Episode 67: Update on Atlantic Striped Bass Management with Charles Witek
Episode 67: Update on Atlantic Striped Bass Management with Charles Witek
Fisheries Consultant Charles Witek joins us this week to provide an update on striped bass management. Striped bass have been recently experiencing declining populations in the Atlantic States. Charles is the founder of the blog One Angler’s Voyage and is currently serving as president of the New York Outdoor Writers Association.
Striped bass populations plummeted in the 1980s and then grew steadily over the ensuing two decades. They’re declining again into alarming population baselines. We talk about the history of striped bass population fluctuations over the past several decades. Charles also discusses:
- Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
- Striped bass reproduction dynamics
- Magnus Stevens Fishery Conservation & Management Act
- Modern Fish Act
What you can do to help:
1. If you’re a striped bass angler, keep one or two legal fish for the dinner table and throw back the rest – including the big females over 40″ which provide a critical breeding stock for year classes.
2. Contact your state representatives on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and let them know that Atlantic striped bass populations need to be stabilized and rebuilt to sustainable levels. Tell them to vote no in August to a proposed amendment to the striped bass management plan that could soften regulations.
3. As a recreational angler, show up when your state offers comment periods and meetings on coastal fisheries policy and management plans. We’re currently under-represented.
LINKS
Check out the blog One Angler’s Voyage by clicking HERE
Visit the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission website HERE.
Read this Boston Globe article on the “Codfather” Carlos Rafael HERE
