Estuarine Striped Bass - Why a Season Now?

A Weekly Deep Dive into NC Coastal Fisheries

Estuarine Striped Bass

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) will open a one-month striped bass season on April 1 in portions of the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rivers and their tributaries. The season will open April 1 and close April 30 for both recreational and commercial fisheries with a one-fish per person daily recreational creel limit and one-fish per person daily commercial trip limit. The 18-inch minimum total length and no striped bass between 22- and 27-inches total length size limit applies to both sectors.

Why a Season Now?

The CSMA stocks include the Tar-Pamlico, Neuse, and Cape Fear rivers. The rationale for this season from the NC DMF website:

A traditional stock assessment cannot be conducted due to limited data; therefore, stock status is unknown. Based on genetic analysis, a high percentage of striped bass in these systems are hatchery reared (stocked) with limited natural recruitment occurring. In the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rivers, factors other than fishing mortality and inadequate spawning abundance are preventing sustainability of the Striped Bass stocks. Consistent with the Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan Amendment 2 adaptive management framework, the Division and North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission have developed harvest management measures that provide protection for, and access to, the resource. The harvest management strategy focuses harvest on stocked fish in the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rivers but limits harvest of Albemarle-Roanoke stock Striped Bass that also reside in these rivers. The Striped Bass fishery in the Cape Fear River remains closed.

The DMF analysis concluded that the harvest and gill net closures have been ineffective at increasing adult abundance, expanding the age structure, and promoting recruitment and that the percentage of hatchery striped bass on the spawning grounds of the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rivers has increased to nearly 100%. DMF and WRC staff concluded that if the striped bass stocks in the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rivers were primarily stocked, hatchery raised fish then the public should have access to harvest and if it was open to harvest then it would be open for both recreational and commercial fishermen.

Management measures for the recreational fishery will be:
• Open recreational harvest season above the large-mesh gill net distance from shore demarcation lines (see map above) in the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rivers April 1–30
• One fish per person, per day recreational creel limit
• 18-inch minimum total length and no striped bass between 22- and 27-inches total length

Learn more : https://brjayg.clicks.mlsend.com/tb/c/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjEwMDM4NzYsXCJsXCI6MTgzMTAzNDc3MjIyNzM3NTIwLFwiclwiOjE4MzEwMzQ5ODk3MzM0ODg3Nn0iLCJzIjoiOTYyYzMyYTIzMDQzNDg4MyJ9