I think everyone will agree that right now bluefish are in abundance.

Personally I think this is great. They provide great action for youngsters, and can save a trip if you can't find stripers.

Another great thing about bluefish is recently I have seen many SBFT feeding on them frequently, very close to shore, which is also awesome.

So, I propose, now is the time to impose more strict regulations on bluefish. Why do we always have to wait for stocks to become scarce before we impose regulations???

3 fish 12-18 inches, 1 fish over 26".

I don't have kids yet, but plan to soon. I want to be able to take them out and see schools of feeding blues with birds working, and the occasional SBFT crashing through the frenzy with reckless abandon!

SAVE THE BLUEFISH
:hidin:

Blues.. :rocketem: :gorez:

I love catching blues....saved my day yesterday and I had a ball! :btu: I agree....why not set a limit now before they are gone. Not that I think they will be but what would be the harm to imposing limits?

I had the pleasure of going off shore last weekend about 30 + miles out. I'll just say near chatham. Anyway the first day we caught many blue fish, although we werent trying to. All the blue fish were big like 10-15 lbs. Anyway the final day we were trolling and caught a blue fish, not one minute later on a big squid, we got a tremedous hit, 15 minutes later we had a 150 + lb Blue Fin Tuna in the cock pit. and yes (we did have a license)

I love blue fish!!! ..........for bait

I think the current regs are fine -
Bluefish
season All Year
size - none
limit - 10 fish

snappers are great live bait.
plus one decent blue make great bait for 3 of my lobster traps.

Why would you set unnecessary limits on a healthy stock of fish? Blues are plentiful.
They are also a major source of bait for offshore fishermen as well as a large portion of the sustenance fishermans catch. And snappers are make excellent bait for bass guys too.
IMO, that sort of rec. regulatory thinking is greedy in its own right.

off topic, but Krispy - that mad guy at the computer is very funny and quagmire is the man. this is a little off, but I fell out my chair when he said "I love to hit em in the can" Hey that's two.....he's quagmire .....

Why would you set unnecessary limits on a healthy stock of fish? Blues are plentiful.
They are also a major source of bait for offshore fishermen as well as a large portion of the sustenance fishermans catch. And snappers are make excellent bait for bass guys too.
IMO, that sort of rec. regulatory thinking is greedy in its own right.

That's usually what's said right before they start disappearing.

If the swordfish,bluefin,striper etc. had been reasonbly regulated when 1st proposed way back we would've never seen major declines in stocks that we now have.

To say that there's plenty for everybody is complacent at best and foolish at worst.

Remember "Complacency Kills".

Bluefish stocks have been largely "unregulated", meaning, who wants 10 blues to eat and little commercial value, and have been fine for 30 years. Any change in catch is most likely natural swing.
Blues are also more prolific and mature at higher rates than swordfish,bluefin and striper. And there is great consumer demand for those species.
If theres scientific data showing declines do to overfishing, then its time to regulate, not just because "I wanna". Essentially, you want everyone to take less blues to over insure your personal fun time


Theres a great big free ocean out there, I dont need every single aspect of what I do, boxed in by laws to determine what Im allowed to take.

3 fish 12-18 inches, 1 fish over 26".


I can see the head lines now... New Bluefish Regulations cause Increase in Hospital Emergency Room Visits. Doctors say on average they see one shorter digit a day...

I don't think we have to worry about Bluefish, they taste like CRAP !!!

If they were good eating, they would be diminishing like the tasty fishes out there.

We only need to worry that what they eat (baitfish) are around for them.
If not they will be in big trouble from that not us.

Very little bait up north here in Bahstan, and game fish are getting harder to find.

One bottle Ken's Caesar dressing, Juice of one lime, pinch of cayenne, marinate and grill the fillets. Kiss bluefish goodbye! Tastey!

Zacs, you want a slot limit on bluefish? :laughs: :laughs: :laughs:

How often do you see or even hear about people taking their limit of blues? The only guys I know that do are using them for their lobster pots. I bet 99% throw all of them back and .5% keep one or two.

i destroy bernzy surf howdys on bluefish. its so much freekin fun. i love it. give me a shallow beach, surf howdy, random schools of like 3 bluefish cruising around, 5-10 pounders, its awsome. i love how they jump in the shallows.

most of the bluefish people catch they release beacause people dont like the tatse of there meat. if you bleed them out and get them on ice the 2-5lb bluefish are good on the grill. and theres nothing like seeing a jumbo blue crash a popper on surf or fly tackle

I've got to say - my first reaction when I read Zacs proposal was - "no way" - people don't keep blues anyway, blues taste like crap, there are too many anyhow, etc, etc, etc. But the more I read the posts that followed and the more I've thought about it - it starts to make sense.

