interest in joining citizen science programs to promote fishing conservation best practices.

I just know we can count on you to support our fishing community by voicing your support for what I personally believe—and ASGA agrees—are the most effective and equitable policies at this critical juncture.

Thank you for standing with us to protect the future of striped bass fishing!

Cheers,

Capt. Mike