September and October used to be the best time of year to catch striped bass. Now the pinnacle for the species revered in the annual Island Derby is months earlier, in June. And as the month comes to a close, recreational charter captains reflect on a harvest in which some have struggled, and all have observed changes because of regulations and shifting environmental conditions.
Shifting migration patterns, warmer water temperatures that affect the spawning rates of striped bass, a lack of food in the area, and a small window of size allowed to harvest due to previous overfishing continued to challenge Island fishermen this season.
Robert Coad, captain of the Sea Hawk fishing charter, who’s fished out of Edgartown for 55 years, caught 20 to 25 striped bass in mid-June, he said. But during a charter fishing trip on June 24, his boat caught only five fish that were the right size to keep. This year, as has been the case for the past couple of years, the size limit for recreationally caught striped bass is between 28 and 31 inches, with fishermen limited to only one fish, according to the regulations set by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF).
Last Wednesday, the Sea Hawk fished in a few places off Wasque, going north and then south on the clear day to chase the striped bass hanging out on the bottom, rather than on the surface, a routine that Coad explained to his three passengers, Art and Scott Armer and their friend Bill Sleight.
The Sea Hawk fished with five other boats, and took some time between passes of the fishing grounds to hook a few stripers for the day. Coad measures the keepers through markings on top of his cooler, taking only one striped bass and one bluefish during that particular charter after about five hours on the water.
“As long as the group is happy, that is what I have got to worry about,” Coad said. “Every time you have to produce something to make them happy, that is the name of the game.” There aren’t many little striped bass coming through with the bait fish, and that is only good fishing until around June 10, then as the summer moves along, the striped bass typically move to Monomoy in Chatham, Coad added.
And netting a striped bass between 28 to 31 inches is a challenge. The perfect three-inch slot is part of a set of regulations that changed from state to federal three years ago, according to Coad. The rules were created by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, but are enforced by DMF.
“The coastwide management body for striped bass, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, required these changes in response to a large increase in recreational fishing harvest in 2022 that raised concerns about overfishing,” Nicola Meserve, fisheries policy analyst for DMF, said.
It’s been seven years of below-average striped bass recruitment — the number of fish successfully joining the population — and it continues to affect the availability of striped bass for Massachusetts fishermen to catch, Meserve said. But she added that could change as fishermen see an increase in larger and mature females after the recent slump in recruitment, and their growth could lead to the species leaving overfished status even as overall abundance declines.
Alternatively, commercial fishing limits on striped bass, which has a 35-inch minimum, limit fishermen to 15 fish, and 22 percent of the 683,733-fish state quota has been met so far this year; the wholesale price for these fish is between $6 and $7, Stanley Larsen, owner of Menemsha Fish Market, said. Like recreational regulations, commercial rules aren’t specific to the sex of the fish, Julia Hopkins, communications director of the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, said.
The fishery has also changed because of shifting environmental trends. Coad said the migration of the fish has evolved dramatically in the past 50 years.
According to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Coastal Observatory for Martha’s Vineyard, the water temperature this late June is almost up to 70°. The spring typically starts out with cooler temperatures, but is rising faster than it has been previously, Charlie Ashmun, captain of the Kay Lee charter fishing boat in Edgartown since 1994, said.
And even though he said the striped bass are moving around to chase bait fish, which have been in low abundance in the area as the water temperature rises, the season’s been good for Ashmun. Despite having a slow start to the season this year, the striped bass are bigger this year, between 38 and 40 inches. But he hasn’t seen many smaller ones.
“I think we need to protect the resources as much as we protect the species that they are feeding on,” Ashmun said.
Meanwhile, Buddy Vanderhoop, Menemsha charter fishing captain of the Tomahawk for 38 years, who takes his boat down to Middle Ground off Vineyard Haven, said it was hard and crowded in the beginning of June to get a fishing slot in the 2.5-mile shoal that runs east to west parallel to the north coast of the Island. He had to go there, however, he said, because the striped bass were moving east and north of Martha’s Vineyard.
“Gay Head used to be one of the hottest bass-fishing places in the world, and it is not,” Vanderhoop said. “You struggle to catch a fish up here these days.”
Striped bass spawn off the tributaries in the Chesapeake Bay, and according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, young juvenile striped bass had a slight improvement last year, but spawning success was still below the average in the long-term success of the fish.
“The DMF is currently operating under a 10-year rebuilding plan for striped bass, with a goal of getting to a rebuilt population in 2029,” Meserve said. “The recruitment trend is very concerning, and speaks to the need for ongoing conservation of the resource.”