givemeabreak. The striper is not here to line your pockets for a few weeks with greenbacks. Heck, The comm quota could be more than filled with the by-catch that is dumped back dead. No need for a comm R&R'ers. It's time has passed.
Rec fishing is largely C&R TODAY anyway! Most RECs are FAR more conservation minded then nearly EVERY comm bass fishermen I have seen.
Fact is, most rec fishermen don't even catch a single SB all season and there is more than 1200 comm lic's. So that number of 650K rec fishermen is highly distorting of the number of bass fishermen.
If I was the Striper CZAR, this is what I would do and do it today:
1) shut down R&R SB comm fishing (they take a million # from popular concentrated areas depleting local stocks each season, further, there is a black market of selling < 34" fish as well as a bait taking problem more like a "scam" that is totally unreported and contributes to the bait exploitation that is rampant.
2) limit Recs to
1@36 (keep is simple, and cut it further if need be) and mandate reporting for every kept fish under the new fishing license.
3) take CONSERVATIVE steps to build up forage stocks. This is a separate issue as ALL fish would benefit from this and it is NOT getting the attn it deserves. Currently, under
"personal use" you can take an
unlimited about of bait with ANY SIZE NET! As long as you do not sell it. (But who is going to catch them doing under the table deals to their buddies?)
(new reg this year, I got clarification on this today)
So, with regs like this, how can we say that the DMF is taking steps to protect bait? They are not. Frankly, the commercial guys have them in their pocket. They are taking steps to better keep track of real commercial bait guys but what about the guys taking 1000+ bunker per day (for "personal use") to sell under the table, (unreported, both from a fish and a TAX standpoint) to their unlicensed bait-dealing fishing buddies? This hurts the real bait dealers as wel as the stocks.
4) Gamefish status would cut thru all the reg crap and FORCE DMF to do the moral and just thing and take the $ off the fishes head without hurting the billion dollar rec fishing industry) Moreover it is EASY to enforce, not like the nightmare we have today which is largely unenforced, and really out of control. Further, there would be a lot LESS bait taken to support catching/selling of SB . No one would want 1000 bunker for personal use because there would be no one to sell them to. The result would be more bunker.
I can't see a single reason to keep wild SB a comm fish. The species deserves this respect. It is not about more for me and less for you. I still have a Comm SB lic, I use to sell them and I want to see it shut down. As a rec fishermen I see few fishermen taking fish home, recs are mostly C&R now with the occasional one being taken home to eat. I want to see the striper really protected, fed much better and I don't want to see every fishermen-supported industry go BK, they are having a tuff time as it is. Gamefish will go a looooong way to do this IMO in a simple step with little enforcement needed.
IMO this bill will pass, its gonna happen. It might not pass in its current form but it will pass eventually. The YOY index has been weak and is declining, and if it has another bad year again this year, combined with the disease and fishing pressure at peak along with the anecdotal accounts of bad SB fishing in most areas...I think this will pass. I have thought about this alot and originally did not like it because I thought it could be managed but after seeing what the current management style has yielded us ....this is the only way. You will never get DMF to do the job. They are being pulled in too many directions and IMO are borderline corrupt...except in RI where everyone is openly corrupt
Once MA goes gamefish, the word is NY will and then it is over coast wide. It is gonna happen. I give it 3 years or less. Look for a big push after the YOY numbers are out later this year. If that is bad it could happen sooner. The days of the comm R&R bass man are ending I can see the light....can I get an AMEN?!!