Increase Commercial Catch for Striped Bass? Or NOT? - Sign up here
 

Yep, the ASMFC has an addendum to propose an increase in the commercial quota to "improve" equality between recs and comms.
(Also on the agenda is discussion for changing how YOY indices are measured / failure quantified). Full text:

Now many of you know that I am not pro or anti-commercial fishing for Stripers (I'd prefer reducing takes on both rec / com and better protection for forage fish). I know we have members that fish commercially and members that support game fish status. So we cover all the bases here and often argue these points ad nauseum. But I think the vast majority of the people here think that the stocks are heading in the wrong direction and that a reduction in take all across the board is necessary to benefit the health of the stocks.

So without getting into yet another battle to quagmire discussion (we can have another thread for that) who here is willing to GO TO THE HEARING? Maine and New Hampshire are coming in September. But Mass and RI are next week.

Add your name to the following lists on which meeting you can attend. Mass is next Monday in Dedham and RI is next Tuesday in Gansett.


John R: MASS (likely) & RI (definitely)


Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
August 16, 2010; 6:00 PM
Holiday Inn
55 Ariadne Road
Dedham, Massachusetts
Contact: Jared Silva at (617) 626-1534

Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife
August 17, 2010; 6:00 PM
URI, Narragansett Bay Campus, Corless Auditorium
215 South Ferry Road
Narragansett, Rhode Island
Contact: Mark Gibson at (401) 423-1935

Time to go all in. Full document attached.

RI for sure.

Excellent :btu:


This is not a meeting people can afford to miss or hope others attend in their place.

If you give a bleep about the fish, you'll do what you can to go.

Where are they having the NH meeting? Any Info?

Maybe. I have a 6:00 AM "wheel up" to Pittsburgh 8/18. We will see. What time is the meeting?

NH is in September

6PM meeting at URI Bay Campus

I will try to make it. Beautiful "hot" Norfolk VA right now

Folks may not like it but my position is 1 fish 36" NO COMMERCIAL. There are plenty of people who are selling their fish at the back door with no license, and others who catch more than they are allowed and pass them on to other license holders who sell them for a cut. At some point we have to look at the value of the fishing and not the value of the fish caught.
I am planning on Mass. and maybe R.I.

So go to the Mass Meeting.

We can write letters and maybe have an impact, we can go to the meeting and maybe have an impact, we can go to the meeting AND write a letter and maybe have more of an impact, or we can beyotch about it here and have zero impact ;) - even though we may feel we have done something we probably haven't.

I'm hoping to get out of work early enough to shoot down to Dedham.

I know....just wondering if you knew where.....thats a lot closer to my house than Dedham is

I will be going to the New Hampshire meeting for sure and I will also try to go to the Mass and Maine meetings. Letters have already been sent.


New Hampshire Fish and Game
September 13, 2010; 7:00 PM
Urban Forestry Center
45 Elwyn Road
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Contact: Doug Grout at (603) 868-1095

That works a lot better than Dedham

I will be at Dedham
Time for the silent majority to grow some teeth.
No more excuses, it's time to man up or shut up and we will get what we deserve.

:btu:

I will write a letter,

Going to something like this then getting up at 4:30am makes a tough day at work

will try for dedham next monday...

will be going to the r.i meeting. time to get my butt off the couch and do something constructive for a change.
at least now when i bit**ch, i can say i tried to do something about it.

I'll be at the Dedham meeting in support of an increase.

Supporting an increase because of the science, or because of your wallet?

Rhode Island in support of conservation and science.

If people want to buy it someone has to sell it !

I have no issues with selling bass.
My issue is with where are the replacements.
Pulled this off the USFWS site.
Notice any trend ?

Until there's none left to sell.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

I'm OK with it but we can't chance that it runs out. Unlike farming where we replenish the crop, we need to be extra careful this crop replaces itself.

Otherwise Tragedy of the Commons Part Deaux and all.

It's already started John .. All the signs are there.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Why don't the commercials' invest in farming. The investment amount by each investor correlates to a percentage of the take.

let's kill 'em 'till they're gone... :smash:

what eben said...

Yeh, I think so too.

PLEASE, we can do better than this, right? I know more people that are going than voiced on this thread, but lets get more of a firm list please. We need to represent this better. IIRC, Rhode island is one of the states in favor of increasing the quota, therefore it is very important to make it known that a lot of fishers don't want increased commercial take.

RI: Tuesday night

JohnR
Afterhours
Piemma
Slow Eddie
Red Sox Ticket

MA: Monday night

JohnR (maybe)
Ecduzitgood
JohnnyD
Makai
Freebie

NH (September)

MikeToole
TDF


MA in support of increased quota:

Raider Ronnie

I'll be at the RI hearing.

DZ

right there is the reason why nothing will ever get done....

Ron has a valid reason for wanting an increase and you have a valid reason for a decrease.......but instead of working together for a common goal.....people get nasty.

Republican meet Democrat
Democrat meet Republican.

Ah there's the rub.

I think people also use that mentality as justification for the manufacture of Meth.

I hope your kids aren't going to be taking up the family business. At some point, the comms will run out of a product to sell. Who's going to pay them for Charters when there aren't any bass left to catch?

See you there Dennis


We really need a good turnout to these meetings.


Do you mean like an oil and water thing? Or Democrats are for reductions and republicans are for exploitations? Dunno, couldn't figure it out ;)

I don't think it has anything to do w/ party lines....

Its more of a "What's important to me IS Important, and what's important to you...is not" mentality. People immediately start head-butting and get absolutely nowhere.

Can someone donate a nice plug to be given away as a lottery for all S-B attendees even raider ron.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

I'd support an increase if there was any reliable science. However, the science does not demonstrate that the striped bass population is thriving enough to take on a large increase of pressure from Comms. Some of the commercial arguments I've seen have essentially been "woes me" type positions or arguments that there isn't good science to show the stocks are at risk (while ignoring that the science doesn't show that they are thriving either).

When issues with regards to regulation come up on these forums, the majority of commercials that post basically have a position of "cut the recs and increase our quota" - just look at the tuna thread or the thread about the SF bill.

Hell, even the damn proposal by ASMFC re-enforces my above point:
There are two ways to improve the equality - reduce the rec limits or increase the comm quota. One of those methods is beneficial to the long-term health of the fish population and the other is demonstrative of the ways ASMFC is an impotent regulation body and continually buckles to pressure from the commercial sector.

My point being that the "Woes Me" issues are important to them, and need to be understood, not reacted to w/ disdain, if any meaningful dialogue is to take place.

I'll be at the NH one.. I've been a guest speaker there, it's easy to get to...