MA bass
 

Advisory: Commercial Striped Bass Fishery Closed MA

I think 25% of quota came from that ditch thingy, last I looked a couple weeks ago it was 70... Dah

ditch thingy

you mean the Fish Funnel


I hope fisheries managers realize what is going on as the quota took longer and longer to reach each year as the population of bass continues to crash.

game fish would be nice but I'm afraid there is too much corruption for that to be feasible

x2

And the fact it was worth more than Tuna wholesale this year doesn't help
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I wish I knew the answer.... part of me says there's room for a commercial fishery to exist for bass. the other part of me says the other species have been made gamefish only despite having commercial value (snook and redfish come to mind) so maybe that's the way to go.

I've had this same discussion with others (and in my own head) for 2 decades...... still not sure what I think is best.

Endorsement
Make bass limited entry, the people who have been catching and reporting faithfully the longest gets the permit...
Probably cut the permits down by half... Raise it to, say, 20 fish.... Could cut the quota in half maybe, give the sure guys more also if they qualify...

Beer makes me think I'm smart... :-)

Sorry Ray
I'll never agree to exclusivity for commercial fishing for only certain individuals. That is unAmerican in my eye.
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Ya! I know, it's a tough one...
How about a lottery?

Tog is headed that way, enforcement, just too many people on the planet, hey?

Gamefish, can you imagine what the fishery would be like in ten years. I might be too arthritic to enjoy it, but my son would have a ball.

It will never happen.
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At least a lottery would be more fair.

Tying eligibility to percentage of earned income is bullcrap
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A lottery maybe more fair, But they do a lottery up at Plum Island every year for ORV Permits and give out 85 to about 150 entries if your the guy who doesn't get a permit 3 years in a row in there mind it's not fair

This year they gave out 25 permits, they said it was due to erosion
I have been on that beach for as long as I can remember and if there are more than 25 Beach Buggies on the beach at once it's the 1st weekend they open so I think it's BS

Taking 2 months to catch a million pounds is not a sign of the apocalypse Bruce.
That's only 20 open comm days at 15 fish per permit.
When it was 30 fish, it only took 9 fishing days to land.
Don't forget it went from 3 days a week to 2 days and beach permits went down to only two fish per person.
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Curious Mike how was the comm fishing in the Boston harbor area this summah.
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I only fished Thursdays and did ok. 4-5 fish per trip, 9 once. Lots of charter fish 28-33" around.
Seems like it was just getting good lately. I know some did better but I don't know of many getting limits every time.
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Was curious. Guys down here in boats in the Bay had some good days and a bunch of stinkers. Buzzards bay outside the canal was good to them this year.
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Tough sledding up our way...some nice fish around but few and far in between. .
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Quota dropped
 

Don't forget in the math the quota went from a million pounds to 800k. Ma dmf should be able to provide the location distribution of the fish (although that info has from noise from people catching and selling up where they live). Northshore was terrible till about 10 days ago. Guys floating around for 10 hours to catch 2 fish? There was very little in the way of big fish in the Rocks. Pogy school in Salem to date has been unmolested. Even Ron Powers struggled some reports great fishing and to even throw a decent picture of a bass up. The kicker is that everyone has gotten so much better at fishing for the bass. That factor is the biggest reason I think there are dark clouds on the horizon (for the big fish).

yeah.... I feel like we're headed for another crash. and I'm too old to wait for it to come back.....