At a special meeting held today, the Striped Bass Management Board voted not to enact stricter striped bass regulations for 2025. Instead, the Board committed to working on an Addendum to the Striped Bass Management Plan that will adjust regulations, if needed, for the 2026 season.

Striped bass are currently overfished and under a rebuilding plan with a 2029 deadline. The special meeting was called in reaction to an update that showed a less than 50% chance of rebuilding the stock by 2029.

Public comments received by the ASMFC ahead of the meeting were overwhelmingly in favor of the Board taking action with new regulations for 2025. Comments in favor of status quo argued that current management measures were working to rebuild the stock and taking action would cause unnecessary economic pain.

Representatives from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine voted in favor of a motion that would have required states to reduce striped bass removals by 9% through new regulations in 2025. However, after over two hours of discussion, the motion was defeated.

The next meeting of the Striped Bass Management Board will be at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Winter meeting, held February 4-6, 2025.