Virginia Saltwater Fishing

The ASMFC Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board approved Addendum II to Amendment 6 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass. The Addendum revises the definition of juvenile recruitment failure based on a recommendation from the Striped Bass Technical Committee. The Management Board approved status quo management for the coastal commercial quotas, which were being considered for an increase as part of the Addendum.

“After lengthy deliberation, the sense of the Board was that recent fishery trends do not warrant an increase in fishing mortality, commercial or recreational, at this time,” said Board Chair, Jack Travelstead. “The Board also accelerated the assessment schedule, requesting an update assessment in 2011 prior to the next benchmark assessment in 2013 to more closely track changes in the fishery and the resource.”

The proposal to increase the coastal commercial quota was intended to bring more parity between the commercial and recreational fishery sectors. Although Amendment 6 established management programs for both fisheries based on the same target fishing mortality rate, the coastal commercial fisheries are controlled by quotas whereas the coastal recreational fisheries are managed through possession and size limits. As a result, the recreational harvest has increased with expanding striped bass population levels, and now accounts for approximately 70 percent of total harvest.

The Management Board opted to maintain the existing coastal commercial quotas for several reasons, including a 66 percent decline in estimated recreational catch from 2006 to 2009; a 25 percent decline in estimated striped bass abundance from 2004 to 2008; and several years of below-average production of fish from the Chesapeake Bay. The 2011 assessment update will help to indicate whether these trends are short- or long-term, and if corrective action is necessary to maintain the spawning stock biomass above the target level.

Juvenile abundance indices are an important component of the striped bass monitoring program. Under the management plan, six states are required to conduct juvenile sampling surveys, and the resulting indices of abundance are analyzed for recruitment failure. “Recruitment” is the appearance of young-of-the-year fish in the nursery areas. When recruitment failure occurs in a given year, there likely will be reduced abundance and availability of fish from that year class when surviving fish become available to the fisheries.

Management action is prompted when recruitment failure occurs for three consecutive years in any of the surveyed areas. The revision results in a fixed value to determine recruitment failure in each surveyed area rather than a value that changes from year to year. Additionally, the data points used in the calculation have been standardized, which will result in a more conservative evaluation of recruitment failure in several surveys. Under the revised definition (as with the original definition), three consecutive years of recruitment failure has not occurred in any area, and no management action has been triggered based on the juvenile abundance indices.

Copies of the Addendum will be available on the Commission website (www.asmfc.org) under Breaking News. For more information, please contact Robert Beal, ISFMP Director, at 703/842-0740 or rbeal@asmfc.org.

source: ASFMC press release?

Sunset at a Virginia fishing pier.

Fall is one of the best times to visit a saltwater fishing pier in Virginia. Many of the top fishing piers of the Mid-Atlantic Coast are found in Virginia. These include several Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic coastal fishing piers.

On the Eastern Shore, anglers can fish from the Saxis Pier, Occohannock Pier, and the Kiptopeake State Park pier. Mid-way between the eastern and western shore is the Sea Gull Pier, located on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. On the Western Shore, Chesapeake Bay fishing piers include the Ocean View, Buckroe Beach, and James River piers. Oceanfront piers include the Lynnhaven, Virginia Beach and Sandbridge (Little Island) piers.

On most Virginia fishing piers, anglers fish with bottom rigs and baits such as bloodworms, squid strips, pieces of shrimp, cut peeler crab, mole crabs or the newer synthetic baits. Several piers feature T sections where anglers fish live baits for cobia, king mackerel, sharks, striped bass or other species.

During the fall, much of the fishing effort focuses on catching spot, croaker, bluefish, striped bass, tautog, flounder and sea bass, all species that arrive in schools as they begin migrating out of the Chesapeake Bay.

For catching smaller species such as spot and croaker, no special tackle is needed. A simple medium class spinning or baitcasting outfit and top and bottom rigs will catch most fish. For more intense fishing, pier specialists bring not only a favorite rod and reel but often arrive with a special pier cart or wagon, which carries rods, cooler, bait and other essentials. These pier carts allow fishermen to quickly set up as well as making the end of day pack up go a little easier.

Weather, tides and time of day can be a big factor on Virginia’s fishing piers. Wind and tides can dictate which side of the pier will be fishable. Some piers allow night fishing, which can sometimes be productive. When fishing a pier for the first time, its a good idea to all ahead if possible or talk to one of the regulars. Fishing regulations vary, so its a good idea to check with Virginia Marine Resources Commission before visiting a saltwater fishing pier.

As temperatures drop and the days grow shorter, a few anglers continue fishing as long as striped bass (rockfish) are caught from local piers.

