THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, January 28, 1997             TAG: 9701280252
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 
                                            LENGTH:   42 lines

BASS MANAGEMENT BOARD ADOPTS STRATEGY FOR 1997 REGULATIONS

The Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has approved a strategy to be used by the coastal states in developing their 1997 fishing regulations for striped bass.

The board voted to maintain all coastal commercial quotas, coastal recreational creel limits, size limits and seasons at 1996 levels, with the proviso that states would be allowed to impose the minimum recreational standard of a two-fish daily bag and 28-inch size limit year round in the Atlantic.

Additionally, the various Chesapeake Bay jurisdictions (Maryland, Virginia, the Potomac River Fisheries Commission), Delaware and other states were allowed to propose alternative measures for the 1997 fishing season in light of recent data that indicate an extremely high abundance of smaller striped bass.

The three Chesapeake Bay jurisdictions will be allowed to implement a Baywide program that caps the 1997 commercial, recreational and charter boat harvest at 10.5 million pounds, which includes landings from a spring trophy fishery. Scientific advice indicated that the Chesapeake Bay jurisdictions could raise their harvest as high as 12 million pounds.

Delaware will be allowed to increase its commercial quota to a total of 184,000 pounds, while Maine and Massachusetts were allowed to implement lower size limits in their recreational fisheries.

These actions were taken after considering the sentiment of a great many recreational fishermen who urged the board to maintain the status quo for both the coastal and Bay areas. The majority of comments received from the recreational fishing community expressed concern over the health of the striped bass stocks and the validity of the science underlying the commission's management decisions.

John H. Dunnigan, executive director of the commissions, said, ``The board listened to the recreational fishermen, but believed that the science showed stock increases that justify the actions taken. Furthermore, staying with the status quo would have unfairly held the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware jurisdictions to restrictive standards in terms of target fishing rates.''

For more information, contact John Field at (202) 289-6400, Ext. 301.