|
John,
Certainly everyone is entitled to thier own opinion. I'm certainly not saying I'm right ... there is much that I'm unaware of I'm sure.
Many of my views concerning comms changed when I started talking to my nextdoor neighbor in Eastham who happens to be a comm rod & reel cod fisherman.
I'm pretty sure all comms are not created equal. He is not thrilled with the miles of gillnets that are placed on most of the good bottom far offshore. If a storm comes up and they can't get out for several days ... well the fish rot in the nets.
Most of the small guys aren't effected by the size limits ... more by the size of their boats. Much more than 900# and he couldn't get back in.
Funny a year or so ago when I was at a S-B hearing at MA Maritime the recs and comms all seemed to be in favor of higher size limits. But the party boat owners got up there and p & m-ed about how they couldn't compete with other states with lower size limits. So the limit went from 30" to 28". I believe that the party boats that targeted stripers were responsible for this size reduction, since they appeared to be the only ones in favor of it.
Besides the PB's hammer the cod and haddock as previously closed areas are opened to them. You take a fish outta the eco-system, whether it be by comm or PB rec ... and its gone ... period.
There seem to be a lot more PB's going out of Plymouth Harbor these days than draggers.
Funny the cod stocks are way down but they are hammering them 1/2 off the beach on the outer cape. Not many comms fishing for them because the price has been so low since 9-11.
I'd say everyone may have to sacrifice to get the stocks up to the levels where you could catch 20#ers at night in the spring right in the harbors. Success will require the same teamwork that the Pats employed to win a Super Bowl. Will it happen??? What do you think!!
|