A few thoughts on the public comment meeting

[MAKAI]

I went to the meeting at Mass maritime tues.
Should of been more people there.
Not a good outlook going forward. Dr. Armstrong referenced a few times, “ The train is coming.”
Beyond bad recruitment over 5 years due to the egg and larvae just can’t survive in the Chesapeake anymore. Lots of factors beyond our control or too difficult to change.
Seems like the reduction proposals are just to give us a few years of fishing before the reality hits.
This year I’ve caught hundreds of bass from canal, monomoy, and all over cape. Boat and shore, doubt ten were under 20 inches. Not looking good for my upcoming retirement years. Hopefully Blues and Albies take up the void.
I am getting LMB gear together just in case.

[piemma]

All us "crazies" knew this was coming.

[JohnR]

Unpopular opinion: we spent too much time fighting between rec and comm, when we should have all taken a 30-50% haircut back in 2012

[zimmy]

The solutions to many of the problems in the Chesapeake would require sacrifices that the majority of Americans just aren't willing to make. The cost of chicken and pork, the "the right" to spray our lawn with chemicals, on and on. And that was all before the rise of a global problem we couldn't solve ourselves if we wanted to.

[wdmso]

They won’t even try to save the ones that are left and just put a moratorium across-the-board that’s pretty pathetic in my opinion
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Got Stripers]

The fat lady has been singing for years.

[ivanputski]

The sad part is, this news will likely only accelerate the rate in which they are harvested... The mentality of " well, if it's over, I might as well take 'em before the next guy does" will set in quickly with some anglers.

Not everyone is a monday morning quarterback here... Many of us have been willing and calling for a drastic reduction a decade ago.

[Rockfish9]

I/we all have been to so many of these meetings, it's always the same .

I don't mind sacrifice, IMHO,I have done my share without totally giving up fishing, I stopped selling bass, I gave up my( part time) charter business. Small things, maybe , but no more pictures, unhook the fish while it's still in the water, barbless circle hooks or barbless plugs with single hooks where it's practical, yet, this state ( Ma) and a few others still sees if fit to allow the harvest of egg bearing age females, it's not about the fish, it never has been, it's all about the all mighty dollar - I am so tired of hearing this B.S. about the recreational fisherman being mostly responsible, every one that fishes is culpable ( including me if I fish), they have no way to measure it with out every recreational fisherman filling out a catch and harvest log - as John said, that debate is unpopular, but because the commercial harvest is their only measure, the rest is purely speculation for recs. - I'd be more than happy to fill out a harvest/catch report every season -

just another note about the commercial season, IMHO, there should be no part time commercial license, either you are a commercial fisherman or not, if you fish shellfish, use fish traps, fish lobsters and other species for your living, you are a commercial fisherman pinhookers ( of which I was one for many years) need to be out of the equation if the commercial harvest is to be continued.