Atlantic marine fisheries meetings draw big crowds in Dewey

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission annual meeting took place in Dewey Beach over the past week. Decisions were made on the management of menhaden and striped bass.

The ASMFC has jurisdiction on fish that spend most of their lives in state waters out to three miles in the ocean. The various councils cover the fish that spend their lives farther out to 200 miles.

On Tuesday, right after lunch, menhaden was the topic. Omega Protein is the only company in this area that harvests menhaden and uses the fish for industrial purposes. Their plant is in Reedville, Va., and they have learned politics better than most.

When I was the executive director of the Coastal Conservation Association of Virginia, the Omega Protein Company donated money to every member of the Virginia Legislature, regardless of party. It was impossible to get any regulation passed that in any way restricted the take of menhaden by Omega Protein.

On Tuesday, Omega Protein rented a very nice bus to bring quite a few of the men who work on their boats to the ASMFC meeting. They pretty much filled the room.

During the comment period, the men spoke about how hard the work is and how much they need to keep working to support their families. Some have been working on the boats for a long time; others are second- or third-generation employees.  

After the testimony, it was time for motions and votes.

One motion was to reduce the total allowable catch to 108 metric tons, a decrease of 50%. Then another motion was for 186 metric tons, a decrease of only 20%. Then yet another motion for 186 in in 2026, 152 in 2027 and 124 in 2028. None of those passed. Now understand, each motion was discussed before a vote was taken.

Finally, a motion was made to cut the total allowable catch by 20% for 2026 to 186 metric tons and revisit the allowable catch for 2027 and 2028 at the annual meeting in 2026. That motion passed. By now it was 6 p.m.

Striped bass moved into the spotlight Wednesday. The discussion began a little after 9 a.m.  

Much like the Omega Protein folks had packed the room Tuesday, it was the charter captains and watermen from the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay that did the same Wednesday. They all wore white hats that made them stand out in the crowd, leaving no doubt they were the majority in the room.

The first motion after all the watermen and charter boat captains had spoken was to go with Section 3.4, Option A, Status Quo. In other words, no change in the regulations. This motion passed.

Then a real shocker. A motion to put together a working group to examine various factors of the striped bass problem such as climate change, hatcheries, other river systems, discard mortality and other factors that influence the success of striped bass breeding. This is something that should have been done years ago, and I am thrilled it is finally going to happen. This also passed.

The last motion of the day was to replace Option A in the first motion with Option B. This would cut the total allowable catch by 12% by section. This motion failed, and we were done a little after noon.

Sunday on the Angler

Last Sunday, my son Ric and I did an eight-hour trip on the Angler head boat out of Ocean City, Md. The boat left at 7 a.m.; we were onboard by 6:30. Ric secured our fishing location, while I secured our table location.

As some of you know, I had a knee replacement in February, and then in May, I fell and broke my hip. The end result is I have not been fishing since last December. I was as excited as a little kid at Christmas.  

The weather was perfect. Light winds and moderate seas. I was surprised; the boat was not crowded, so there was plenty of room for everyone.

We started out drifting and, as always, a few don’t use enough weight and tangle up the rest of us.  

The bite was not drop and crank, but it was steady. Ric was catching more keepers than me, and the guy to my left might as well had been my son Roger. Every time he dropped down, he caught a keeper sea bass. I did catch a triggerfish and a bluefish.

For only the second time in my life, I broke a rod. I went to set the hook, the line broke, the rod tip hit the overhead and snapped off. Ric and I ended the day with 19 sea bass, one triggerfish and two blues. I was delighted!