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Holy Moly --- THE hot topic --- "Who gets which fish, and how many of them!!!" And - all the contributors are bringing up excellent points. So - I'll wade in with my 2 cents.
1) Fishery management decisions are made BY politicians FOR political reasons.A classic example to cite here would be the decision by Federal Judge Boldt in the state of Washington which decreed that one-half of all Pacific salmon caught by commercial fishermen must be caught by fishermen who are Native Americans. Now keep in mind that at the time of his decision only about 10% at the very most of all commercial fishermen were Native Americans. Can you imagine what happened and how subsequent judicial action further destroyed generational family fishing businesses. Oh - by the way - the resource went to hell in a hand cart pretty quickly!
2) We delude ourselves if we think for a moment that all the research done in the name fisheries management is ever considered as the basis for season. size. catch limits etc. If you doubt this - look around at other fish stocks besides just Striped Bass
(Trust me on this one - I know first hand that the Net Ban legislation in Florida had -no-none-nada- scientific data to support its passage. It did have, however, vast dollars of wealthy boat owners - million dollar + boats, not us common folk boats - in South Florida who did not want the net fishermen and their associated culture. They would rather buy imported bait fish!). Or better yet - what data was presented in support of the Newburyport authorities excluding surf fishermen from certain beach areas when a lifeguard was on duty --- politics? --- egos?
3) A great deal of scientific research conducted in the name of 'fisheries' is not necessarily viewed with any PRACTICAL APPLICATION in mind. In other words - research data often fails to address any immediate OR ESPECIALLY long term view toward "management' of a fishery. And I don't mean to disparage any of my many colleagues who work long and hard on research ranging from catch statistics and morphometric analysis all the way to genetic assessments and physiological measurements and on and on. BUT - I can't ever recall a study that began witha view toward enhancing any fishery.Oh - there is often the caveat that the data collected wil provide vital information for management decisions - Hmmmm - do you suppose any legislator ever read a fishery report or looked at long term data before voting his constituents??
4) Despite the best efforts of some of the finest conservation minded individuals and groups --- virtually everybody --- here comes the real glitch!! ---has THEIR OWN AGENDA and not necessarily that of the resource. For example - the commercial guys want bigger numbers of fish to catch, fewer size limits and longer seasons - Understandably. Sport fishermen want more trophy fish, fewer seasonal limitations, and less commercial fishing - Understandably Conservationists want fewer fish caught period - some to the extreme of being preservationist who don't want any caught - Again - Understandably.
SO - what to do what to do
Well - on the commercial side - the perspective of Limited Entry has the benefit of just simply not letting anyone who wants to be a commercial fishermen be one. In essence by "limiting" the number of guys commercial fishing (guys could mean boats) each guy could then conceivably get a bigger piece of the pie and even eat year round.
Another perspective could be the designation that say - Striped Bass - is a sport fish and not a commercial one. Yikes - don't hurt me now!!
On the sport fishing side - licensing would be a good first start (Don't yell!!! Calm down!!!) I was strongly oppossed to such action in Florida - especialy the idea of infringing on my 'god given rights' to the ocean - yadda, yadda, yadda. BUT - it has had a significant effect on the "sport" fishery in Florida. Yes, redfish, snook, and even sea trout have bounded back from previous lows very well. It should be noted however that one of the reasons has been the funds generated from licensing devoted to better law enforcement - despite that fact that there are still "sport fishermen" who will go out and catch several hundred pounds of gouper and then sell them in the back doors of seafood restaurants.
On everybody's side --- habitat preservation!!!!
With Striped Bass this is ESSENTIAL!!! Does anyone remember what pollution did to the Chesapeake Bay stocks (do kepones ring a bell). How are the Hudson River stocks doing? Just how much developemnt has gone on at Croton and as for utility mitigation -- successful??
What shape are the spawning and nursery grounds in now and what will they be like 10 years from now?
Big fish in the bay and in the surf are GREAT --- But before they get there they need lots and lots of strong vocal support for their spawning and nursery grounds - Yup, that same mentality that would kill sharks to enhance tourism would destroy habitat for "economic development" --- at least that is the catch phrase being used locally to rape fish habitat.
SO - there is actually a lot to do and a variety of different ways to approach it. It would seem, however, that the first order of business - would be --- TO DO FOR THE RESOURCE FIRST and NOT it's myriad of self motivated user groups!!
Well stand back John - I've got plenty of butt to go round now so you won't be chewed on too much - ha ha ha
john
john
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