MASS Commercial Fishing
 

The season is into its 2nd week and only 97,000 lbs have been Taken, Last year it took a Little more than 4 weeks to fill the quota with a take of about 250.000 lbs a week................ With a quota of Over a Million Pounds this year I'd say the Catch is a Little behind. With more boats out there fishing ,Where are the BASS ............Lets here your Thoughts

From what I heard of the prices paid for last years commercial harvest....I think the price the comm fishermen recieved last year for their hard work and effort may not have been enough and many of them figure why bother! Thus the modest 97,000 pounds to date. Just my .02 cents.

I think,
With the price of gas @ $4.00, there are a LOT less boats fishing this year!

I think the price of gas is keeping a lot of the part-timers away. No big concentration of fish in CC Bay, longer runs to find fish, most probably feel it isn't worth it. And real commercials can make more money off fluke than bass. I do know of a couple of full-timers who are limiting out with 600+ pounds on 30 fish days.

commercial season fishing
 

I haven't commercial fished 1 day so far, and most likely won't bother !
:shocked:

I have a friend that has gotten his limit in all 5 days ;;;


What about RI, commercial season ...;;


a One month season that closed in exactly two weeks because they met their quota :::: & the price was good :wall:

bigfish hit it spot on. I've talked to a few guys I know who are commercial and they said the same thing.

I think there are a couple of factors. First, the gas prices are definately limiting effort - that's a no-brainer.
Second, I think the formula for fishing days (5 fish sun, 30 T,W,TR) is limiting the catch - but that is a good thing. - this was intended to spread out landings, thus keeping the price higher, and get more fishing days. Under the old system, the market would flood with everyone dumping 40 fish on the market (b/c they were fishing all weekend) and the price would go to poop. Now guys can't "ice fish" as easy, and the people putting up 30 fish on a day are the real deal.
Third, last year a huge body of fish moved into CC-Bay on basically the first day of commercial season and it was a freaking free-for all. This year there are alot of big fish offshore, but they haven't moved in where guys can get at them easily. There are good fish in the bay, but you really have to work for them - its not a matter of the doghouse boats just tube and worming all day for a limit.
My .02, take it for what its worth.

i think.....
 

:think: that Striped Bass are under utilized as a stocked fish (nationwide) and that there should be hatcheries in New England for both fresh and saltwater species..........
because the natural hatchery of Chesapeak Bay is under attack by
disease bigtime..... Growing stripers is much more profitable than hogs or friggan cranberries. Tuna should be farmed too...

until we start farming the Ocean ...at.... times... larger than land agriculture... we are blowing it... just robbing the resource...
(compared to what we could do with new technologies)
i think fishing could be 5 times better than what it is today
or even in the 70's.

those are my thoughts.:uhuh:

gas...big winds every day=sloppy seas..pee soup fog...I'd say gas is the biggest reason...always see the horde's of boats on trailers all summer long,big boats....seen maybe 13 small boats all year on the road..tackle shops are complaining about no business..roads are clear for the most part...people are staying home.

They guy I fish with sometimes is getting his limit or almost everyday. Did 29 fish by himself one day last week and he is 67 yrs. old. including seven fish in the thirties. One day he smacked a 49#er.

One comm. guy I know, who can put #'s in his boat, well, BF is correct.. the comm guy I know is sharp as a tack.. he said he'd hafta get $4 a pound to even consider putting the boat in, right now... and he can limit out every day.
Even the Charter boat guys are hurting on the fuel, not going as far for fish, and settling for what they can put folks on near port.
Go to Rock Harbor almost anyday this summer.. lots of them Charters not even leaving the docks, this year.. some priced themselves outta sight, but, they'd rather sit, than work for nothing, or lose dough.

The weather has been an issue and from what I hear, but most of the guys are getting their limits of 30 or close to it but are having to put in alot more time to do it. A few 40's but mostly fish in the 20's.

I would love to see them not get to the quota just to send a message to the DMF "experts"

Fishing the Bay has been very slow for me and the guys I know. Same as last year. First week was ok but last week I was the only boat out where usually there are many. Really got to hunt for them and thus more gas is used. I have been going east in the bay the last few times and there are many boats but I haven't seen many caught. I have not marked a pod of fish yet only individual fish and they don't seem hungry. Night fishing guys are doing ok but I work nites. Thats fishing. Thank god I don't have to depend on it for a living. I sux. P.

