Maryland's new young-of-year index was just announced at "5.5", the best since 2018. Last year's index recorded a 4.0. Both of these year classes are worth saving. How do we know? We have been here before.

The 1982 Year Class (an 8.45) came after years of poor spawning. Managers protected it with a Maryland moratorium and strict coastwide rules until the females had spawned. Those fish went on to produce the huge 1989 year class that rebuilt the stock.

This year's 5.5 is about two-thirds of that. In both cases, a decent year class shows up after years of weak spawning. We often struggle to learn from history, but the lesson here is clear: what managers did with the 1982 fish brought striped bass back from rock bottom.

Amendment 3 required states to protect at least 95% of the 1982-class females until they'd spawned at least once, and Maryland shut down harvest entirely from 1985 to 1989. Those fish produced more than 90% of the eggs in 1989, generating a 25.2 index that rebuilt the stock.

Our immediate reaction to today's news is "protect this 2026 year class the way we protected 1982," not that things are improving or that "5.5 is a banner year". The 2025 and 2026 fish are our next chance to right decades of wrongs. ASMFC should protect these fish the way we protected them in 1982. We are teetering on a cliff and cannot afford to waste a decent spawn.

Good spawns don't rebuild a fishery on their own. How managers behave after those spawns paves the path forward.

Striped bass are arriving in Maine, depleted after a massive spawning migration along the Atlantic coast. What they eat next could shape everything from their recovery to the future of the fishery. Abby Remick breaks down the first coastwide striped bass diet study in the Gulf of Maine, revealing what these fish are actually feeding on, why it matters for management, and what anglers and scientists have been missing.

Mario and Jake sit down with Abby, a master's student in Dr. Michelle Staudinger's Lab at the University of Maine, to unpack a highly collaborative project built from Maine's recreational fishing community.

10/01/2026 from the ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Addendum II public hearing.