This by-catch slaughter is the result of federal f()ck ups in the management and coordination of the Marine Fisheries Service, the US Fish and Wildlife service and the Atlantic states individual responsible agencies (the DMF FOR EXAMPLE) one doesn't know what the other is doing and the impact each individual organization has as it promotes it's own seperate policies for protection of the species under it's jurisdiction.
Example A: seals and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Perfect example of how little research went into an act. They didn't know and still don't know what the historic level of population of seals was for the New England states when they enacted this act. My money says we have more than there ever was even when the native americans were here alone.
This simple screw up led to the overpopulation of inshore marine penipeds which ate all of the inshore primary bait species from flounder, cod, pollock, sand eels and just about anything in between.
Windowpane flounder for example used to be a nuisance while surfcasting Nauset to P-Town, when was the last time you even saw one?
The levels of sea herring rebounded and as there was not ample bait inshore the bass follweed thier noses offshore to it. Now the mid water trollers hunting the abundant herring are catching herds of bass that once swam the inshore surf on our coasts.
Atta boy Patrick, go get em'!!! Those people need a dope slap.
Want to save money on the budget? cut out the bird watchers on the back beaches and get the Martine Fisheries Service to start looking at real problems.
|