Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 2, 1990 TAG: 9003022835
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Cochran
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A generation has seen 30-pounders cruising the coves of Smith Mountain Lake and acre-size schools busting shad on the surface of Kerr Reservoir. So, it's no wonder these fishermen have grown up thinking of the striper as a freshwater species.
By nature, the striper - like the salmon - is an anadromous fish, hereditarily living in salt water while depending on freshwater streams for spawning.
But many of the species' traditional spawning grounds along the East Coast have been polluted, dammed, overfished or otherwise misused over the years. So, at a time when the landlocked striper has prospered, often because of new lakes and artificial propagation, the anadromous striper has virtually disappeared.
Now it is making a comeback, following new management practices and stringent catch regulations that were set in 1982 and strengthened in '86.
Last week, North Carolina permitted the first commercial ocean fishing for stripers anywhere along the East Coast for several years. The fishing was restricted to 88 permit holders.
Earlier in the year, a one-day season in that state netted commercial fishermen 1,165 pounds. It was the first harvest on this important wintering ground since 1984.
Virginia's striper population has increased to the point that a 30-day commercial and recreational season is planned, beginning Nov. 5.
The idea isn't popular with everybody, though, particularly the Atlantic Coast Conservation Association. This federation of Virginia anglers wants the harvest delayed at least another year. Older members recall the role that overfishing played in the disappearance of this magnificent species.
In recent years, recreational anglers have seen increasing numbers of stripers in the lower James River and along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
Last week, scientists acknowledged what many fisherman had been saying. "Striped bass stocks have begun to rebound in Virginia waters with a bang," said a report from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
The number of reproducing females found in spawning grounds, primarily the Pamunkey River, has increased 10 times since the near crash of the species in the late '70s, said John Olney, a scientist assigned to the institute's striper project.
"We haven't returned to the peak numbers of past decades, but these data show that the 1980s management strategies are working," Olney said in the report.
While the study's findings are encouraging to scientists and anglers alike, Olney said it still is too early to predict when striped bass stocks in the Chesapeake will be able to support a major fishery again.
Just as the striper is showing signs of rebounding, the shad population appears to be in a dangerous decline. Shad not only are important to commercial fishermen, but also are a food source for sport species, including the striper.
"I would say the shad are in more trouble now than the striped bass," Erik Barth, deputy chief of fishery management for the institute, told The Associated Press.
Some of the same management practices that have been applied successfully to the striper likely will be needed for shad. Even so, a proposal to cut the 3 1/2-month shad fishing season by 24 days was defeated last month.
That shows how difficult it can be to get protective measures for a species until it is in serious danger.
\ LOCAL FISHING: The mild weather that brought unprecedented late-winter fishing took a turn toward winter this week, dashing the success of many anglers. But not all.
Recent catches at Smith Mountain include a citation 8-pound, 7-ounce largemouth for David Alba of Roanoke. Kerry Shephard and Tyrone Parker have landed stripers weighing more than 30 pounds. Kevin Collins got a 27-pounder.
Randy Danner took a 3 1/2-pound smallmouth on a minnow at Philpott.
\ RECORD APPROVED: As anticipated, a 12-pound, 15.9-ounce walleye landed Feb. 2 from the South Holston River by Christopher Ellis Thomas of Glade Springs has been approved as a state record.
by CNB