Chesapeake Bay anglers, environmentalists, and charter business owners were all watching carefully this week as East Coast striped bass fishery managers held a special meeting in response to dismal rockfish population numbers.
Many believed the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board would likely impose new restrictions that could include additional season closures, on top of the mid-season closure Maryland put into effect during high-mortality summer temperatures. The Board considered taking immediate action to reduce fishing mortality in 2025.
However, the Board ultimately opted for “an addendum that would provide the Board more time to develop a fuller suite of management options,” delaying big changes until 2026.
In recent years, Maryland and Virginia have enacted measures to curb the striped bass catch, including a controversial move to allow anglers to keep only one fish per day during the season. While conservationists believe immediate action is necessary to keep the rockfish population, the prospect of limiting recreational fishing of the Bay’s most popular sport fish even further doesn’t sit well with charter fishing companies, who say their business has already suffered from the ever-tightening catch limits.
The ASMFC took public comments ahead of the Dec. 16 special meeting, receiving an outpouring of 4,360 comments, including those from individuals, organizations, and their supporters.
“We want to thank the thousands of members of the public who took the time to provide thoughtful comments ahead of this Board meeting,” said Board Chair Megan Ware from Maine. “We understand that many will be disappointed in the Board’s decision to initiate an addendum versus taking immediate action. However, after deliberating for more than three hours about the path forward, the Board came to the conclusion that the best course of action is to proceed with an addendum which will allow for clarity on 2024 removals and additional analyses.”
The Striped Bass Management Board’s Draft Addendum III will focus on recreational and commercial management measures for 2026 with a goal of rebuilding the stock by 2029. They will look at a range of options to reduce the fishery, including season and size limits, no-harvest and no-targeted closures.
According to the 2024 Stock Assessment Update, striped bass have not recovered from past overfishing, but they are not experiencing overfishing currently. Biologists predict an increase in fishing mortality in 2025. The new 2026 measures aim to rebuild the stock using full 2024 fishing data, which wasn’t available in time to implement 2025 measures.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) points out that while the stock assessment doesn’t indicate overfishing currently taking place, ASMFC wasn’t taking into consideration the six straight years of below-average juvenile striped bass recruitment in the Chesapeake Bay.
Calling the low recruitment a “looming concern,” CBF leaders believe ASMFC should not have delayed action for another year. “Our only hope now is that 2026 will not be too late for striped bass,” said CBF Maryland Executive Director Allison Colden. “Given the uncertainty associated with the striped bass fishery and its incredible social and economic value to states along the East Coast, fisheries managers must err on the side of conservation.”
The next step is to introduce options for the proposed addendum at ASMFC’s winter meeting in February. The Board plans to take final action by October 2025 and implement the reductions in early 2026.
