Public Hearing: ASMFC Atlantic Striped Bass Draft Addendum III

Public Hearings on Atlantic Striped Bass Draft Addendum III Scheduled

Hearings to gather public input on Draft Addendum III to Amendment 7 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass have been scheduled from Maine to Virginia. Addendum III considers management measures to support rebuilding the stock by 2029, as well as addressing a coastwide definition of total length for size limit regulations, the commercial tagging programs, and changes to the Maryland recreational season baseline.

Maine will be holding one in-person hearing and one webinar hearing.

If you are unable to participate in the Maine hearings, you are welcome to participate in any virtual or hybrid hearings. A full list of hearings can be found HERE. For all virtual or hybrid hearings (except for Rhode Island), please click HERE and select the hearing(s) you plan to attend from the dropdown menu to register for a public hearing webinar. Hearings will be held via GoToWebinar, and you can join the webinar from your computer, tablet or smartphone.  

Hearing Presentation Recording

For those who cannot attend any in-person or virtual hearings, the Commission will post a recording of the hearing presentation on the Commission’s YouTube page so that stakeholders may watch the presentation and submit comment at any time during the comment process. This recording will be available by early September.

Addendum III

The Striped Bass Board initiated Draft Addendum III in response to stock projections indicating a less than 50% probability of meeting the 2029 stock rebuilding deadline. The 2024 stock projections estimated an increase in fishing mortality in 2025 due to the above average 2018 year-class entering the recreational slot limit. There is also concern about the lack of strong year-classes following the 2018 year-class.

Proposed management would be implemented in 2026 and is intended to increase the probability of rebuilding the stock by reducing fishery removals by 12%. Proposed management in the draft addendum includes:

• Commercial Fishery
  • quota reduction
  • tagging programs' point of tagging
• Recreational Fishery
  • season closures
  • size limit changes
  • Maryland Chesapeake Bay baseline season changes
• Total length measuring definition

The Draft Addendum is available at  https://asmfc.org/resources/management-actions/draft-addendum-iii-to-amendment-7-to-the-interstate-fishery-management-plan-for-atlantic-striped-bass-for-public-comment/ or via the Commission’s website at Atlantic Striped Bass Action Tracker.

Submitting Comments

The public is encouraged to submit comments at any time during the public comment period but no later than 11:59 PM (EST) on October 3, 2025.

There are four ways to submit comments:

1. Written comments via Atlantic Striped Bass Action Tracker or comments@asmfc.org
2. The public comment form, which was developed to facilitate the gathering of input on the Draft Addendum’s specific options
3. Mailed written comments addressed to Emilie Franke, FMP Coordinator, at 1050 N. Highland St., Suite 200 A-N, Arlington, Virginia 22201
4. Verbal comments provided at any of the scheduled public hearings

If your organization is planning to release an action alert in response to the Draft Amendment, please contact Emilie Franke at efranke@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740, so she can work with you to develop a unique subject line to enable us to better organize and summarize incoming comments for Board review. For more information, please contact Emilie Franke at efranke@asmfc.org.

The ASMFC press release is available at https://asmfc.org/news/press-releases/states-schedule-public-hearings-on-atlantic-striped-bass-draft-addendum-iii/

For questions about this email, please contact Corrin Flora at corrin.flora@maine.gov or 207.446.8126