[jmac]

I have been a commercial rod and reel fisherman since 1972. I have held licenses in RI and MA since licensing was instituted in both states. I file income taxes on all sales of fish. As an aside, I fish recreationally for stripers when they can’t be sold (with a fly rod/light bait-casting I might add). I care deeply for the welfare of ALL fish. I participated in all the striped bass discussion/ forums, etc., in the early 80’s that led to the current regulations promulgated by the AFMSC.
The commercial striped bass fishery has been held to a fixed cap (poundage allowed) for at least 8 or 9 years; it has not increased and is monitored factually. The recreational catch has increased exponentially during that period. People whose job it is to monitor/ regulate the fishery are well aware of that. In MY view, there are several reasons for the recreational increase. Other fish aren’t as “glamorous”, i.e., bluefish, scup, tautog, etc. Another factor, striped bass are a great tasting fish.
In the 70’s, most people I knew were selling bass…..a lot of people did, so they could support their boats, slips, and fondness for fishing. Nowadays, I know few people who fish commercially in both states (they’re just aren’t that many, i.e., licensing procedures, socio-economics, etc). Back then, bluefish, weakfish, tautog, fluke, winter flounder, cod, Pollack, took up the slack. Most of the charter boat industry was trolling rag mops and umbrella rigs for bluefish, chunking for tuna…rarely was the day that the bulk of the charter industry was targeting bass. There were a few at the Rip at Block, the Race in LI Sound, and probably a more dedicated fleet at the Pigs, Chatham, etc.
Nowadays, because the striped bass fishery is in such better shape than it was in the 70, 80’s, more and more recreational fisherman dedicate their effort towards them. Look at spots like SW Point, Ledge, Block Island on a weekend…or Valiant Rock in LI Sound, or Montauk. The East Coast charter industry has dedicated most of their efforts on striped bass…again, take a look at the SW side of Block, Montauk, the Race ( also the proliferation of small boat chartering in inshore bays and sound), Peaked Hill in P-Town, Monomoy…The pressure on striped bass is far greater than anything I saw “back in the old days”….I don’t have any problem with this, the fishery is a resource for ALL fishermen…just don’t blame the commercial rod and reel fisherman (as in MA) for all that is wrong with striped bass. In my eyes, the current situation looks like a ”fish grab” by a certain segment of the fishing community.
I do not see the catastrophic shortage of bass that is discussed in this and other threads….granted, ups and downs in the total biomass are part of the overall fishery. I see a lot of small bass in the early spring in Narragansett Bay (light tackle) and also with pogies during the commercial RI season (in Narragansett Bay). While fishing in MA, I caught a large amount of undersize (commercial limit) bass during the season. If anything, the problem for me and others was the difficulty in finding bait (menhaden).
What baffles me is the utmost disdain that a certain fragment of the recreational sector has for the commercial striped bass fisherman (and sometimes ALL commercial fishermen). Most fishermen I know do it part-time to support their income…just as the part-time carpenter, plumber, landscaper, tax preparer, etc. do, to support their way of life. That is how our capitalistic system works. Also, those who call for half their income come from commercial fishing, would be putting the bulk of the commercial fisherman out of business.
I hate to be long winded, but I had to offer my take on this issue. I did my part for conservation in the early 80’s when the moratorium was in effect (as ALL of us did)- because of that and because we now have laws and commissions which oversee the fishery, we have reached this point where there is a free for all over who gets the biggest share of the pie. All this, because of a well-managed fishery ,that was brought back from near disaster.


-jmac