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Well as far as catch n release being so destructive if it were every waterway along the coast would be littered with dead floating stripers everytime there was a good bite going on. Funny that you never really see that after a good blitz. there are some but definitely noe wheres near as many as there should be by all the quote reports of mortality deaths due to release. as far as few practicing it well up here in Maine it's a must due to the limits. 1 fish a day period.20 to 26 in ot over 40 in.I see anglers all over the place releasing fish bass an blues. Remember it's not just charter fishermen out there.
As far as my post goes well this whole issue is basically about the commercial rod n reel in Mass. The other issues are still being fought. by-catch is a joke and does so much damage it's unbeleivable but that is another fight in another venure. I beleive NOAA is looking into that along with RFA an other groups. The buck did the stripers in in the 70's an 80's an is doing it again now.
Maine is just one example of the effects. With the huge ammount of bait up here the last few yrs we should be walking on stripers but we're not. Mackeral,squid,herring/alwives,bunker,sandeeels,smelt an so on.Just few stripers.
Our striper fishing has declined continually since the rod n reel seasons and shore gill netting were restarted to the point that large stripers are few n far between up here after the Nova Scotia stocks head back north in the early spring n summer. even with our growing populations from those fish stocked up here in the Kenebec an other waterways they've spread to aren't filling the gap made . Add the huge fish kills by netters and it's not a good picture.
Sportfishermen can only keep 1 or 2 fish at a wack. From what it used to be -keeping dozens of fish a night an keeping them all no matter how big or small.Yup more can and is being done and preached about. Just don't seem to hear any give ups from the commercial side of the hook. Just want want an want more bucks.If another larde school of stripers move into the Vineyard sound all the commercials will fish them till they're gone. Guys like me might catch a few but we'll still have to put all but 1 or 2 back in the water to fight again. an you'll never convinse me that stripers are more delicate than largemouth that get caught as much as 4 or 5 times a day and released again and still live.
as far as Stripers Forever goes well it's not a fly club just like Stripers Unlimited wasn't yrs ago. We had to deal with the retorick back then as now. It was about the buck then and it is so now.Short of not fishing at all many of us really can't go much farther in our steps for consevation. We rarely keep any fish but that really doesn't count as we only land a few thousand fish a season and release them. Ron
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