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Thanks ScottW for your perseverance in these threads.
I can only speak for myself. I do care about the striped bass and
really the whole fishery. My fish counts were wildly low this past
year. Not just striped bass but bycatch like bluefish and fluke.
I am a fisherman and without the fish, I feel like a lost child. I fish
mostly from the surf. Last year many of my outings were just
casting practice.
I live in western CT and often travel to fish. I fish in RI, CT, MA, and NY.
My motivation to do these trips is shot. It also means I will not be
spending my money in any of those states.
Many many fisherman travel to fish.
I am not a political person. I don't spend any time or effort in
anything government related. I guess you could say that I don't
have the patience for it, but am really thankful for those who do.
Reading the outcome of the legislation is really upsetting to me.
Even the short sightedness of a 1 fish limit. Really it should be zero.
The government agencies that manage our environmental resources
have failed us all. The fact that their opinion can be swayed by
commercial beings just shows how corrupt and unqualified they really
are at managing natural resources. Shouldn't environmental
resource concerns be separated from the economy?
I am limiting my fishing this year. I might only fish a couple of weeks
in the surf. Really, I feel the couple trips I am planning are more out
of nostalgia than I expect or even care to catch fish. My local waters
in the western sound have been a ghostland, and I will not be fishing
them at all this year. I intend to not target the spring holdovers,
migration, or spawn. I am trying my best not to be a hypocrite, but
at the same time...I just want to fish.
Regarding the charter captains out there and your concern for
personal economics. Any sort of acceleration in the thinning of the
fishery stocks is bound to catch up with you.
You may have the attitude....who cares about the surfcaster. Well, I
tend to hire charters when I go on my outings. If there are no fish in
the surf, I am not making trips and I am not hiring you. I am not
spending money in your hotels and restaurants. I am not upgrading
or buying any more tackle and supporting your local business.
I fished the week during the MV derby and also fished Block Island
and Montauk during the fall run. These places were ghost towns.
Void of fish, void of surfcasters. Just two years ago, montauk was
crawling with thousands of surfcasters. I love fishing Newport, but
didn't bother last year because reports were so bad.
The economic impact related to the slow of the fishery is so much
larger than some stupid argument between whether a boat can keep
one or two fish. Really, we should be in moratorium for the sake of
the fish, the sport, and the local business.
We should be fighting together for this fishery not against eachother.
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