THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 19, 1995 TAG: 9512190380
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A13 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: SPECIAL REPORT
DIVIDING THE WATERS
SOURCE: By BOB HUTCHINSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 124 lines
Striped bass, scores of them, line up like pickets on a fence in the night shadow of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
They hold in the darkened water, waiting for the falling tide to sweep bait fish to them.
Catching stripers with a fly-fishing rod is as simple as flipping a white streamer into the lighted area beyond the shadow and stripping it back with the tide. Almost invariably, as soon as the fly moves into the dark, it gets devoured.
David Peck and Vic Gaspeny hooked and released stripers, all between 12 pounds and 25 pounds, until their arms grew weary.
``The stripers are back!'' yelled David. ``Anyone who doesn't think so should be here tonight! Just look! Rockfish are everywhere!''
That was two years ago. On a string of successive nights, Peck and his various cronies caught as many as 200 stripers in a single outing.
Scenes like this have been repeated, in various forms, thousands of times in the past few years. Some say it is the best striper fishing ever.
Yet just a decade ago, the striped bass became so scarce that Virginia and several other East Coast states banned commercial and recreational fishermen from catching them.
The striper's comeback ranks among fishery management's greatest success. Even Jack Travelstead, the normally reserved official of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, admits that the comeback has been phenomenal.
``I don't think there's any doubt that the management program has been incredibly successful, probably even more successful than anyone had any idea, or even any hope that it would be,'' Travelstead said.
The striper's demise was almost as ironic as its renaissance. It was too plentiful, too popular as both a game and food fish.
Popularly known as ``rockfish'' or simply ``rock'' to most Chesapeake Bay fishermen, the striper has long been a mainstay in bay-country fishing circles.
Stripers up to 100 pounds have been caught in nets. The largest on record caught on a rod and reel, nearly 79 pounds, was landed in 1982 at Atlantic City. Stripers caught in Virginia waters range from 2 pounds up to about 40.
In 1958, the striper enjoyed a tremendous population explosion. They were everywhere - in every creek, around every pier - and you could catch them year-round.
Completion of the 17.6-mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel across the mouth of the Bay in 1964 hastened the striper's downfall. They were drawn like a magnet to waters around the bridge-tunnel.
In turn, that attracted waves of commercial and recreational fishermen. At the same time, the region's burgeoning human population developed a sweet tooth for fresh rockfish.
Pressure on the fish peaked in 1973, when East Coast commercial fishermen reported a catch of almost 15 million pounds. In Virginia alone, 2.8 million pounds were landed. Both records still stand.
No count of the recreational catch was made. But it was significant. Three Richmond anglers admitted catching more than 19,000 pounds in one three-week period in 1972.
Like many other rod-and-reelers, they sold their catch, perfectly legal at the time.
But by the middle of the 1970s it was obvious that something terrible was happening with rockfish. While still abundant, striper catches began a steady decline. By 1986, the coastal catch plummeted to 335,000 pounds, the Virginia catch to a mere 23,000.
Still, it was not until 1983, with fishery-management still in its infancy, that the first meaningful restrictions were enacted.
The architect of those restrictions was the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a coalition of 15 East Coast states, including Virginia.
Since rockfish live in salt water but migrate into freshwater rivers each spring to spawn, Virginia officials first ordered these spawning grounds closed to net fishing from mid-April through mid-May, the peak.
Additionally, they ordered a year-round minimum catch size of 14 inches. Similar restrictions were ordered in other states. But they were not enough.
In 1986, the coalition ordered member states to adopt management plans to protect 90 percent of all female stripers. Virginia outlawed all striper fishing between June and the end of the year. It also set a 24-inch minimum.
That still wasn't enough. The population continued to crash.
In December 1988 the Virginia Marine Resources Commission took its most drastic step, ordering a complete ban on all striper fishing.
Striper fishing remained outlawed for almost two years, until November 1991. By then scientific evidence showed that the controls not only had been effective, but also had helped produce one of the greatest recoveries of a saltwater fish.
For 1991, Virginia's recreational fishermen were given a 32-day season, with an 18-inch minimum. Commercial fishermen were allowed to harvest 211,000 pounds, with the same minimum.
Those restrictions have remained in place until this year, with scientists now declaring that the striper is ``fully recovered.''
Overfishing caused the problem, Travelstead said. Scientific studies have shown that there were no other significant factors. Commercial fishermen, however, have contended that pollution contributed to the problem.
This year Virginia's recreational fishermen are enjoying a split 107-day season. The final segment opened Oct. 17 and runs through year's end. The bag limit and minimum size remain unchanged.
Commercial fishermen will be allowed to catch 870,000 pounds, with the same minimum.
Travelstead of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission expects the restrictions to be additionally relaxed for 1996.
``I'm sure of one thing,'' he said. ``You'll never see unlimited fishing the way it was before. We'll never go back to that.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
DREW WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
Left, Buster Bratton and Jim Tosto of Manns Harbor measure a striper
in Croatan Sound, N.C.: Popularly known as ``rockfish,'' the striped
bass has long been a mainstay in Chesapeake Bay fishing circles. Too
popular, its demise a decade ago led to a commercial and
recreational ban. Now, restrictions are being eased as the stock of
striped bass continues to rise.
Graphic
ROBERT D. VOROS/The Virginian-Pilot
STRIPED BASS LANDINGS DECLINE
Since 1973 annual commercial landings of Striped Bass have
dramatically decreased along the Virginia and U.S. Atantic coasts.
SOURCE: Virginia Marine Resources Commission
by CNB