Charles Witek with some insights on some looming decisions regarding the future of striped bass.
On April 30, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board will meet for more than four hours, to discuss the 2018 benchmark stock assessment and its conclusion that the striped bass stock is both overfished and subject to overfishing.
The actions that the Management Board decide to take at that meeting will likely determine the health of the striped bass stock, as well as the health of the striped bass fishery, for many years into the future.
If the Management Board acts responsibly and moves quickly to end overfishing and rebuild the bass stock, we should see both the stock and the fishery recover fairly soon. However, if the Management Board dawdles, adopts ill-advised half-measures, or chooses to change the reference points that define a healthy stock and a sustainable fishing rate, we could be looking at further declines and perhaps even the sort of fishing that some of us remember—and try to forget—from back in the 1980s.
LINK (via: One Angler’s Voyage)
