For the past two years, Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass & Bluefish Derby hasn’t allowed tournament participants to catch bass because of the depleted population.
The Baker-Polito administration announced that Massachusetts is offering a new specialty license plate through the state’s Registry of Motor Vehicles “to promote conservation of striped bass, which are an important and iconic fish synonymous with the Massachusetts coastline,” according to a press release. The plates, which will depict striped bass hunting alewives, will be custom-designed by Cape Cod artist Janet Biondi. All motorists with a vehicle can visit mass.gov/myrmv to order this plate.
The Massachusetts Environmental Trust and the Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Marine Fisheries led a campaign to gather support for the plate through preregistrants. Nine hundred people preregistered, and the plates are being issued.
The price of owning this plate is the same as any other specialty plate — $40 every two years on top of the cost of a standard passenger plate. Other specialty plates offered by the state’s environmental trust include the right whale plate, the brook trout plate, and the Blackstone Valley plate.
The disbursement of the funds earned through these plates will be overseen by a review panel, including striped bass experts from the division, academia, a conservation organization, and recreational and commercial fishermen. The funds will be used for a variety of striped bass conservation efforts, such as studying their population and habitat improvements. The press release stated that these efforts will also improve the foraging of striped bass, such as the studying of anglers’ practices to improve catch-and-release survival of the fish, and angler education to “improve the conservation of marine fisheries resources.”
Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass & Bluefish Derby committee member Joe El-Deiry said there will be no bass fishing this year, in a continuing effort to help the fish population. El-Deiry does not expect bass fishing to come back to the Derby anytime soon.