NJ (and NY) already have adopted a two fish limit for all anglers.

Yes it is illegal but with little or no chance of getting caught it happens quite often. I would wager that a good number of the fish caught and kept in RI waters off of Block end up being sold commercially or on the black market in MA or NY.

I'm sure there is a person or two who catches fish in RI and trucks them to mass to sell (obviously illegal), but the idea that anyone with a mass commercial license pays to charter a RI boat to bring fish back to sell is absolutely ludicrous.
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Why is it ludicrous? Even if they aren't making much money at it its going to pay for the trip and who wouldn't want to be able to go fishing for free? What's the commercial value of 300+ pounds of bass compared to the price of a charter?

A complaint I hear often is that most "commercial" fisherman aren't really making a living at it they just use it to pay for boat, slip, gas etc... No difference with this scenario and whether you want to believe it or not it happens.
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Thinking it is 1 or 2 is absolutely ludicrous... check the state tags of the trucks at Great Island bridge when Comm season is open in MA...

The RISAA survey results were in favor of 1fish, and they have sent a letter reversing their position
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Of course they did, they just wanted to look like heros.....
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Or they blast over from Westport.

Some block island charter boats witnessed some guys who were pretty much living on their boat on block island and were fishing SW ledge every day that the mass comm season was open and had a runner boat come and pick up their mass limit and sell it in mass. Poaching to the extreme.
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No sh*t Bryan.

I was being facetious.
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This validates my point of the EPA putting a boat out there.
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There are not a lot of boats blasting over from Westport,70 mile round trip.

Except me on good tides
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Sorry...

I and thousands of others pay that to go to Hatteras every year to, if we are lucky, catch and release a big drum. Many pay much more than that to go to the tropics to catch and release bonefish or tarpon. For most of us, it isn't about the fillets and there is really not much better use of valuable vacation time. Maybe your customers have different priorities or maybe it is your economic interests that skew your perceptions of why people fish.

Im done . Live in your world Zimmy
Enjoy
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Never mind Hatteras,Florida has tarpon,people go all over the world for bones,GT's, down to South America for sails. Alaska...the list goes on. These are not meat trips.
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You imply that my world is not reality. That means that what I and Sea Dangles said is not true. Since it is, I am not sure where that leaves you.

I think it is more of a learning thing for Striper charters the customers have been able to keep fish in the past so why not now. That said I go bear hunting to New Foundland pay $2300.00 don't get a bear but still a great trip. Go to Maine for moose $5600. No guarantee of a moose but a great trip all around. So a Striper charter for $1200.00 with lots of fish caught but none or one for table sounds great also. It's all in how it's packaged as an experience. I own a $50,000.00 boat to go fishing for 3 tautog,1 Striper, and a few fluke,if it was about the eating of the fish I would say I am nuts. :-).

Just another way of looking at it.
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No, I would stay in NJ...book a cheaper charter, save on expenses and get my fillets there. If I was just in it for the fillets.

If I was just in it for the filets, Id go to the fish market. ;)

If you sell fish, then you are a commercial fisherman. There is no grey area or income percentage requirement.
You either are, or you are not.
Sorta like being gay
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The guy who holds the mass comm liscence to pay for his new simrad and slip is more like kinda sorta...
Sorta like being bisexual ;)
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Closet com
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Thats freaking funny right there.
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[QUOTE=buckman;1065799]We book maybe 15 to 20 .
Would you pay 1200 dollars , drive up from jersey with your buddies , book a room , spend a couple hundred dining out , use up some valuable vaca time knowing you could only take home a couple fillets ?

Having grown up in Highlands NJ and still fish down there in May and October I would say anyone coming up from NJ willing to pay 1200 plus cost for a striper charter are not concerned about bring home fish. They are coming up for the fun and desire to catch bigger fish. If the were just interested in meat they would stay home and spend the money on a trip to fish the canyons. They would come home with far more fish and much better eating fish. If they want stripers for eating they would be far better to fish for them at home since they have not seen quite the same decrease in numbers as New England has seen, plus they could find a six hour trip for about 600 for six.. When NJ people come up in the winter and spring for cod that is a different story, then they are more interested in meat.

Maybe already mentioned, but think of a state like florida. Tarpon are a no kill fish and that doesn't stop people like myself from visiting and booking fishing charters. Hell, you're not even allowed to take the damned things out of the water! Granted, they have no food value, but people obviously don't care about taking somethin back with them. There is no reason to believe that keeping only one fish per person will harm the striper charter industry. I worked on a charter boat for years, and to be honest the customers would almost always exchange puzzled glances at the dock, wondering who would take the last few fillets home. Killing a bass is every angler's right, but killing your limit because you can is a waste, and I think it's important to educate people on the value of catch and release.
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