With the summer fishing season starting to wind down, Virginia and Federal officials are reminding people who have been or are planning to go saltwater fishing this year to register with the National Saltwater Angler Registry if they’re required to do so.

A new Federal law that went into effect in January says that, with a few exceptions, fishermen must register if they’re in Federal waters, or if they are targeting or might catch anadromous species–fish like stripers, shad and river herring that live in saltwater but spawn in fresh water.

Although registering is the law, officials stress that the Registry – a new tool that will help NOAA and anglers work together to conserve our oceans – is intended more as a benefit than a burden to fishermen. According to NOAA Fisheries’ Gordon Colvin, it is important for three major reasons:

First, as a national “phone book” of saltwater fishermen, the Registry will make it possible to collect better data about who’s been fishing and how often. Second, better data ultimately means better decision-making when it comes to setting regulations that affect recreational fishermen, ocean enthusiasts, coastal communities and the thousands of Virginia residents whose lives and livelihoods are connected to fishing.

Finally, the Registry is the lynchpin in a massive effort to improve the way NOAA collects and reports the information about recreational fishing that managers use to determine such things as fishing seasons, size limits and catch limits. An incomplete registry could mean substantial delays in making improvements that everyone agrees are necessary.

“When you get right down to it, registration is as important to fishermen as their bait and their tackle,” said Gordon Colvin of NOAA Fisheries. “So we’re telling everyone: Even if you’ve put away your rod and reel for the year, if you remembered to fish, remember to register.”

Registration is quick, easy and FREE in 2010. To learn more or to register, visit www.countmyfish.nooa.gov, or call 1-888-MRIP-411.

NOTE:

In 2011, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) will implement its own free saltwater registration program, under a new state law that went into effect July 1.

The Virginia Fisherman Identification Program will collect the information necessary to exempt saltwater anglers from having to register annually with the federal government and pay any future federal registration charges. The free, annual state registration will be in place by Jan. 1, 2011.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) has voted to increase the 2011 commercial and recreational harvest levels of both scup (porgy) and summer flounder, welcome news for a beleaguered Atlantic Coast fishing community.

Following input from the Scup Monitoring Committee, the MAFMC, which met jointly today with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) management boards, voted to increase the total allowable catch for scup (porgy) from this year’s 17.09 million pounds of quota to a catch of 24.1 million pounds in 2011. The Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) had recommended an acceptable biological catch as high as 51.7 million pounds, which would’ve represented a near 200% increase in quota if enacted.

Council members heard various recommendations from the monitoring committee, in addition to public comment from recreational and commercial fishing interests who traveled to Philadelphia to attend today’s meetings, but voted on a more precautionary 41% increase in total allowable catch for next season. For the recreational sector, the total allowable catch of 24.1 million pounds will result in a 4.4-million-pound harvest for the year.

On the summer flounder front, the MAFMC voted to increase the total allowable catch from this season’s 25.48 million pounds to an increased quota of 33.95 million pounds in the year ahead. The new total allowable landings for 2011 represent the highest allowable catch debated by the MAFMC today.

Recreational fishermen are hopeful that this increase in quota means improved summer flounder regulations for 2011, but that still rests in the hands of the Marine Recreational Fishing Statistical Survey (MRFSS) for 2010.

“The recreational fishermen won’t know what this means in terms of regulations until November at the very least,” said Capt. Adam Nowalsky, chairman of the Recreational Fishing Alliance’s New Jersey Chapter (RFA-NJ). “As anglers have come to recognize year after year, now we have to wait for this season’s landings information to come through from MRFSS to forecast how that compares to the 2011 recreational allowable landings.”

“Some of the reasons for this success should go to the science that was contributed by the grassroots efforts of the local fishing community,” said Ray Bogan, legal counsel for the RFA. “There has been an extraordinary contribution by the anglers, which makes up a significant portion of the scientific effort in the summer flounder assessments,” he said.

Bogan noted that private funding through the Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund, United Boatmen, and RFA, along with non-federal inshore survey analysis by the North East Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (NEAMAP) have helped lead to improved summer flounder assessments, which in turn has led to improved access for anglers.

A letter from Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) to the New York council members overnight was distributed amongst MAFMC members, in which the senator urged council members to provide increased access to summer flounder and scup resources for both recreational and commercial fishermen.

“As the Council knows, these species are not overfished and overfishing is not occurring,” Sen. Schumer said in his letter, adding “Fishermen have patiently waited for these stocks to rebuild and were promised relief when they were healthy again. Now is that time.”

