February 21, 2018 — On Feb. 7, the Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission met to approve Option B in Maryland’s Conservation Equivalency Proposal for the summer/fall recreational striped bass fishery in the Chesapeake Bay.
The motion passed unanimously with one abstention.
The ASMFC acknowledges for stock assessment purposes that the mortality rate of fish that are released after being caught is about 9 percent, but many fishermen and scientists contend that the number is much higher in the summer months when hot temperatures affect survival.
At a fishing symposium I attended this past November, one Department of Natural Resources official said that while the accepted mortality rate is 9 out of every 100 released rockfish, the number could be as high as 30.
“We don’t really know,” said Mike Luisi, Estuarine and Marine Fisheries Division manager for DNR.
Both the Technical Committee and Law Enforcement Committee of the ASMFC did not endorse the mandatory use of circle hooks, but with pressure from stakeholders, the Advisory Panel decided that “the conservation benefits” outweigh any concerns and Maryland will be instituting the mandatory use of circle hooks with non-artificial bait and lures.
Back in 1999, Maryland’s DNR performed a study comparing the mortality of rockfish caught on conventional hooks versus circle hooks. The results are hard to argue with.
When air temperatures were below 95 degrees Fahrenheit, 0.8 percent of rockfish caught on non-offset circle hooks died compared to 9.1 percent of rockfish caught on standard J hooks.
Additionally, the minimum size for keepers will be reduced to 19 inches from May 16 to Dec. 15.
Read the full story at the Calvert Recorder