Quote:
Originally Posted by riff_raff
What you are forgetting is the charter/headboat fleet is not "fishing". Their clients are fishing. No different than any other guy sitting on the shore or in his own or buddies boat. They just rent a ride and hire a guide.
Jon
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When you hire a charter, you don't need your own fishing license. So the government has already decided that charter boats are in a distinct category of their own. Same goes for when they are fishing for BFT, separate designation from recreation fishermen.
You see, charters are on the water for one reason... commercial intent. They exchange a service for money. Now, I'm not saying that there is anything at all wrong with that. However, the industry as a whole should be held accountable for the total amount of fish they take. Enough grouping charter/head boats and *true* recreational fishermen into the same regulatory category for striped bass.
If you want to nitpick semantics, why was the captain that caught the bluefin tuna in their trawler nets the one under all the scrutiny? He wasn't the one tending the nets, the guys out on the deck were.