New York State

Hudson River Striped Bass fishing
Hudson River striper reports

 Message Board

This is a summary of the NYSDEC Bureau of Marine Resources. Proposal to modify the Hudson River Striped Bass Fishery.

Amendment 6 to the striped bass FMP (February 2003) requires that "For all jurisdictions, recreational fisheries will be constrained by a two fish creel limit and 28 inches minimum length limit, except for the striped bass recreational fisheries in Chesapeake Bay and the Albermarle Sound/Roanoke River."

Current harvest regulations for striped bass of the Hudson River Estuary in NY are a one fish creel limit, an 18 inch minimum length, and an open season of 16 March through 30 November. NY's proposal for implementation of Amendment 6 requested additional time to implement changes in harvest regulations for the Hudson River. NY was approved an extension until March 15, 2004. To facilitate discussion, the following have been suggested as preliminary options for recreational fisheries in the Hudson River:

1. Status Quo modified to comply with Amendment 6

 

1 fish creel @ 28 inch size limit.*

2. Amendment 6 minimum

 

2 fish creel @ 28 inch size limit.**

3. 18, 24 or 26 inch option

 

1 fish creel @ 18, 24 or 26 inch size limit*, equivalent to 2@28,

4. Spawning Closure

 

1 fish creel @ 18, 24, 26,or 28 inch size limit, plus season closure after May 15.

 

* One fish creel limit may include prohibition on fishing after first fish reduced to possession.
** This option may be modified to limit the possession of fish greater than 40 inches to one, as is in effect in recreational fisheries in the States of New Hampshire or Delaware.

In addition, the department is considering several measures designed to reduce the effects of catch and release mortality. Among these are:

 

A prohibition on the use of treble hooks while engaged in bait fishing.

A requirement for the use of circle hooks while engaged in bait fishing.

A season closure after May 15, or after water temperatures exceed threshold levels found to increase catch and release mortality subject to the following:

No fishing for striped bass permitted after season closure; or,

Catch-and-release fishing allowed after season closure pursuant to items 1 and 2, above.

 

Beginning in 1995, New York instituted a special permit for marine Party/Charter boat operators that allowed fares aboard permitted vessels the opportunity to harvest and possess two striped bass. This exceeds NY's general recreational possession limit of one fish. As a condition of the permit, a report detailing the catch and harvest of striped bass must be filed for each trip where any striped bass are caught. Information collected from the trip reports included the number of anglers, and the number of striped bass harvested

The purpose of this report is to estimate the recreational harvest of striped bass in the Hudson River under various size limits and a two-fish creel limit and to relate that harvest to harvest under a two fish creel limit and a 28 inch minimum length.

1995 to 2002 NY Marine District Party/Charter Boat (2 Fish) Permit Trip Report Data
Year	# Reports	# Anglers	# Striped Bass Harvested	# Extra Fish Harvested	#1st Fish Harvested	Ratio of Extra Fish/1st Fish
1995	1,314	8,735	9,244	3,402	5,842	0.582
1996	2,661	17,963	21,190	8,165	13,025	0.627
1997	2,427	14,288	18,517	7,515	11,002	0.683
1998	3,204	20,179	24,456	9,706	14,750	0.658
1999	4,050	26,385	29,957	11,085	18,872	0.587
2000	4,457	30,227	35,027	13,131	21,896	0.599
2001	4,323	30,050	36,303	14,304	21,999	0.650
2002	5,211	34,383	40,817	15,483	25,334	0.611

 

Some Proposal highlights

 

Fishing during
Spawning on
Spawning Grounds

Strongly discouraged from establishing recreational fisheries on spawning grounds during the spawning season . Producer area jurisdictions are strongly discouraged from establishing commercial fisheries on spawning grounds during spawning .

Recommends jurisdictions prohibit fishing on spawning grounds during the spawning season.

 

Jurisdictions are recommended to encourage the use of circle hooks to reduce mortality associated with hooking and releasing striped bass.

Included in because several recent studies have demonstrated the discard mortality decreases significantly with the use of circle hooks.

 

Comment from jim the webmaster

 

It is clear that striped bass fishing in New York and other areas has increased by 5 fold since 1995. Circle hooks are a great start in reducing mortality in the release of these fish. Lets work together to ensure the survival of these magnificent fish. This article can be found in its entirety from the New York state department of environmental conservation wesite.