By dbalon on
11/23/2014 8:32 AM
Enclosed is the latest November 2014 MVSA Newsletter. Get all the latest information including the new 2015 Striper regulations.
Click on the link below to download the official copy....Enjoy!
2014 November MVSA newsletter..docx
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By dbalon on
11/1/2014 12:23 PM
ASMFC Atlantic Striped Bass Board Approves Addendum IV for Implementation in 2015
October 31, 2014
Mystic, CT – The Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board approved Addendum IV to Amendment 6 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass. The Addendum establishes new fishing mortality (F) reference points as recommended by the 2013 benchmark stock assessment. In order to reduce F to a level at or below the new target, coastal states will implement a 25% harvest reduction from 2013 levels. Chesapeake Bay states/jurisdictions will implement a 20.5% harvest reduction from 2012 levels since their fisheries were reduced by 14% in 2013 based on their management program. All states/jurisdictions will promulgate regulations prior to the start of their 2015 fisheries.
Click here to read the entire article.
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By dbalon on
11/1/2014 12:02 PM
OnTheWater
By Jimmy Fee
October 30, 2014
Striped Bass Regulations to Change in 2015
Yesterday, I sat in on the meeting of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Striped Bass Management Board. Representatives from North Carolina to Maine looked at the latest stock assessment and public comment to determine whether or not to change the striped bass regulations.
There was a clear divide between New York/New England and the Chesapeake Bay States. Representatives from the bay states insisted that their fishery was primarily on the smaller male striped bass that do not migrate from the bay, a segment of the population they believed to be healthy, while the coastal states, with the exception of New Jersey and Delaware, wanted to see an immediate reduction in fishing mortality on the Spawing Stock Biomass, that is the larger migratory fish, most of which are female. Options supported by the bay states included a 17% reduction in harvest, or an incremental 7% reduction in harvest over three years. The New England States and New York supported the most conservative option, a 25% reduction effective in 2015. In the end, a compromise was reached to reduce striped bass fishing mortality by 25% in the Coastal States and 20.5% in the Chesapeake Bay, beginning in 2015.
Click here to read the full article.
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By dbalon on
10/30/2014 3:27 PM
Enclosed is the latest October 2014 MVSA Newsletter. Get all the latest information now that everyone is back in stride after the 69th Martha's Vineyard Bass & Bluefish Derby!
Click on the link below to download the official copy....Enjoy!
2014 October 2014 MVSA Newsletter.docx
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By dbalon on
10/26/2014 8:01 PM
MVC waters down request for solar lights on new state fishing pier
MV Times
By Janet Hefler
October 22, 2014
Acting on a request from the state Division of Marine Fisheries, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission (MVC) last month approved modifications to the Oak Bluffs public fishing pier that will include bait-cutting surfaces on the railing and a hand-operated water pump. But the MVC scaled back a request to place solar powered lights along the length of the pier, which has become a popular stroll.
The MVC review sparked some sharp exchanges among the commissioners. Several commission members disagreed on whether the improvements were significant enough to require a public hearing, and whether the addition of lights is necessary.
Click here to read the entire article.
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By dbalon on
10/26/2014 10:25 AM
Re-post of Stripers Forever, MD DNR 2014 YOY Striper Report
October 23, 2014
http://www.stripersforever.org/
MD DNR 2014 YOY Figures
Posted by sfadmin on Thursday, October 23, 2014 ·
MD has just released the 2014 young of the year figures for striped bass. The graph below shows the arithmetic mean numbers:
The 2014 number is 11.02. This is sure to be a great number for the spin doctors. Looking at it positively this may be the best of the last three years, but in reality this is another very mediocre number and certainly not one that will allow continuing harvesting striped bass at current levels. One of our SF board members once said that a classic sign of a species in trouble is when both the lows and the highs of spawning success are in decline. The average of the last 3 years is now about 5.9 which is only slightly better than the levels experienced during the crash of the late 70s and 80s and just half of the long term average of 11.8 taken from 1957 through 2014.
