At the start of the winter season, the gap between striped bass managers and their constituents was akin to the Grand Canyon - and somehow ASMFC has found a way to continue to grow that gap. The public outcry for guardrails for conservation equivalency (CE) was deafening. Today we rise and CE lives on. We were told it would take an addendum to Amendment 7 to establish these guardrails but there was “no appetite for an immediate addendum”. Well, last week we were presented a Draft Addendum 1 to allow commercial quota transfers for striped bass.

The ASGA team remains committed to being honest brokers when it comes to striped bass management. We are not “anti-commercial”. We continue to amplify discussions focused on fixing the issues within our own recreational community. That being said, this commercial quota transfer addendum is not good - nor should it go unaddressed by striped bass community stakeholders.

This is not what YOU asked for in your fishery - and now the time has come to remind ASMFC exactly that.

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