JohnR
09-04-2003, 08:16 PM
Anyone here of these folks - National Coalition for Marine Conservation's ? I've had some correspondence from these folks and they have a grass roots effort to ban the menhaden reduction fishery in the Chesapeke - not a bad thing in my opinion. BUT, anyone familiar with them? Are they the real deal? Or do they pursue MPAs and oppose FFA and that sort... Are they friends due to a common battle? Or are they truly friends and fellow conservation minded anglers? Some of their links appear to be to agencies that are not exactly pro-fishing....
http://www.savethefish.org/index.htm
SAVE THE STRIPERS
Campaign Overview
THE PROBLEM
Although the recovery of striped bass is a major success story for fishery management, a new threat is emerging. The resurgent population of rockfish is not finding enough to eat and, if something isn't done, it could lead to a future collapse in the fishery.
The facts are that up to 90% of striped bass on the east coast spawn in the Chesapeake Bay. The diet of large adult striped bass is 70-80% menhaden, and most of this consumption is of juveniles. The Chesapeake produces nearly half of each new generation of menhaden. And, the population of juvenile menhaden is in decline, reaching a historic low in 2001. Therefore we know the health of the striped bass population, from Maine to North Carolina, is intricately linked to that of the menhaden stock. Menhaden fill an important niche in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, and their wholesale removal is having detrimental impacts, not only for striped bass but other species as well.
Many of you have asked us, why the big push to ban large-scale menhaden fishing now, this has been a problem for many years? There are several reasons, including that in the near future large striped bass will be increasing in number as the strong year classes of the 1990s mature. Populations of the other two major menhaden predators, weakfish and bluefish, are also being rebuilt to healthy levels. And, much of the new information being provided by our ecosystem modeling techniques is proving that large-scale menhaden fishing in the Bay is having negative ecological impacts.
OUR SOLUTION
We are reaching out to anglers from Maine to North Carolina to support our campaign, and sign a petition to ban industrial-scale menhaden fishing from the Chesapeake Bay. We will be submitting a proposal to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) -- the body responsible for managing both striped bass and menhaden -- at its annual meeting in December 2003 asking that all industrial-scale menhaden fishing be prohibited in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. With your help, this proposal will be backed by science AND the support of thousands of fishermen who catch striped bass for food and recreation.
We can't let the striper go from a poster fish for good conservation to a symbol of what can go wrong when we ignore a fish's ecological needs.
We've got a lot of work to do, so please consider making a donation to this campaign to guarantee a vital future for striped bass!
WHO WE ARE
The National Coalition for Marine Conservation (NCMC) was founded by conservation-minded anglers thirty years ago to protect the future of fish and fishing. We were a major player in the effort to bring back the striped bass on the Atlantic seaboard.
In 1977 we held a workshop laying the groundwork for the Interstate Striped Bass Management Project
In 1980 we organized a national conference that led to the adoption of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan in 1981
In 1984 we lobbied successfully for the federal Striped Bass Conservation Act
And, we've already started work on bringing back menhaden and other prey species.
Since 1997 we've spearheaded the effort to incorporate predator/prey relationships into fisheries management
In 2000 we published our influential report, "Conservation in a Fish-Eat-Fish World"
NCMC currently serves on the ASMFC's Menhaden Advisory Panel National Coalition for Marine Conservation?
http://www.savethefish.org/index.htm
SAVE THE STRIPERS
Campaign Overview
THE PROBLEM
Although the recovery of striped bass is a major success story for fishery management, a new threat is emerging. The resurgent population of rockfish is not finding enough to eat and, if something isn't done, it could lead to a future collapse in the fishery.
The facts are that up to 90% of striped bass on the east coast spawn in the Chesapeake Bay. The diet of large adult striped bass is 70-80% menhaden, and most of this consumption is of juveniles. The Chesapeake produces nearly half of each new generation of menhaden. And, the population of juvenile menhaden is in decline, reaching a historic low in 2001. Therefore we know the health of the striped bass population, from Maine to North Carolina, is intricately linked to that of the menhaden stock. Menhaden fill an important niche in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, and their wholesale removal is having detrimental impacts, not only for striped bass but other species as well.
Many of you have asked us, why the big push to ban large-scale menhaden fishing now, this has been a problem for many years? There are several reasons, including that in the near future large striped bass will be increasing in number as the strong year classes of the 1990s mature. Populations of the other two major menhaden predators, weakfish and bluefish, are also being rebuilt to healthy levels. And, much of the new information being provided by our ecosystem modeling techniques is proving that large-scale menhaden fishing in the Bay is having negative ecological impacts.
OUR SOLUTION
We are reaching out to anglers from Maine to North Carolina to support our campaign, and sign a petition to ban industrial-scale menhaden fishing from the Chesapeake Bay. We will be submitting a proposal to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) -- the body responsible for managing both striped bass and menhaden -- at its annual meeting in December 2003 asking that all industrial-scale menhaden fishing be prohibited in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. With your help, this proposal will be backed by science AND the support of thousands of fishermen who catch striped bass for food and recreation.
We can't let the striper go from a poster fish for good conservation to a symbol of what can go wrong when we ignore a fish's ecological needs.
We've got a lot of work to do, so please consider making a donation to this campaign to guarantee a vital future for striped bass!
WHO WE ARE
The National Coalition for Marine Conservation (NCMC) was founded by conservation-minded anglers thirty years ago to protect the future of fish and fishing. We were a major player in the effort to bring back the striped bass on the Atlantic seaboard.
In 1977 we held a workshop laying the groundwork for the Interstate Striped Bass Management Project
In 1980 we organized a national conference that led to the adoption of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan in 1981
In 1984 we lobbied successfully for the federal Striped Bass Conservation Act
And, we've already started work on bringing back menhaden and other prey species.
Since 1997 we've spearheaded the effort to incorporate predator/prey relationships into fisheries management
In 2000 we published our influential report, "Conservation in a Fish-Eat-Fish World"
NCMC currently serves on the ASMFC's Menhaden Advisory Panel National Coalition for Marine Conservation?