MOREHEAD CITY – The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission this week released two recently completed striped bass assessment reports. The Albemarle Sound-Roanoke River benchmark assessment and the Central Southern Management Area Stock Report are posted also on the Division of Marine Fisheries' website. These reports represent a joint effort between the two agencies, and a working group of stock assessment modelers, university researchers, and fishery biologists, to review the best available data and develop analyses to assess the current condition of the North Carolina striped bass stocks. The Albemarle Sound-Roanoke River benchmark assessment indicates the striped bass resource is overfished and overfishing is occurring. This is a change from the stock status for these waters in a 2014 assessment that indicated the stock was not overfished and overfishing was not occurring. The change in stock status is likely due to a...