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Random Quote: I'd rather be in my boat with a drink on the rocks than in the drink with my boat on the rocks!
Panel has hook in rockfish season
Md. faces penalty that could virtually ban spring catch
By Candus Thomson
Sun reporter
Originally published January 27, 2007
The spring day when Marylanders can start fishing for striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay is anticipated the way kids wait for Christmas and baseball fans yearn to hear "play ball."
But on Monday, the fate of this year's striped bass season will be determined by a regulatory board.
The 15-member Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission could decide to penalize Maryland for catching too many striped bass in each of the past two years by restricting the state's allocation to a level so low that it, in effect, cancels this season.
Maryland officials hope that, instead, the commission allows the state's fisheries managers to operate under rules similar to those in other Eastern Seaboard states.
Sanctions against Maryland would hurt small tackle shops, marinas and the charter boat fleet, which derives almost half of its annual income from the 30-day spring rockfish season.
not only is it a bunch of BS that Va. gets to kill them all year and everone goes there to do it (read the threads where everone talks about the slaughter) they are our fish, most rocks spawn in MD. Seriously we do need to do something about it
if they set the min. at 40" we be fkd.
Since fisherman are catching more and more fish every year..doesnt that mean that the fish population is healthy?
With the season starting on the 21st of April this year, it only gives us a few weeks of the migratory fish anyhow. I would hate to be chartler boat capt if the spring season is cancelled.. Kinda hard to make a living if you cant keep any fish..
They won't close the season.. MD has too much money invested in the charter industry, closing the season would cost more then they are willing to except. PLUS it's not justified.
I think its crap. Other states like Va which has "An All year Season" imo should be penalized . NC kills alot more fish in Thier season.
Va. does have a closed season. And for the record those boys in N.C. are having a tough winter. Most of their fishing has been up around the Va/N.C. border. A pretty good run from O.I.
They won't close the season.. MD has too much money invested in the charter industry, closing the season would cost more then they are willing to except. PLUS it's not justified.
don't bet on it. they shut it down before...for like 10 years!!! it's a different world. the greenies have much more influence (which i think can be a good thing). but as many others have pointed out here, unless there is a comprehensive plan for the entire atlantic striper fishery (rather than the current state-by-state method) it could be maryland taking the hit for everyone.
I bet the VA boys will be glad to hear that they have an open season all year ... They have closed seasons as well - and the fish just plain aren't there most of the year especially down near Norfolk. We fish there a couple times in the summer and haven't even caught a striper by accident. Of course no one wants to since the reds, cobia, flounder, tog, trout, etc .... keep most folks busy.
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Bold Adventure - 2006 Glacier Bay 2670 Dare Signature Series in Carolina Blue w/Twin Yamaha F150's
The Irony of this is that they manage this fishery as if the fish are different. The same fish that's here in the bay in April is off NJ a couple weeks later then NY, then further north, then that fish makes its way back south and eventually ends up off VA or NC before it comes back in the bay. What does it matter which state its caught in. They have tryed to say that Maryalnd is bad because we are catching the fish that are spawining? Its the same fish wheter its caught here full of eggs or in VA, or NC. They need to make the striped bass a game fish and then that would just take all the power of a BS governing body with commercial interests away. We need a net ban and Gamefish status just like so manyother states have done!!!!!
Let’s not forget the tens of thousands of immature fish that Maryland kills also. I can think of no other fishery that allows the how spread slaughter of immature fish as is allowed in Maryland, Virginia, and NC. It’s one thing to harvest the breeding population; it’s another to harvest them before they even have a chance to spawn just once.
Fishcop hit it on the head.
Make it a gamefish. Everyone knows that it's the recreational fishing that brings the $.
There's other ways to supply fish to the restaurants & markets than net fishing.
Board sets Bay quota for striped bass
Panel imposes target of 30,000 fish, about half of total caught last season
By Candus Thomson
Sun Reporter
Originally published January 29, 2007, 4:30 PM EST
ALEXANDRIA, Va. // Chesapeake Bay anglers will be allowed to catch half the number of striped bass this spring than they did in each of the last two seasons, a regional regulatory board decided today.
By a vote of 7-6, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission rejected a proposal by Maryland and backed by Virginia to eliminate the spring cap and allow the two states to fish under regulations similar to other Eastern Seaboard states.
Instead, it approved a target quota of 30,000 fish--about half the total caught in each of the last two years.
"This cripples us," said Rich Novotny, executive director of the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermen's Association, which represents thousands of recreational anglers. "We imposed a moratorium to save the species . We've done a lot for conservation and now they've penalized us."
Charter boat captains in the audience looked stunned after the vote. Many of them derive almost 50 percent of their annual business during the four-week season that begins in mid-April.
Maryland anglers in the last two seasons exceeded by more than 50 percent the annual quota set by the ASMFC despite efforts by state fisheries managers to set tougher regulations.
Fisheries chief Howard King argued that the rules set for Maryland in the 1990s were no longer needed because the striped bass population has recovered from overfishing and is robust. The state imposed a five-year moratorium in the 1980s after the number of striped bass plummeted to record-low levels. The Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries are the spawning grounds and nursery for more than 70 percent of the East Coast's striper population.
But the commissioners, who represent the federal government and states from Maine to North Carolina, were unmoved.
In an attempt to save the season, King then asked commission members to approve the target quota. The vote was 10-3, with two commissioners abstaining.
Maryland fisheries managers will meet with fishing clubs, charter boat captains and conservation groups to attempt to design regulations to keep the state in compliance when the spring season begins.
Fishcop is 110% correct and it should have been done a long time ago. I think this who thing stinks. They are trying to kill a sport and heritage of the Chesapeake bay. If catches are up under the current very restrictive spring limits of only one fish per angler of 33" and larger during a short 4 week period, isnt that a result of higher/healthier bass populations? While I didnt grow up fishing here, the bass populations in the ocean off of NJ were a fraction of what they are now when I was growing up.
Come on boys in mass we have a 2 fish 28" limit per man. We have a good time and throw the schoolies back.The Maine laws I never could figure out. I have to admit the pics of all the little ones on your docks is a tad depressing.
amazing-while our ocean charters are running two trips a day killing 40 fish a trip...just fking amazing....the bay soon will be a fall fishery only...
uh oh! spring rockfish season CANCELLED?!?! 
They have closed seasons as well - and the fish just plain aren't there most of the year especially down near Norfolk. We fish there a couple times in the summer and haven't even caught a striper by accident. Of course no one wants to since the reds, cobia, flounder, tog, trout, etc .... keep most folks busy. 
