Our dear friends at NOAA have once again done the unbelievable. With the population of black sea bass at 219% of the biomass target, they are calling for a 20% decrease in the recreational catch to prevent overfishing. You read that right: They want to cut our catch by 20% to prevent us from overfishing a stock that is 219% above the biomass target. Please let that sink in for a moment.
Most sensible people would think a stock that is 219% above the biomass target would call for a lower minimum size or a larger bag limit so recreational fishermen could take home more fish. But no, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects that black sea bass will have a serious drop in biomass, and they don’t want to take a chance on that happening.
On Monday, there was a meeting of the Advisory Council on Black Sea Bass, Summer Flounder and Scup, of which I am a member, but the only subject was black sea bass. Every advisor objected to this 20% cut in the recreational catch. Several members said they are seeing plenty of small sea bass, so there doesn’t appear to be any danger of a collapse.
I didn’t think of it then, but on my last sea bass trip in November 2023, I fished from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. That’s six hours of steady drop-and-crank fishing, and I only caught 20 sea bass over the 13-inch minimum size. That means I caught a lot of small sea bass.
So, you may ask, how does NOAA come up with this 20% decrease?
First, data from several sources – dockside interviews, phone calls, for-hire reports and trawl surveys – is compiled. That data becomes our beloved Marine Recreational Information Program. If you remember, that is the data that said Delaware head boats only caught 13 pounds of flounder from January to June in 2023.
Once that is complete, it is sent to the Scientific and Statistical Committee for review. Somehow, they missed the obvious error on the head boat flounder catch in Delaware. What else they missed, heaven only knows.
It is this committee that has recommended the 20% cut in recreational landings. I must admit, I sat there and listened to the explanation of how they project the biomass of black sea bass to decline sharply, in spite of most of the advisors reporting plenty of small fish available, and then they got into the Magnuson Act and how the law forced them to cut our catch by 20%.
At least one advisor said he would resign in protest if the recreational catch was cut and asked the rest of us to do the same. I must disagree. If I am not on the committee, I can’t make my thoughts known and, I hope, the thoughts of the recreational fishermen I represent.
This recommendation will now go before the full Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council for its approval. Unfortunately, I expect the council to approve the 20% cut in recreational landings. It is the recommendation of its Scientific and Statistical Committee, so I don’t see them going against that guidance.
So, what will happen to the sea bass fishery with a 20% cut? I have no idea. Shorter season would be the best thing, because an increased size limit would further increase the already-high release mortality rate. Of course, what they should do is drop the size limit to 12 inches, raise the bag limit to 20 fish and keep the season open all year. But hey, what do I know?
White Marlin Open
I have been out in many White Marlin Opens, but this year I am glad I am not. Beginning on Wednesday, the seas in the canyons, from the Baltimore to the Hatteras Canyon, were running from 9 to 11 feet. Even on the biggest boats, you will be holding on with both hands, leaving nothing to hold the fishing rod.
I have never fished on a boat with a stabilizer, so maybe things are much better with one of those. I have fished on boats without one in seas so big we could not see a 31-Bertram running next to us when we were in the trough.
At the end of fishing Aug. 6, a 77.5-pound white marlin was in first place. The fish was caught by Ven Poole from Raleigh, N.C., on the Waste Knot.
The top blue marlin was caught by Lance Blakemore Aug. 5, weighing in at 897 pounds. Blakemore was fishing aboard the Stone Cutter.
The second-place blue marlin came in Aug. 6, and weighed 789.5 pounds. It was caught by Hershel Martin on the BoBoJo.
The tournament does not end until Saturday, Aug. 10, so any of these results could change.
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Eric Burnley is a Delaware native who has fished and hunted the state from an early age. Since 1978 he has written countless articles about hunting and fishing in Delaware and elsewhere along the Atlantic Coast. He has been the regional editor for several publications and was the founding editor of the Mid-Atlantic Fisherman magazine. Eric is the author of three books: Surf Fishing the Atlantic Coast, The Ultimate Guide to Striped Bass Fishing and Fishing Saltwater Baits. He and his wife Barbara live near Milton, Delaware. Eric can be reached at Eburnle@aol.com.
