Striped Bass Draft Amendment 7 Public Hearing on March 23

Striped Bass Stakeholders, 

The Maine Department of Marine Resources will be hosting a webinar public hearing on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Striped Bass Draft Amendment 7 on March 23rd from 6:00-8:00PM. 

The Draft Amendment’s proposed options consider changes to the management triggers, which determine when the Board is required to make management adjustments, and whether to adopt new restrictions or requirements for the use of conservation equivalency, which provides the states the flexibility to tailor the management measures. For stock rebuilding, the proposed options consider the impact of low recruitment and how the Board could respond to the 2022 stock assessment if action is needed to achieve stock rebuilding by 2029. Since release mortality in the recreational fishery is a large component of annual fishing mortality, the Draft Amendment considers options to reduce the number of striped bass released alive and options to increase the chance of survival after a striped bass is released.

A copy of the Draft Amendment can be found HERE.

 

Webinar Instructions:

To register for the public hearing webinar please click HERE and select the March 23rd hearing from the dropdown menu. Hearings will be held via GoToWebinar, and you can join the webinar from your computer, tablet or smartphone. If you are new to GoToWebinar, you can download the software by (clicking here) or via the App store under GoToWebinar. We recommend you register for the hearing well in advance of the hearing since GoToWebinar will provide you with a link to test your device’s compatibility with the webinar. If you find your device is not compatible, please contact the Commission at info@asmfc.org (subject line: GoToWebinar help) and they will try to get you connected. We also strongly encourage participants to use the computer voice over internet (VoIP) so you can ask questions and provide input at the hearing. If you are joining the webinar but will not be using VoIP, you can may also call in at 951.384.3421, access code 269-324-049. An audio PIN will be provided to you after joining the webinar.

If you cannot attend the March 23rd webinar hearing, Maine stakeholders are encouraged to attend a webinar public hearing hosted by another jurisdiction. A table outlining the full schedule of public hearings along the Atlantic coast can be found HERE. To register for another state's virtual public hearing webinar please click HERE and select the hearing(s) you plan to attend from the dropdown menu.

 

Other Ways to Provide Public Comment:

In addition to providing comment at a public hearing, stakeholders can also provide written comment. Public comment will be accepted until 11:59 PM (EST) on April 15 and should be sent to Emilie Franke, FMP Coordinator, at 1050 N. Highland St., Suite 200 A-N, Arlington, Virginia 22201; 703.842.0741 (fax) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Draft Amendment 7)

 

A copy of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission press release on the Draft Amendment 7 public hearings can be found HERE. 

 

For additional questions, please contact Megan Ware at megan.ware@maine.gov or 207.446.0932