The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Striped Bass Board voted to approve Amendment 6 to the Striped Bass Management Plan, which would grant a 30-percent increase in the commercial quota. Amendment 6 will bring commercials back to 100 percent of their base-line quota from the 1970s, when stripers were abundant. Only the striper game fish states of New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine voted against the provision. The Board also ignored the general sentiment from public hearings and written comments opposing the increase, although recreational regulations along the coast will remain the same. As of press time the full ASMFC had not yet voted on the Board’s proposal, but was expected to do so in late February.
