Quote:
Originally Posted by piemma
Joe, I have written a couple of articles on the Tarpon/Snook fishery and how it got shutdown and is now a world class fishery. I think that the time has come for the commercial guys to target another species, not that that would help.
I am NOT saying the comms are at fault but if you take a price off the fishes head and declare a moratorium that includes everywhere and everyone, maybe we save them again.
At 73, I don't have a lot of years left to fish but I do have heirs and would hope there would be a fishery for them.
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Everyone is culpable when it comes to money,as you know (youve got 10 years on me)..striped bass have a long and storied history, as both a game/ surf fish and a sorce of seasonal protien... I don't advocate one side or the other as the saviour or problem, I've been on both "teams"..but trying to look at the problem rationally, I think both sides can ( and should) put differences aside and do what is right for the fish...it is time for recreational reporting,its the only way to even come close to estimating how many fish are caught and retained or released, then the science of release mortality may be able to be more accurately estimated..
If this was 1980, I would never know there is a problem, we have fish of all sizes everywhere, people with the IQ of a coconut are catching large, so now the next problem,the 10 minute photo session while the fish suffocates..I'Ve seen more dead sub legal fish than I have in 20 years, party boats are chunking for those small fish( and killing them) no one can blame that on the commercial sector..mean while, I'm still fishing , releasing fish boat side without removing them(hoping Whitey doesn't come calling)..
I'm getting old too, each trip is harder than the last..I hope, this glorious fish gets the respect it deserves before I can't do this anymore.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device