I see all of your points, gentlemen--especially you, Clammer, because you were in fact releasing fish before I was born.
Major point I was after was that some guys who hold multispecies licenses have no business with them, and a good number of these same "commercials" have a good deall to say from the recreational side of the fence on the subject of commercial fishing.
Full-fledged commercial vessels must comply with some outlandish safety regs--survival suits, life rafts, epirbs and a variety of other gear just to keep fishing, while quite a few r-and-r guys claim commercial status without having to meet many if any of the commercial standards.
Look, I know plenty of guys who subsidize incomes with bass, fluke, scup, sea bass. Most of these guys fish in one capacity--commercial or sport--or another on a full-time basis. You'll note I mentioned "fishing" in the percentage-of-livelihood argument, a term that could be taken in a number of directions.
It is merely my opinion, and if any of y'all would like to write a formal response, I'd clear editorial space to run it. To be frank, I see part of my role as editor to present some outrageuos ideas once in a while to spark some debate.
This paticular entry was designed to stick in some craws--all I'm hoping for now is some actual written feedback in article or letter form.
As to the economic side, I can't see any logic to a 10- or 20- or 30-fish a day bass quota in Mass, a chunk that quickly sends the price into free-fall, where guys literally have to limit out to turn a buck. It irks me when scup prices, after week one of a seasonal opening, go from a buck to 10 cents. I start to wonder if there isn't some better way to manage the quota, where less fish would die for more profit.
Commercioal fishing is becoming increasingly impossible for small operations, while huge 100-plus foot draggers that need to stock out 25,000 pounds just to avoid a "broker" are still mopping up as much weight as they can, making the profit not on quality of the delivered product, but on sheer volume.
That's why so few fisheries are deemed sustainable, economically.
The editorial was just a small, microcosmic example of some much larger problem with the way our fisheries are regulated.
Please, somebody reading this inflammatory #$%^ send me a letter! It's winter. Let's talk about some of these issues.
e-mail:
zharvey@thefisherman.com
or
postal mail
ZH
The Fisherman
6 Avery St.
Mystic, CT 06355