Talking to a MA environmental officer the other day I asked the question why is it illegal to shoot stripers with a spear gun; his reply was "You can only harvest Striped Bass in the state of Massachusetts by Hook & Line only. Not speared, not shot, not by net, ECT... What the abstract states is how you should follow the law. I asked why again and he said he didn’t know why it’s just hook and line (he also said no one ever asked why a second time either).
Quote from
MA DMF website "The taking of striped bass by any other means other than hook and line is prohibited."