Tackling a New Career; Apples Instead of Stripers
Vineyard Gazette
Mark Alan Lovewell
December 15, 2014

Steve V. Purcell sold Larry’s Tackle Shop Monday to Peter and Melissa Sliwkowski of Chappaquiddick. Mr. Purcell is leaving the Island to become a business manager at an orchard farm in North Brookfield. He said he has mixed feelings, both of appreciation and sadness. He said he has had a wonderful time at the store, and fishing the Vineyard with friends and customers.

Mr. Purcell bought the store in 2008, but he worked there for nearly two decades before that. “I had been on the Island six days, and Ruth Meyer, the store owner, offered me a job,” he said.

Read the full article by clicking here.

SSA Awards $36.4 Million Contract for New Freight Ferry
Vineyard Gazette
Olivia Hull
December 15, 2014

The Steamship Authority has awarded a $36.4 million contract for a large new freight ferry.

At a meeting in Hyannis late last week, the boat line governors voted to hire Conrad Shipyard to build the ferry at their shipyard in Morgan City, La.

The steel ferry, which has already been named Woods Hole, will be built inside a large building at the Louisiana shipyard and delivered to Fairhaven by spring of 2016.

The boat will accommodate 384 people and 55 vehicles and will replace the freight ferry Governor, plying both the Nantucket and the Vineyard routes.

Click here to read the entire article. 

Check out the last MVSA Newsletter for 2014! There is a lot of great information in this edition. Topics included are the December Meeting, January Awards Ceremony/Luncheon, In-House Derby standings, New owner of Larry's Tackle Shop, two new great Derby books, upcoming 2015 MVSA calendar of events and beach reports with some amazing photos from the TTOR.

Check out the full report enclosed here. Just click on the link below.

2014 Dec MVSA Newsletter.docx

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Re-post of Stripers Forever, MD DNR 2014 YOY Striper Report
October 23, 2014
http://www.stripersforever.org/

MD DNR 2014 YOY Figures

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.

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