Click here to read the full report.
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By dbalon on
9/6/2014 5:34 PM
The August edition of the MVSA Newsletter is now out and packed with great information. It has all kinds of great info on the Agriculture fair from August. updates on the OB fishing pier, the MVSA In-House derby results and much more!
NOTE: Don't miss the impressive list and past history of the MV Derby accomplishments by MVSA members.
Click on the link below to download it.
Enjoy!
2014 August MVSA newsletter.docx
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By dbalon on
9/2/2014 12:25 PM
Martha's Vineyard Magazine
By Rip Cunningham
September 2014
Where have all the Stripers gone?
The most important game fish in local waters is in deep trouble. The writer, a renowned fisherman and longtime conservation columnist for Salt Water Sportsman, thinks he knows why.
Scuttlebutt and bad news have the tendency to travel faster than good news or the real facts. That’s human nature and nowhere is it truer than around the docks, where all anglers become possessive about their favorite quarry. When something changes for striped bass, New England’s premier sport fish, and that change is perceived to be bad news, you can be sure the sky will soon be predicted to fall.
Read the full article by clicking here.
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By dbalon on
8/25/2014 11:53 AM
We recently received an update from state environmental officials regarding the fishing pier. Plans have been underway to address some “enhancements” to the pier and while not coordinated much outside of their agency it is beginning to go through the formal approval process. Club President Don Scarpone and David Nash have been meeting with Ross Kessler who is the Public Access Coordinator for the fisheries department and the lead on this part of the project. Ross is very motivated to make some additions to the pier but we will have to see how the various approvals work out. He has already gone to the town Conservation Commission and the Martha’s Vineyard Commission. Don and Dave went with Ross on an inspection of the pier and we talked about the design of some of the changes and where on the pier items could be placed.
They received a “no approval necessary” to go ahead with the installation of some lifesaving rings as well as some fish nets. We believe the nets donated by Steve Morris will be acceptable so it should just be matter of installing them now.
Not so easy is the addition of the other items on the list Ross brought to the commission. The permit the state received contained a very specific restriction on lighting. Reflectors are allowed but not lighting so Ross is working to identify lighting that is very, very low impact. We suggested to Ross that he look for available lighting that would be solar powered and perhaps have a short battery life so the lights only serve a safety function rather than lighting things up too much. What fisherman doesn’t carry a flashlight or headlamp anyhow? We thought maybe the lighting would also have a benefit in attracting bait. The filet station that many Surfcaster members have suggested is actually a greater problem because filet stations are specifically prohibited by state law. Bait cutting stations are not prohibited however so that is what they are applying for and they have actually looked to Don for help in designing and installing once approval is obtained. The bait cutting stations they are suggesting are, of course, smaller than a filet table and will have running water from a hand pump.
We all met with the LUPC committee of the Commission last week and a meeting is scheduled for the full committee on Sept. 4. Ross will have more detail on the lighting and bait cutting station parts of the proposal and what is likely to happen at that meeting is that the commission will vote to either require a full hearing or vote that the changes do not require a permit change. The latter however is very unlikely and Ross is prepared to go through the formal hearing process but that would not likely occur until late fall.
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By dbalon on
7/31/2014 8:26 PM
MV Times
July 30, 2014
The 18-acre property on the north shore of Martha’s Vineyard contains the remnants of an old brick factory.
The Trustees of Reservations (TTOR) announced Monday it had received the historic brickyard property in Chilmark, a gift from the estate of Flora Epstein. The 18-acre property on the north shore of Martha’s Vineyard is adjacent to TTOR’s Menemsha Hills Reservation property to which it will be joined by a future trail.
The red brick chimney, a familiar landmark for boaters, is all that remains of the former brick factory. The property is inaccessible to the public from North Road.
Read the entire article by clicking here.
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