First of all...THANKS to you all for your coverage, reporting & involvement in the Striper discard issue! I must say when I heard the news that NCDMF was changing the rules for the Trawler fishery yesterday, I was excited. However, after a little time to digest the press release , I'm very upset. First of all NCDMF made it appear in the press release (attached) as though there was only one discard occurence when everyone fishing that day knows there were multiple discards from southern Corolla all the way down to Rodanthe. Especially in the Nags Head/ Kill Devil Hills area. Not to mention that there are discard events all day, everyday that the Trawler fleet is actively fishing, it's the nature of the gear used. Trawl boats cannot control the number, size or species of the fish they catch in their net, that's why it's referred to as "indiscriminate gear" which leads me to my second point. The new rules announced for the trawler fishery DO NOTHING to address the fact that under Federal mandate, no Striped Bass under 28" may be in possesion by anyone, recreational or commercial. Many of the Stripers caught by the Trawler fleet (see attached photo) are under the 28" limit and therefore will continue to be DISCARDED!!!!! In fact on Sunday, the day I fished and witnessed all the discarding, our crew of 5 picked up 6 "floaters" to not only complete our 10 fish limit, but to prevent those 6 fish from being wasted. In order to get 6 fish that measured 28" or larger we had to go through at least 30 "floaters", meaning a large percentage of the discarded Striped Bass we UNDER the 28" limit and will continue to be discarded under the revised rules! The NCDMF came out with this press release & rule change to do nothing more than get the heat off their own hindparts, it really does NOTHING to address the horrible waste of an incredibly valueable, precious natural resource, OUR Striped Bass. It would have made MUCH more sense to simply convert the allocation of the Striped Bass quota from a Trawl gear fishery to a hook & line fishery. Hook & Line meaning trolling hooked lures on commercial reels, that would allow the LIVE release of under sized Bass, prevent by-catch of other species & maintain the alloted quota for the commercial fishermen. Not to mention they could keep a number limit per vessel in order to maintain a better market price for the catch by limiting the landings therefore preventing market saturation. But, I guess that makes too much sense! I encourage you to stay on top of this story, it's far from over! Please follow up with Executive Director of the NCDMF, Louis Daniel (1 800 682-2632) & ask him about the points I've made above...I predict you'll be intrtoduced to the term "heritage fishery".

Thanks again, Mike Stokes

Here's a link to a NEW video posted to Youtube. THANKS JOE!!YouTube - Waste At Sea-Striped Bass North Carolina (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGnqSD9V8Pg&feature=email)

Makes me ill.

That press release is the biggest crock of BS. While the captain followed the law of "kill everything until you find something bigger", I think his story of the overstuffed net is dispicable and untrue. The fact that the state allows this practice is discouraging.