Fisheries Commission Again Holds Fire On Striped Bass Limits

By Bay Journal, Maryland Matters

November 3, 2025

With a glimmer of hopeful news about harvest pressure and a warning from commercial fishermen that their economic survival is at stake, East Coast fishery managers pulled back last week from ordering another round of catch restrictions on struggling Atlantic striped bass.

Meeting in Dewey Beach, Delaware, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted Oct. 29 against any additional cuts in either the recreational or commercial catch of the migratory finfish known as rockfish in the Chesapeake Bay.

The vote against tightening already-strict catch limits came after more than a year of debate by the panel, which regulates nearshore fishing on migratory species along the Atlantic coast. Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and North Carolina voted for more restrictions.

Widely regarded as the most prized finfish in the Chesapeake and along the Atlantic Coast, striped bass were declared overfished in 2019, with the number of large female fish below what was needed to sustain the population. The commission responded by ordering a series of catch reductions in ensuing years aiming to rebuild the stock by 2029.

Striped bass have struggled to recover, though, and fishery managers have likewise struggled to balance the need to conserve the population with the economic and cultural importance of striped bass fishing.

The recovery has been hampered by dismal spawning in the Bay, the primary source of the entire Atlantic stock of striped bass. Surveys in Maryland have found relatively few young fish for the past seven years, while Virginia has tallied subpar juvenile numbers for the last two years.

The last healthy crop of striped bass spawned in 2018 and reached catchable size along the Atlantic coast in the past year. That triggered expectations of an uptick in the catch, which in turn lowered the odds of rebuilding the population to below 50%.

So, after having weighed new catch restrictions in 2024 only to put them on hold, the fishery managers decided this summer to move ahead with a plan to require a 12% commercial and recreational catch reduction starting in 2026.

But when the commission met Oct. 29, members learned that, contrary to earlier projections, preliminary surveys indicated that the recreational catch for the first six months of 2025 was significantly below the previous year’s level. It isn’t clear why. Some suggested there were simply fewer fish to catch, but the apparent easing of fishing pressure made it seem more likely that rebuilding goal would be reached by 2029.

Amid that bit of hopeful news, commercial fishing groups called for status quo, saying they had already suffered substantially from previous cuts. Brian Hardman, head of the Maryland Charter Boat Association, said bookings have plummeted since a rule change in 2024 deprived their customers of the ability to keep two fish per trip. More than 50 of the association’s 400-plus charter boats have been put up for sale, he said.

Likewise, Rob Newberry, chair of the Delmarva Fisheries Association, said the commercial catch quota had been reduced by 46% since 2012.

“Any more cuts [are] going to put us out of business,” he contended.

The commission ultimately rejected a motion to order a 12% reduction, which could have required states to bar anglers from catching striped bass for days or weeks at a time and further restricted catchable size limits.

Commissioners in favor of further restrictions argued it was risky to put off further conservation measures amid the continued poor reproduction of striped bass in the Bay.

“We’re going to be looking at worse reductions in the future if we don’t take an interim step now,” said Jason MacNamee, a Rhode Island representative on the commission.

But Mike Luisi, tidal and coastal fishery manager for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said that while environmental conditions are changing and the fishery isn’t what it once was, he feared the consequences on the public of imposing more restrictions.

“What are we doing? Because the people are just as important as the fish,” he said.

Martin Gary, who spent decades managing fisheries in Maryland and on the Potomac River before becoming New York’s marine resources director, said the Chesapeake ecosystem has shifted, and he worries about the future of the species in the 2030s if its reproduction does not improve. He called for a committee to begin looking at the prospects for striped bass beyond 2029.

David Sikorski, executive director of the Coastal Conservation Association of Maryland, a recreational fishing group that has long pressed for conserving striped bass, endorsed leaving catch limits as they are while pursuing the longer-term study.

“Not an easy choice,” he said, “but to me, enough is enough.”

But the Chesapeake Bay Foundation charged that the commission had neglected “alarming red flags” for striped bass in deciding not to act. Allison Colden, the group’s Maryland executive director, said with reproduction in a slump, “there are very few levers left to pull” other than catch restrictions.

“We think in the future people are going to be seeing a lot fewer fish out there on the water,” she said. “That might be the new normal … unless we understand and mitigate some of the things that are impacting the low reproductive success of striped bass.”

The problem is, it isn’t clear why rockfish spawning has been so poor or what can be done about it.

Meanwhile, the commission narrowly approved Maryland’s request for more time to decide whether to go ahead with a controversial plan to reopen fishing for striped bass during their spring spawning season in the Bay.

The Department of Natural Resources had proposed lifting its ban on fishing for striped bass during April and the first two weeks of May. It would allow catch-and-release in April, and then, starting May 1, keeping one fish a day measuring 19 to 24 inches.

The state’s fishery managers said the change would simplify its regulations and align the fishing season more closely with Virginia and the separately regulated Potomac River. They also want to give anglers more opportunities to fish in the spring, fearing a loss of public support for conservation if people fish less.

To offset the spring reopening, DNR has proposed barring all fishing for striped bass, including catch-and-release, for all of August — a change from the previous two-week closure in late July. The monthlong closure, they say, could reduce the heat-related deaths of fish that can happen even if they’re promptly released after being caught.

While welcomed by many recreational anglers and even some fishing guides who practice catch-and-release, the DNR plan drew fire from watermen and other charter captains. They complained it would reduce opportunities for anglers to bring a fish home to eat, and they questioned the wisdom of putting spawning fish through the stress of being hooked and handled during catch-and-release at a time when reproduction is already low.

Acknowledging the divide, DNR’s Luisi said fishery managers want to bring all parties together to try to resolve the dispute before setting regulations for 2026. If agreement remains elusive, he said, the season would not be altered.