Striped bass are in trouble. The numbers of Chesapeake Bay rockfish have plunged to such worrisome levels that strong action is required to begin to rebuild the Mid-Atlantic population. To help restore this popular game fish, the Coastal Conservation Association Maryland, and its partners (Yamaha Rightwaters, the American Sportfishing Association, BoatUS, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, the Congressional Sportsman's Foundation, and the Marine Trades Association of Maryland) hosted three seminars in 2022. Moderated by FishTalk Angler-in-Chief, Lenny Rudow, these interactive talks will help educate, engage, and hopefully inspire anglers to get involved to help determine how stripers are managed. Watch and learn more about the past, present, and future of striped bass from a Chesapeake perspective, and how you can help restore this iconic sport fish.
Whether you're a dedicated angler who loves nothing more than Chesapeake Bay fishing or a casual fishermen who only gets out on the water once in a while, we hope you'll take the time to watch The Past, Present, and Future of Striped Bass: A Chesapeake Perspective series. No matter how often you cast a line you're a part of the recreational fishing community, and your opinions matter. Hopefully, this series will help you make your opinion known from an educated, impactful standpoint.
Part 1
Dark Years - Lessons Learned from the Striper Moratorium of 1985-1990
Part 2
The Current State of the Striper Fishery, Habitat & Forage
Part 3
Rebuilding a Fishery and Bay that Future Anglers Deserve
We covered a lot of ground in this series, and boil down some very complex situations and a lot of history into relatively short episodes, so several times we refer to in-depth data and information that we can't necessarily put on the the screen all at once. In the interest of making as much information as possible available to as many people as possible, we created this information bank of resources regarding the Chesapeake striped bass fishery and its history. This is by no means a complete collection of information, but if you heard us refer to something during the series and want to research the details, one or more of these documents should help.
Striped Bass Historic Timeline
History of Maryland Striped Bass Regulations 1990 - 2008
Bill Goldsborough's take on utilizing the lessons learned from the moratorium: Lessons of Striped Bass
More intel on striped bass fishery management and history can be found on the ASMFC Atlantic Striped Bass species page
Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fishing Regulations
Virginia Marine Resources Recreational Fishing Regulations