Up to nearly 250,000. The number reported is definetly behind, well behind actual landings/sales. I think MA is probably a week behind in inputting data. At the time of 93,000 I knew 4 guys who totalled more than 10,000. I do not think they accounted for 10% of the catch!

you would be close...its actually 232, 584. i just called the DMF hotline to check because i know their website is a week behind. if you check that page there is even a note on the bottom saying that there is a problem with the dealer reporting system they use via. the internet.

if you want the number to check for the future..1-978-282-0308.

Sandman, i doubt they will ever close the season, even if it takes through September to fill the quota. only 5 or 6 years ago guys were fishing until September, but that was because there were only around 2500 -3000 permits, pretty much all full timers. now there are close to 7000 permits out, thus, the quicker season. all's its gonna take is a big school to move in off chatham or gloucester and the quota will jump. it happens every year. i know gloucester took in over 12,000 pounds last thursday alone. the guys were surprised at how slow the season had been, and then all those fish.

I know that Clam Man said he usually gets 4000lbs to kick it off, and only got about 500 on the first day this year. He stated that the guys fishing the vineyard only were coming in with a couple fish. I listen to the buyer, b/c that is his business, he isn't a tackle shop or somebody trying to sell something that dosen't exist.

Clambelly, we haven't had a commercial fishery into september since the early 90's. Maybe one year we did. I don't have the data to back it up, just memory.Definitely not in the last 5-7 years though.

well, a fleet of boats, along with myself, fished off Scorton Ledge the week after labor day, and i want to say it was 00 or 99. pretty sure it was 2000. a school of big fish moved in and that was the last week of the season.

still think they should divide the number of permits into the total number of lbs allowed..everyone gets X number of lbs.and your done for the season....drop the the total to 10 fish per day....I get tired of hearing "if they do that, how can we make a living"..guess what,,,comm. bass fishing is only a short term job..there's no such thing as a full time comm. bass fisherman...it's only a supplement to one's over all earning's.spread out the landing's,,keep the price up and make the season last longer.....yes! I was a comm. basser.

figures updated today
http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dmf/comme...ndex.htm#frame

most of the beaches are closed so people are staying home, because they have no wher to stay.And the bloody gas prices.

Quotas-
Only 3.6 million pounds of dogfish to go..

Why is the Blue fish Quota so low?

Was that the red tube slaughter? If so, I remember that one.

How much does it cost for a commercial license in MA, and what do you have to get one? Are there just so many a year or is anyone able to buy one? Not looking for one, just curious.

Depends. A basic rod and reel license is $35, which allows you to commercial fish from shore. For boaters, the license cost varies with the size of the boat. Additionally, certain species require an endorsement on your license, which requires an extra fee per species. For stripers, it's $30.

To get one, you send a completed application to DMF with a check for the license and any species endorsement. There are currently no restrictions or grandfathering affecting obtaining one. To renew one, you must submit a completed catch report by October 31.

i was curious about that too.
not for now but maybe when i retire in 30 years. :)

a boat permit will cost you $130 for any boat under 59 feet. a striper endorsement will cost you $30. in fact, all the endorsements cost $30. its pretty simple. the only factor today is they make you sign a sheet saying that the state reserves the right to take your license b/c you purchased after the state initiated a control date, which i think was sometime in 2004. so if you buy a license now, and the state decides to cut down the number of permits, you can lose it. also, if you don't send in your catch reports they are pulling permits. they are having a real problem with the numbers and i almost lost all my permits last year b/c i didn't send in a catch report for eels that i never even received from the state! they were holding all my other permits which i need to make a living until they got that peice of paper.

that was the one BB. the red tube did the job.

August 15th 2000. Full Moon, rain and NE wind blew for a few days prior and went into a NW wind after. Lasted a good week but the first few days were the best. I did not make the best of it but know a few who did. Never seen so many boats in such a small area. Anything from canoes to sportfishers. The guys that were there the first few days did 40 fish no problem, some caught all they could before they sunk their boat, went in for more bait and to sell and went out again, then it turned into a free for all. P.