“The scup biomass is rebuilt by around 200% and yet it seems that our quota is going to be raised only marginally,” said Capt. Paul Forsberg of the Viking Fleet out of Montauk, NY, who attended today’s meeting. “How high must the biomass go before we can achieve maximum sustainable yield?”

Despite pleas from fishermen to increase the porgy quota by 55% to a total allowable catch of 26-1/2 million pounds, a 9-8 council vote put the porgy limit at a more modest 41% increase.

For details on recent MAFMC actions, visit www.mafmc.org

source: RFA

If you operate a motorboat or PWC in Virginia, you need to you know about Virginia’s boating safety education requirements.

In 2007, the Virginia General Assembly enacted a law to establish a boating safety education compliance requirement. This requirement will be phased in over the next several years and by 2016, all operators of PWCs (Personal Watercraft such as jet skis, Sea Doos, Wave Runners) and operators of Motorboats with a 10 hp or greater motor, will be required to have a boating safety education course completion card on board when operating a PWC or Motorboat.

As of July 1, 2009, all PWC operators 20 years old and younger must complete a boating safety course. This is the beginning of the phase-in of the Education Compliance Requirement for all Virginia boaters.

Beginning July 1, 2010, all PWC operators 35 and younger must complete a boating safety course.

For more information, visit:

http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/boating/education/requirement/

The Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board has modified the 2010 season length for the black sea bass recreational fishery. The season will now run from May 22 to October 11, 2010 and from November 1 to December 31, 2010.

The season represents an extension from what was originally planned. When the original season was developed, the Board only had 2009 harvest estimates for January through June. Harvest estimates for July through December 2009 were projected using previous years’ data to calculate a total harvest estimate.

Based on these preliminary projections, the original season was developed with the intent of reducing recreational harvest by 44% from 2009 levels.

Final 2009 harvest estimates were made available at the end of April.  The estimate indicates that harvest is less than previously projected and only a 21.4% reduction is required for the 2010 recreational season.

The newly approved season is anticipated to achieve a 26% reduction and allows for a reasonable conservation buffer to account for uncertainty in the harvest estimates and the effectiveness of regulations.

The season was further expanded into November and December to allow for increased access by party/charter boats and private boat/shore-based anglers that did not have a late fall/early winter season last year.

For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator for Management, at tkerns@asmfc.org or (202) 289-6400.

source: ASMFC press release

In a vote supported by all member states of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board, states will now have the option to liberalize the 2010 black sea bass season in state waters by an additional 90 days. The proposed new season will run from May 22 through October 11, with an additional open period of November 1 through December 31.  The proposal would keep the size and bag limit the same of 12-1/2 inches and 25 fish per angler.

The changes come following a bitter struggle by East Coast fishermen to save the recreational fishery for black sea bass. When NOAA Fisheries abruptly closed the recreational sea bass fishery last October without any opportunity for public comment, the RFA immediately began working on a legal challenge to fight the closure.

The RFA, United Boatmen and a coalition of industry allies (the “Plaintiffs”) filed suit on November 4, 2009 in New Jersey Federal Court arguing that the sea bass closure should be declared unlawful and set aside for being arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and otherwise not in accordance with law pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act.

“The emergency closure of the recreational sea bass fishery was unprecedented for a fishery that is not ‘overfished’ and where ‘overfishing is not occurring’,” said Jim Donofrio, RFA Executive Director. “This case is about more than just sea bass; it’s about taking a stand against a federal agency abusing its power and hurting individuals and small business owners.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and four of its Committees met in Duck, North Carolina from April 13 until April 15, 2010.

The Council voted to send a letter to NMFS, upon receipt of NMFS’ black sea bass proposed rule, to support adoption of the ASMFC 2010 Black Sea Bass recreational measures of a 3.7 million pound total allowable landings (TAL), a 12.5″ minimum fish size, a 25 fish possession limit, and a season of May 22 through September 12.

source: MAFMC

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is scheduled to hold a meeting of the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Advisory Panel (AP) on May 11-13, 2010, in Silver Spring, Maryland.

The purpose of the meeting is to consider alternatives for the conservation and management of Atlantic tunas, swordfish, billfish, and sharks.

For more information, visit to the HMS Division website at:

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/Advisory%20Panels/Advisory_Panel.htm

Virginia has announced 2010 recreational and commercial tautog (blackfish) regulations.

Recreational:

Minimum Size: 14 inches *
Possession: 4 fish per person per day
Season Closed: May  1  to   June  24, 2010

Commercial:

Minimum Size: 14 inches *

Season Closed:  May 1 through November 12.

* Total length is measured in a straight line from tip of nose to tip of tail.

For more information, visit the VMRC website at: http://www.mrc.state.va.us/