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O.K. lets go back over my points one by one.
1.) value of the commercial fishery. 1st of all I don't believ the figure that recreational fishermen spend $600 a pound to catch striped bass. Secondly, where we are talking about hook and line fishing how could the difference per pound, be so disproportional? The commercial guys are running the same boats as the recs, fishing with same rods and reels, using the same baits and fishing in the same waters. Sure there is the "googan" factor on the recreational side, but there is also something similar on the commercial side, at least in MA where 25% of the commercial fihermen caught 100% of the fish. So how could the recreational economic contribution, on a per pound basis be so much different than the commercial factor? The answer is that it can't.
2.) Quotas. I agree that measuring the recreational catch is, at best difficult, but it can be done. Again, would all you guys who are so displeased with the commercial bag limits be content with similar limits for recreationals and have the fishery completely shut down when the quota was reached? I think not. What about in Places like NY where thye issue tags to the commercials and the fisherman can us the tags as they see fit during the season, what's wrong with that? The fact that they may be allowed to sell 40 or 60 fish? If a recreational wanted to keep 40 or 60 fish that would be O.K. but once cash is exchanged its somehow detremental to the resource?
3.) maybe striper forever isn't getting the big bucks, but the organizations that are supporting this cause, like the CCA and RFA certainly do get big bucks, and not only from their memebers. They get cash and other support from organizations like the NYSFTTA and similaar groups which have only the economic interests on their members at heart. Follow the money and you'll see who is really paying for this cause.
4) Several individuals here have dsaid that commercial quotas are constantly increasing, go back and read the thread. The fact is that the commercials have just (last year) gotten back to where they were 20 years ago. No amopunt of obfuscation is going to change that fact.
5.) The other 99% of the people. First of all the story about paying $$ for a 9 inch striper filet proves that the fish are worth a lot more than any of you are giving credit for. People do want to buy them, both at the market and in the resturants. (BTW that 9 inch filet was, almost undoubtedly, a farm raised striper, which again proves the vlaue of the fish if someone can make money by raiseing the things on a fish farm) So why shouldn't they be able to? because some group of costal snobs thinks that all the fish belong to them? Its not the same as trout, bass and other fresh water fish, where all of the management costs as paid by the fishermen through their license fees. The cost of striper management is paid for by everyone, through their tax dollars, both state and federal. So why shouldn't they get their faur share of them? If the bass were so unplatable as some would like us to think it should be obvious that there would be little or no market for them. Commercial fishermen aren't going to fish for fish that don't pay. Of course they are often stupid enough to flood the market and depress prices to a point where nobody makes any money, but that's not the point. If there was no money on striped bass the fish farms would stop raising them and fishermen would stop fishing for them. All you have to do is open your eyes and see that there is a demand for them and that demand comes from the general public who can't or won't catch them themselves. But they pay for them, through their taxes, so why can't they get some?
Some would like us to think that the striper is something special, and that all of those other folks who want to eat fish and the commercial fishermen should content themselves with other species. Well the striper is nothing special, its no different than if there was a movement to make striped bass a commercial only fishery and let all the recreational anglers be content with scup fishing. All of the fish in the ocean belong to everybody and no one should get a monopoly on any one of them.
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