Atlantic striped bass, commonly called stripers, are among the most prominent and heavily targeted recreational species in the United States, according to NOAA Fisheries. The highly migratory fish can live for up to 30 years, grow up to 5 feet long, and weigh more than 75 pounds. They are caught from the Gulf of Maine to Albemarle Sound in North Carolina.
In 2017, nearly 18 million angler fishing trips targeted or caught striped bass, representing 9 percent of such U.S. trips, according to NOAA Fisheries. Striped bass harvest, by weight, was the largest of all recreationally targeted species in the nation that year.
However, a 2019 benchmark assessment found the stock to be overfished and experiencing overfishing.
“Anglers place a relatively high value on catching trophy-sized stripers — fish that are about 34 inches or longer in total length,” said Andrew Carr-Harris, an economist at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Mass., and co-author of a January study with colleague Scott Steinback. “But trophy-sized stripers are almost exclusively part of the female spawning stock, and if too many are removed from the fishery the stock has trouble rebuilding.”
Full Story: https://www.ecori.org/aquaculture/2020/ ... al-trouble
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