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The problem with commercial dragging is that it's very indiscriminant. If laws were passed to limit poundage of bycatch, the fisheries would be closed after a couple days. Not to say that bycatch is a good thing, but how much can be done to limit it if gear technology just can't do anything about it? People like to eat what is caught by the comm. guys. And although it's not talked about much, they do contribute to the economy. Maybe not as much as recreational fishing, but comm. boats use fuel, ice, gear, and supplies, too. They keep the fish houses, distributors, and sellers in business, as well as shipyards, technology suppliers, and even cleaning ladies.
Anyhow, while bycatch is wasteful, and methods of returning fish to the water are, let's say, not so effective at keeping fish alive, the striped bass stocks are not doing real bad. There are alot of other species we need to worry about, including what alot of other people have been mentioning, which is the bait fish. Many mackerel trips are coming back brokers because there's nothing to catch, and the draggers are having a hard time finding haddock because bait stocks are so squirrelly. I think the first step in managing all fish stocks should be working from the bottom up. But what is common sense to most seems not to be sinking in with fisheries management. We'll see what happens in the next couple years.
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