the most salient point is Charlie Witek's comment about managing "live fish" not dead fish.....

and not just thinking about killing them in 2015, but having them around to fish for in 2020........

It is opinion really, but the ones I despise the most are the ones who take 10's of thousands of pounds for no reason other than money. I don't like anyone poaching, but the guys making money poaching/selling illegally are much worse to me than someone who is keeping them to eat. In any case, the poachers come in all shapes and sizes. Some just are easy to spot and others are pro's at hiding it.

It's not opinion, it's fact. Have you ever been there to see it??? Too bad you despise one over the other, you should reconsider...I on the other hand despise both sides that don't abide by the law...even if they claim stupid...I guess you have different standards of judging people
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If it is about abiding by the law, then why is the language part a primary focus? Have I been there to see what? I know all kinds of people poach. The language they speak is irrelevant, whether they keep 10 undersized fish in Quincy or 200,000 lbs on the bay. I don't have different standards for judging people, though I did judge the motivation for the acts. On that you are right, they are both bad as I believe I said. I also despise the charter boat slaughter off the block and the massacre on the banks of the canal and those are legal so I guess I will work on straightening out how I rank my despising.

I think we agree on the fundamentals that poaching is poaching no matter which way you slice it or who does it...the language part is used as the excuse of not being able to understand the law...when in reality it's ingnorence of the law...
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You know, I saw quite a few guys riding two big bass up to their trucks this summer while there was a cow blitz at a certain 400 yard stretch of Canal. No rods or gear on the bike. Then saw them a half hour later riding two more up there. On closed commercial days. Then riding back down to their gear and fishing again.

They all speak English pretty well. Like they were born here. Which, since I know most of them by sight if not by name, they were.
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MA Enviromental Police Hotline
800-632-8075

Try that in Russia or just about anywhere else.

there are (respected) members here who have suggested to friends that any decent fish they catch in the canal, they should give them a call and they'll come get it- and then sell it-

and they are good "recreational" guys....

the problem with striped bass is that they are worth too much

After you read this you will understand how badly New jersey threw bass under the bus. Now it will be hard to stop most of the states from going with two fish limits. Once again the public that bothered to give comments will be ignored. Plus note just how big a percentage the charters are on the fish killed in NY.

I read that too.
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It has been getting leaner and leaner for the shore guys down there for awhile now.

As long as were talking, I find the concept of who is a charter captain and who is a commercial fisherman interesting. For the purpose of the IRS how many trips do you need to take before your a charter captain is it one per year or is it a certain amount? Point being: I get the feeling that there are guys out there that say they are charter captains but are really in another occupation and just supplement there income by chartering. I have some sympathy for someone whose full time profession is chartering vs. a part timer. Additionally on a different point. I am sick to death of the so-called commercial fishermen who have other full time real jobs and commercially bass fish. In specific I know full time fireman and policemen who beat the hell out of the bass. I wonder how many of the guys commercial fishing at the block last year? I would suspect very few. Most probably had other jobs which they supplemented by helping to destroy a public resource. And don't tell me that they are providing a public service to feed bass to people who don't have access to bass to eat. No their doing it for the money pure and simple. If your a real commercial fisherman or charter captain, meaning that's how you feed your family I have sympathy, but not for the others.

Nowadays a lot of people have two jobs. It's what people do to get by.
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I will make sure I tell that to the fire captain in town that purchased a house on Martha's Vineyard with the proceeds of his commercial bass fishing. How about the teachers fishing off the block the last few summers. I am sure they are having a rough time in this economy. Especially after they had their pensions cut back last year. You guys have all the excuses anyway to get a bigger piece of the pie than the next guy. I reassert my belief that started this discussion. The rules should be the same for everyone. If they are not, special interests groups will fight for the crumbs that remain and eventually here will be no bass to fish for.

You are entitled to reap the benefit$ of this public resource just as much the next guy.
Just because you choose not to, doesn't make it wrong for others to do so.

Or 3.
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Do you really believe someone built a house on Martha's Vineyard from the proceeds from commercial bass fishing ?
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Some folks in this discussion are truly delusional.

Yeah, money has a funny way of doing that to people.
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You know what's delusional? Saying killing 2 fish is equal to killing 1 fish. Now that's delusional.
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Vineyard ?
Psssshhh- he must suck. My Bass money is going my new homestead on Nantucket.
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Exactly
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It's the opportunity to catch two larger fish fish versus the opportunity to catch one smaller fish.
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Delusional
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That's baloney, any charter worth his salt will put his client on large, much larger than 33 inches. One 30 lber is plenty, and they can keep catching all day and throwing them back. And if they need more meat, go for fluke, sea bass or scup, or stop at the fish market and buy them some fillets on top of the 400 dollar fee. And if you tell me you can't put your client on decent fish, that is an obvious sign the stock is in trouble
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I said it once and I will say it again. This is really about charter captians and crew and SELLING bass.
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make it a gamefish.

What is delusional is the idea that the population can be properly managed with maximum sustainable yield as the standard.

After a meeting yesterday it appears NY will now also request a two fish bag from ASMFC for all fishermen. These decisions are creating lots of disillusioned recs who are now seeing that the ASMFC public hearing process last year was basically a waste of time. Massachusetts meetings this week - and RI appears to be waiting for the last minute so as to see what other states have done.