bigfish6

my mom told me she saw that it said stripers have to be 26 inch and only 1 fish per day. what kind of reg is that? i understand that menhaden are being over fished and rockfish are being overfished. but they are taking the limits over the edge

capt_matt

It is a regulation that prevents so many of the younger fish from being killed each year.

A 26" fish is probably 6 years old while a 20" fish is probably 3 years old. This is significant since striped bass females do not begin to produce eggs until they are at least 5-6 years old. Also note that the older a female gets the more eggs she makes - there is little evidence that females get "past their prime" in terms of egg production.

The bottom line is that more fish need to spawn successfully in order to maintain striped bass populations. The whole idea of allowing people to kill fish on their way to and from the spawing grounds (the upper Chesapeake is the spawning grounds) is not consistent with this goal!

I like to catch striped bass just as much as the next guy. But I also support regulations that will help make sure that I can catch fish for many years to come. I also do my own part, releasing most of the striped bass that I catch.

Stonewall

Your Mom is close but missed some of the article. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission today relinquished control of the state's most popular and lucrative season for 2008, thereby eliminating an annual quota that was often exceeded and allowing Maryland to regulate its season the way other Eastern Seaboard states do.
The new 2008 Spring Trophy Season - Maryland anglers will be allowed to keep one fish daily, minimum length of 28 inches, from April 19 to May 13. After a two-day hiatus, the season will resume on May 16, with a two-fish per day limit. Both can be 18 to 28 inches, or one can exceed 28 inches.

Let's just hope they manage the Rockfish population better than they did Crabs, Oysters, Yellew Perch, etc.