Stripers Forever - 2003 Striper Fishing Survey Results

Stripers Forever - Many of you will be interested in the results from the 2003 Stripers Forever fishing survey. We received 341 completed surveys before our deadline, with some from every state from NC to Maine. MA had the highest number of responses with 74, followed by NJ with 62 and CT with 47. It is our intention to take this survey each fall to see if any trends are developing. An Excel spreadsheet with complete results is attached – the additional comments are on tab 2 - and has also been posted to our website.

1. 2. Overall, boat fishermen outnumbered shore fishermen almost 3 to 1. In NY and NJ there were almost equal numbers, but in some states like MD, ME, and CT shore fishermen were a very small part of the mix. It would take too long to analyze the fishery for each group, but since I entered all of the surveys, I can tell you that I don’t think the results were much different between groups.

4.~~~~~ The opinions regarding the quality of the fishery were very inconclusive. 115 thought things were worse or much worse, while 146 thought they had improved to some degree.

These feelings were quite regional. In ME, MD, and VA anglers strongly viewed the fishery as worse, while in MA and NJ, they generally saw it as improved . This could be the result of Hudson and Delaware River contributions, from which neither MD nor ME are likely to benefit significantly.

5. 6. Coast-wide, 147 to 114 anglers viewed the fish as smaller, and 132 to 79, they said that they caught fewer per hour. Only in NJ did anglers report catching both larger fish and more per hour. Considering that a strong majority of the anglers saw smaller fish and fewer of them, you have to wonder what some folks meant by improved quality, so we may need to reword the question to better define “quality” next year.

6.~~~~~ About half the anglers surveyed had an unchanged interest in guided trips, while those whose level of interest in a guided trip had changed were 3 times more likely not to take one. This was partially reflected in the guides’ sentiments, who felt their business was worsening by a 13 to 9 margin – some guides saw it as unchanged.

1. One of the really important goals of the survey is to measure the attitude of our membership about appropriate directions for future striped bass management. This question asked if the public should be able to keep a small striper for personal consumption. We specifically defined small as 20 – 28 inches, and the answer was yes, by a 3 to 1 margin. The states where fisheries managers have stuck by higher sizes for the public had only 2 to 1 margins, but still it was a strong majority, even in those states.

2. By almost 2 to 1, those who felt the public should be able to keep a small striper to eat, thought it should be instead of rather than in addition to a large striper. This was a checking question to #1 above, and the results were almost identical.

3. This question was designed to hear from those who oppose recreational anglers keeping small stripers, what they felt the minimum size should be. The results were spread between 28 and 40 inches, but were quite evenly spread. I noticed that a lot of folks who said that recreational anglers should keep only large stripers then said that they would like to see a slot limit. Since most anglers put a low minimum size as the bottom of the slot limit, I think this means that anglers are in favor of harvesting a smaller fish by an even greater margin than the 3 to 1. Some just prefer to do it via a slot limit. Again this is an area to improve on with next year’s survey.

4. 7. A slot limit was approved of by about a 2.5 to 1 margin, but the desired slot sizes were all over the place. I personally had always thought of the slot as a way to take the harvest from non-breeding size fish while still allowing a true trophy to be landed. I was surprised, though, to learn that many anglers actually wanted quite a large slot fish. For instance the most popular upper size for the slot was for 29 or greater inches. The most popular overall slot size was 20-26 inches, though 24 – 30 was a close second. Many of the southern anglers just wanted a lower minimum size, and said no to a slot because it was unnecessarily complicated.

8. Of the 341 surveys that we recorded, only 1 person wanted to shift the entire commercial catch into an increased public bag limit. On average, recreational fishermen wanted to put 75% of the current commercial quota into expanding the conservation buffer, rather than just switch those fish to recreational harvest as our detractors claim. We would add that we would save even more fish by stopping commercial fishing because the illegal cash sales of striped bass would dry up very quickly once commercial fishing was halted and the sale of all wild bass made illegal.

This sentiment should show skeptics that once gamefish status is achieved, the recreational approach would not be to kill all of the fish possible, but to be conservative and allow for a high quality public fishery.

9. In terms of possible future advocacy directions, the question about buying out the commercial fishery is very important. There is a strong school of thought that believes adding this approach to our current action plan would make the job much quicker. We haven’t come out with a position yet as to whether or not we would welcome that approach, but our members favored a buyout by a 3 to 1 margin.

I was happy to see that almost 30 guides responded to our survey. The guides tended to see their business as having worsened a little – some a great deal. The guide’s view of what was important to their clients was varied, and they were only slightly less likely to make new investments than they had been. Many, though, expressed apprehension about the direction that they have seen the striper fishery moving in the last year or two. As in the quality of fishing issue, the most pessimistic guides were at the southern and northern ends of the striper’s range.

I think that we now have some valuable insight into how this fishery is viewed coast-wide, and in what directions our members would like to see the fishery move. If I had to sum it up, I would say that membership would like to see us lay off the big breeders, and give those that want it, a small striper for the table. They would turn a small portion of the commercial quota into an increased public bag limit, but they want most of the commercial quota reserved for conservation. SF members are willing to pay a fee to buy out the commercial fishery, and many would be happy for that fee to continue if it is used to benefit the quality of striped bass fishing.

Additional Comments – on the attached spread sheet, Tab #2 is a list of many of the additional comments received. They make for some interesting reading and give you a flavor for the opinions of our members. There are some very good management suggestions there too.

We encourage your comments for improving any aspect of the survey, and will try to improve our survey before next season. We thank all of the participants for their time and efforts.