People are fickle. What is todays nuisance catch could easily be tomorrows gourmet / angling fad. One day Jessica Simpson (or bart simpson for that matter) says that bluefish are yummy or bluefish oil keeps my skin silky soft and BAM - demand for blues goes up, prices go up, everyone's fishing for blues. (Menhaden oil became fashionable when Omega-3 fatty acids were ID'd as heart healthy and became the dietary supplement of choice) By the time the regs can get into place - the stocks are decimated.

Besides the argument that there's no overfishing now so don't put in regs is myopic. History is a great teacher - those of you who have read "Striper Wars" have read first hand accounts of what can happen. Why not manage the issue now. The guys who were taking boat loads of stripers back in the day thought the supply was endless. They really believed it. I know that the number of blues does seem infintie - but to my knowledge nobody has ever really tried to measure the stock of blues. We could be in the middle of a freefall and not know it.

Whoooh - just re-read this post - how the heck did I end up defending the vile bluefish :nailem: ??? I don't know but it just seems to make sense to start to manage the issue BEFORE it becomes a problem.

All kidding aside, I believe all fish deserve protection in the form of rules and regulations.It's only the moral thing to do. We've all seen the results of such, and when they are correct , they are miraculous. When there are no rules, then folks tend to think that they're entitled to all they can catch. Personally, I'm tired of seeing Blues abused by those who consider them TRASH fish. Trash fish don't exist. If the species isn't to your culinary liking, then leave them the hell alone. We are the stewards of the Salt folks, it's time to realize that it's ok to use properly but not to abuse. I've seen people strand blues and dogfish just because they don't like them. I guess it gives them a God-like power rush or something. These are our fellow beings,they have been given for our needs and use. As sapient beings we should appreciate our gifts and try to improve them. Walk lightly on this Planet, it is very small.

F/T BLOOOOOOFISH I don,t care if they never come back ..// :rocketem:

I agree with Krispy on this one; It has long been known that Bluefish are cyclical, some decades they are lean, some decades they are plentiful...
Are they fun to catch? Sometimes... Are they good eating? If cared for properly... Do I think we need a new limit? Nope; besides try enforcing 12" when the snapper runs are on and people are taking the lil guys...
FYI there is a good article on catching bluefish in the August OTW (plug) and rumor has it if clammer/mike catches the guy that wrote it AND enjoys catching them he's gonna sink his boat...

I agree with Krispy on this one; It has long been known that Bluefish are cyclical, some decades they are lean, some decades they are plentiful...

Again...this is always what's said before they start disappearing.

More folks are keeping 10 blues(in RI)now more than ever.Why?Cuz they can.

Don't bitch 20yrs from now when you're allowed only 1 or 2 fish.Complacency on this issue really does kill.

Love'em or hate'em you gotta protect'em before its too late.

How often do you see or even hear about people taking their limit of blues? The only guys I know that do are using them for their lobster pots. I bet 99% throw all of them back and .5% keep one or two.

See above post.

Almost all who are targeting blues are keeping 10 fish.

I read someplace (SWS I think) that NY is RAISING the retention limit from 10 to 15 or 25 (I think) per day. Marine Fishery Depts have their head up their ass and always have.

They had a 100 or 150 limit on scup...now the scup season is limited and shuts off Aug 1. (clearly they were wrong)

They allowed the taking of SB when it was in extreme decline and refused to do anything until they were forced to (moratorium)(clearly they were wrong)

winter flounder, weakfish, codfish, herring, bunker now eels..the list is long of regulated species that have been crushed, the bottom line is that they don't do anything until they are overfished to the point where they need to take drastic measures. (clearly they were wrong)

If they ***really*** new what they were doing fish stocks and their forage whould never get to this point...but the FACT is they don't have any idea what the hell they are doing except trying to allow the maximum comm take possible for all species. It is laughable.

Why would NY want raise the limit on bluefish? Becuase there are more of them? Who needs 10 bluefish per person per day?

Any change should be kept ultra simple...like X fish per person anysize. and X should me determined and set every year based on the trend in the total biomass of the fish IMO.

I agree that NMFS/ASMFC doesnt do great or have a great track record. "More folks are keeping 10 blues(in RI)now more than ever.Why?Cuz they can"
I 100% disagree that bluefish are getting kept more now than ever... I know that during the moratorium bluefish were being killed at a much higher rate then today there were no limits and charter boats taking fish by the 100's was not uncommon; we ran a head boat in the 80's that made most of its money scup fishing and bluefishing, 50 people taking coolers FULL of bluefish, even at 10fish pp/day we collectivly arent killing as many bluefish as 20yrs ago.....
I am around the docks alot and havent seen anyone come in with a limit of bluefish yet this year, most guys are bassing and only keeping a few blues for the table, shark bait, etc...
"Again...this is always what's said before they start disappearing"
You're right thats what they have always said because I beleive that alot of the species have a natural cycle to their nature. The problem is when they are overfished during a downswing in the population...