Anyone who is #^&#^&#^&#^&ting on the anglers is in denial themselves. For every fisherman who has a great day like this, there is another that is waiting to take his/her place. As long as the law and quota are there, you WILL NEVER change the fact that fishermen will be catching striped bass and selling them.
And, as law abiding fishermen yourselves, I find it incredibly hypocritical to call these guys name and #^&#^&#^&#^& on them for doing nothing other than following the law.
Here is an excerpt from a 2008 Mass division of marine fisheries publication.
During 2008, the commercial fishery for striped bass in Massachusetts sold about 61,076 fish weighing
1,160,122 pounds and kept approximately 4,255 fish for personal consumption. Total losses due to commercial
harvesting (including release mortality) were 71,773 fish weighing 1,268,542 pounds. The recreational
fishery harvested about 343,347 striped bass weighing over 5.5 million pounds. Total losses due to recreational
fishing (including release mortality) were 634,648 fish weighing over 7 million pounds.
The recreational fishermen releases (wastes) more dead fish, than the entire commercial fleet kills all year.
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