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Originally Posted by piemma
That's not at all true. While it may not have an effect on the EZZ, what about the Coast, Narragansett Bay, the Cape Cod Canal, the Outer beaches, Cape Cod Bay, buzzards bay, etc. It's all open to commercial rod and reel S-B fishing. If the quota is 3 million pounds in Mass and S-B get game status, then that's 3 million pounds that don't get caught and sold in the commercial market.
Am I missing something here????
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Yes, I think you are missing the point. the Executive Order has nothing to do with State Waters or waters inside three miles. Commercial fishing in all of the places you mention will NOT BE AFFECTED!!!!!!
Currently/right now/today/in 2007 there is/was no Striped Bass fishing of any kind in FEDERAL WATERS (aka EEZ or ouside the three mile line). To be clear, in 2007 there was no commercial or recreational S-B legally caught in Federal waters. This is because Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has a regulation that prohibits ALL Striper fishing in Federal waters.
This new Executive Order will permanently prohibit commercial fishing of Striped Bass only in Federal Waters. In other words the President is going to issue an order that will change nothing. Next year, after the executive order, the same commercial fishery will exist in the same waters it did today. The quotas will be managed the same, nothing is going to change.
What we fear is that by prohibiting only commercial fishing, the order will be interpreted as "not prohibiting" recreational fishing for S-B inn Federal Waters and will open a door to those that want to end the many years these fish that reside in federal waters have enjoyed.
This