I wanted to make sure I was correct in my above statement. This comes from On The Water:
"When it refers to striped bass, “gamefish status” means a recreational-only fishery with no commercial sales of any kind. The central philosophy of this management tool is a determination that the economic value of striped bass as a sportfish so far outweighs its commercial value that allowing the non-fishing public access to this food source via commercial sales should be prohibited. If the total harvest quota remains the same, it has nothing to do with conservation and is purely an allocation issue – still a valid issue deserving a robust discussion. What if ending commercial sales improved recreational fishing opportunities from Maine to north Carolina, resulting in booming business for charter boats, tackle sales and tourism? Surely this would deserve at least a national debate. However, the debate over gamefish status often focuses on conservation, and simply taking fish away from the commercial fleet and giving it to the recreational fleet will not conserve one fish."
https://www.onthewater.com/ask-an-ex...amefish-status
The big argument I heard when this was brought up in the past was what is the point of taking the commercial harvest allotment and just giving it to the recs? It really would mostly just transfer dead fish from the stores and restaurants to the charter boats and rec freezers.