Heres one that might end up on the conservation board but ..... as far as keeping fish what about a guide that puts groups of two or more on fish daily and they keep their limit.
do some of the people here think theyre bad too their limit is only 28" for their customers so 6 fish to 12 fish a day if they split and do 2 1/2 day trips thats @ 1/2 the comm. limit with a smaller size slot. I think its ok but i can only immagine some others who have prob never even thought of it in that way!!!

If you and your group want to keep your catch, I don't see anything wrong with that. A good guide should be able to get keepers for all and if you want to keep your catch, I guess thats why you went fishing in the first place.

If a guide/charter on a boat has a comm. lic. It covers everyone on board, so they can keep 30

but even without a comm licence is can a charter capt with a 6 pac lic. keep 2 28" fish if he has 6 people on board ?

2 half day trips 12 fish a trip @ 28"
24 fish @28" plus with no timeframe like the comm season has?

People pay the money - it's up to them to decide...

then why such a hard hand toward a comm. guy who has a time limit on his season. and has to hold himself to a higher size brackett for a keeper. I just think people need to look at all sides of the fishery. and i tried to read up before I asked this question but info was hard to find so I may be wrong on the rules for a charter

If you and 5 other guys go and each catch 2 keepers thats 12 fish, Then the captain and the mate catch 2 keepers each and give them to your group, thats 4 more, so thats 16 fish per outing. Some captains and mates are happy to give you the fish they catch while they are out there with you. They are in business to make you happy. Catch and release, keep 1, keep all allowed, its up to you. I'm sure any captain would agree "keep the customer happy".

I did'nt give anybody a hard time about anything...bait fish not people

i think it's a good point made

Originally posted by t.orlando
If a guide/charter on a boat has a comm. lic. It covers everyone on board, so they can keep 30

I believe this is false. If a boat is comm fishing I believe everyone on that boat needs a permit or he fishes alone. I could be wrong but this is how it was explained to me as far as bass go.

Well, however many customers a guide has, they are each an individual and each individual can keep their 2 fish. Its still one guy keeping 2 fish versus one guy keeping 30 fish.

I'm not sure where you are going with this, but I think most conservation minded people would prefer that the rec limit was back to one fish per day. I like one fish 34" up and down the coast. Or even a slot that protects the breeding class of fish.

If the argument is stop comm fishing so we can make the rec limit higher, I'm against that. That's just greed.. As a rec angler, I don't want a bigger piece of the pie. I just want good management of the fish, the bait and the habitat.

I just want the stocks to remain strong and personally, I think overfishing of menhaden, herring and mackerel and pollution of habitat in the hudson and chesapeake (their main spawning grounds) is a far bigger issue than a hook and line commercial fishery.

My problem comes when the commercial side complains that the rec take is higher than the comm take, etc.

THe rec side and comm side are not equal. There are multi-millions of recs and some number of thousands of comm guys.

To use your example, if a guide has 4 guys in the morning, 4 in the evening and everyone limits out. Thats 16 fish. But its 8 guys who get those fish... not one guy taking 30. If you want to talk fair... fair says spreading 16 fish over 8 guys is more fair. But the fact remains that whether its 8 or one, that's still 16 fish killed. If you are just talking about the impact on the fishery, than its a good point. They can kill 16 fish a day for the whole season and may impact the fishery just as much. But talking about "FAIR"... at least its hundreds of clients versus one comm guy.

When the comm side wants to talk numbers, they ignore the fact that each of us as an individual should have the same access to the resource.

The rec take should be far higher, because there are far more rec anglers... does that make sense to anyone but me?

I have yet to have to see a good arguement that convinces me that another man or woman has more rights to striped bass than I do.

And the food on the table thing doesn't fly with me either. Lots of people struggle, lots of people lose their jobs, lots of people have to change their lifestyle to adjust to changing economics. I could lose my job tomorrow. It doesn't give anyone the right to monopolize a resource.

"I have yet to have to see a good arguement that convinces me that another man or woman has more rights to striped bass than I do."

You just made that exact argument. Your whole premise is based on the incorrect assumption that the commercial fisherman gets 30 fish for himself. Those 30 fish are then distributed to 100's of consumers who also have a right to the resource. So ask yourself this: What's "more fair", killing fish for fun, or killing fish for food?

His argument isn't based on the comm selling fish. It's based on how many fish a person may take out of the water. It's no different if it's a comm or rec angler. The point he is trying to make is that the sides are different.

Plus I think most people who keep their fish do eat them. So in the end it's all killing for food. It just happens that you can get some enjoyment from the fight. Don't even try to tell me that a hook&line comm doesn't enjoy the fight of striper. I doubt someone would get into that line of work without atleast enjoying fishing at some level or another. It's a tough enough business as is.

Okay, I'm a newbie in the Rhody. But in California, if you were the Captain and gave a fish to your client it was all good. But when your client walked down the dock and had 3 fish (vice 2), he was busted by the Fish and Game.

Its a possession limit, so if the Captain or mate gave their fish to the charter, whihc now had 16 fish ofr 6 guys, they would get written up if they get stopped by DEC. 6 guys are only allowed to posses 12 fish.

correct navy chief and welcome chief !

2 per person and the captain can not leagally give his fish to an already limited catch client . that is illeagal ! its about possesion of stripers . If the dem , dep or dec catch you , you are in violation . as far as everyone keeping their limit , thats the law whether we agree with it or not . for some they dont get to catch too many fish on their own , so they use a charter .

I for one cant catch fish unless Im lead right to them and someone casts for me ,hooks the fish and then I reels it in .

2 fish at 28 for rec or guide service!
No guide fish for ther client!
Commercial is 30 fish at 34" eaither single lic. or boat lic. Boat Lic covers everyone on boat but total of 30 fish.

No, guides can not hold boat lic. so clients for hire can get 30 fish!! They only get the rec limt.