Management of Striped Bass

Increased fishing pressure during the 1970s and early 1980s led to a dramatic decline in striped bass abundance.  The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), formed in the 1940s, had developed an Interstate Fishery Management Plan that included cooperation between states to manage stripers, but it allowed only for states to take ‘voluntary’ management actions.  The loophole ultimately led to poor enforcement and inadequate management. 

           In 1984, Congress passed the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act, giving federal enforcement authority to ASMFC's interstate management program for Atlantic striped bass. Under the Act, each Atlantic coast state is required to implement regulations that are consistent with ASMFC management measures. If a state is found out of compliance, the federal government can impose a moratorium on striped bass fishing in that state's waters until compliance is achieved. As a result, ASMFC establishes coast-wide conservation objectives, biological reference points, and state-by-state harvest allocations, while individual states retain authority over the specific regulations used to meet those requirements. 

Among other things, these specific regulations reflect the differences between striper behavior through the seasons of the year in the different waters along the coast (e.g., between the Chesapeake and New England).   A unique feature of striped bass management is that the resource is managed through an interstate compact rather than directly by NOAA Fisheries, making ASMFC the primary management body and the coastal states the primary regulators and enforcement authorities.