Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating - View Single Post - COMMERCIAL STRIPED BASS FISHERY TO CLOSE ON MONDAY AUGUST 11, 2003.

Mr. Sandman · 08-07-2003, 10:09 AM

Technically it is over now...I suppose they could fish sunday but that is it.

Once again, that was quick. I know the guys out here have been mowing them big time...most limiting out with a lot of heavy fish. Imagine if it was open 7 days a week? It would be over in 2 weeks.

I still don't understand what the purpose is of taking a lot of fish for a few weeks to benifit a few rec-turned-comm fisherman for 5 friggin weeks. It is a completely foolish and selfish industry without regard for the sport. That is right...I said SPORT. Again, *if* we really needed the comm sb (which we clearly don't) I think we would just be better off allowing anyone (rec's) to sell the sb...still keep the limit as 2 but allow anyone to sell them. 40 fish is so over the top for any boat to take. This would spread the wealth and the fishing over a longer period.
That said, this whole sector is so hard-wired to comm activity it is a sham. The black market sales are significant and are not policed and not accounted for (selling sb on the side) Anytime you bring up shutting it down or making it a game fish, they claim, rec don't know what they are talking about and the real problem is no forage fish. (And I suppose it was rec who wiped out the forage fish?) No, it was comm fishing that did it. No one can argue that. It was comm fishing that wipe out cod stocks on the banks, it was comm fishing that wiped out the swordfishing and it was comm fishing that nearly wiped out the tuna. And it was overfishing (in past years) of inshore waters that depleted both the weakfish, fluke and now even the tog us under pressure. Yes it is regulated but not nearly enough in my opinion as most of these stocks have yet to recover fully. (When was the last time you saw a swordfish offshore?...when I was a kid off Montauk it was actually a common sight) IMO they should just shut down all inshore comm fishing for 10 years, and taking NO forage fish for that period either. See were we stand at that point and open it up very slowly from that point on.

Anyway...the stocks should have a good 6 weeks to fill in after this past month-long gang-bang....before the fall run begins and the true sportsman can enjoy catching and releasing once again.

08-07-2003, 10:09 AM	#2
Mr. Sandman Registered User iTrader: (0) Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 7,649	Technically it is over now...I suppose they could fish sunday but that is it. Once again, that was quick. I know the guys out here have been mowing them big time...most limiting out with a lot of heavy fish. Imagine if it was open 7 days a week? It would be over in 2 weeks. I still don't understand what the purpose is of taking a lot of fish for a few weeks to benifit a few rec-turned-comm fisherman for 5 friggin weeks. It is a completely foolish and selfish industry without regard for the sport. That is right...I said SPORT. Again, if we really needed the comm sb (which we clearly don't) I think we would just be better off allowing anyone (rec's) to sell the sb...still keep the limit as 2 but allow anyone to sell them. 40 fish is so over the top for any boat to take. This would spread the wealth and the fishing over a longer period. That said, this whole sector is so hard-wired to comm activity it is a sham. The black market sales are significant and are not policed and not accounted for (selling sb on the side) Anytime you bring up shutting it down or making it a game fish, they claim, rec don't know what they are talking about and the real problem is no forage fish. (And I suppose it was rec who wiped out the forage fish?) No, it was comm fishing that did it. No one can argue that. It was comm fishing that wipe out cod stocks on the banks, it was comm fishing that wiped out the swordfishing and it was comm fishing that nearly wiped out the tuna. And it was overfishing (in past years) of inshore waters that depleted both the weakfish, fluke and now even the tog us under pressure. Yes it is regulated but not nearly enough in my opinion as most of these stocks have yet to recover fully. (When was the last time you saw a swordfish offshore?...when I was a kid off Montauk it was actually a common sight) IMO they should just shut down all inshore comm fishing for 10 years, and taking NO forage fish for that period either. See were we stand at that point and open it up very slowly from that point on. Anyway...the stocks should have a good 6 weeks to fill in after this past month-long gang-bang....before the fall run begins and the true sportsman can enjoy catching and releasing once again. Last edited by Mr. Sandman; 08-07-2003 at 01:13 PM..