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First off, congratulations to the Cape Cod Charter Boat Association for supporting the one fish at 28-inches regulation; it is clear that their membership is comprised of enlightened individuals who understand the need for everyone to do their part when it comes to striped bass conservation.
As far as the numerous inflammatory and derogatory comments tossed about in this thread by what appear to be charter captains and/or supporters of the industry, it really is getting old. I have been to the hearings and am growing tired of the intimidation tactics and name calling used by individuals and groups with economic interests in order to get their way. When an "industry" stubbornly adheres to methods that are not sustainable and/or harm the common good, then the principles of economics will cause some of those businesses who won't adapt to fail. On the other hand, those operations that do adapt will survive and even thrive.
I've seen it happen with local charter captains who sail out of ports along the southside of the Cape; when they saw that bass fishing was hurting, they elected to encourage their clientele to focus on other species such as sea bass and bluefish. Some even realized that the experience of catching mainly bass smaller than the legal limit for possession is enjoyable for their charters and a number adjusted their tactics to heighten the experience of fishing, as opposed to just catching and killing.
I suspected that once my original post was out there, I would hear the usual "stuff" about fly fishermen and Stripers Forever (which I am not a member of and have no intention of ever becoming). If you read it carefully, you will see that I do not single out those charter captains who feel the need to "max out" as the sole folks responsible for overfishing, but include recreational anglers who have to kill their limit each time they are on the water and the vast majority of "commercial" striped bass anglers who have no interest in stepping up to the plate and dealing with the realities faced by small boat fishermen who have dedicated their lives to working on the water as their sole source of income.
It is true that most of bass that remain in the Chesapeake are small males after the larger females and males join the coastal stock in the spring, but the much anticipated bumper "crop" of bass from the 2011 year class is already in harm's way since states such as Maryland and Virginia allow recreational and commercial fishermen to harvest 18-inch or larger stripers - which is what a large percentage of the 2011 population taped out at last year and those numbers will obviously increase in 2015.
The science has proven that the late fall and winter conditions in any given year in the Chesapeake definitely are a major factor in terms of the quality of that season's spawn - but controlling the weather is certainly not something humans can do to guarantee a healthy striped bass biomass.
But we can help to maintain the health of the striped bass stock in one way - and that is by killing less of them. Folks are realizing that they were snookered by the ASMFC Striped Bass Management Board this fall with their apparent decision to do just that. The commitment to a 25% reduction in the take of bass from the coastal stock was applauded by one and all, but the board was holding a trick card in the form of "conservation equivalency" that would allow deviation from the one at 28-inch pledge. While it may be true that a two fish at 33-inches bag limit will be somehow equivalent to the smaller limit in terms of numbers of fish killed, the chances of succeeding in meeting the primary goal of boosting the overall health of the stock are not equal.
In the end, the essence of "greed" is believing that it is OK for any single user group to harvest more fish to the detriment of the common good, meaning that the ASMFC has once again failed in its duty by allowing any consideration of different regulations for the charter fleet.
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