By Beth Young for East End Beacon
[dropcap]L[/dropcap]ong Island striped bass fishing advocates traveled to Washington last week to advocate for changes the rules governing striped bass possession in federal waters between Montauk, NY and Block Island.
East End Congressman Lee Zeldin has re-introduced former Congressman Tim Bishop’s proposal to clarify federal laws in a portion of the federal Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ), 155 square miles of what used to be prime striped bass fishing areas between Montauk, Block Island and Rhode Island, but Connecticut representatives and fisheries conservationists are skeptical of the the proposal.
Frothing schools of striped bass are something of a distant memory in Montauk these days. Photo by A. Derr.
The House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Water, Power, and Oceans held a hearing Tuesday, Feb. 2, on the bill, titled the EEZ Clarification Act (HR3070).
Striped bass fishing was banned in the EEZ in 1990 after serious declines in the striped bass fishery in the 1980s. While the fishery was declared rebuilt in 1995, when the federal government considered re-opening the area to fishing in 2006, they received 8,500 comments, 97 percent of which were in support of continuing the closure. A stock assessment of striped bass in the fishery last year has shown a decline in its population.
The area of the EEZ in question is currently considered by the federal government to be a “transit zone,” but some fishermen have been unable to prove that their stripers were legally caught outside of the EEZ and have been boarded by the Coast Guard and fined for their catch.
