Article #1

[Nebe]

5/23/2005 For Immediate Release by Stripers Forever

U. S. Congressman Frank Pallone Introduces Striped Bass Game Fish Bill and Cites Southwick Study by Stripers Forever

Stripers Forever, a national organization of recreational anglers, announces its support for HR 2059, a bill introduced last week by U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), the ranking Democrat on the House Subcommittee on Fisheries and Oceans. The bill would prohibit the commercial harvesting of wild striped bass in Atlantic coastal waters and in federal waters up to 12 miles offshore known as the exclusive economic zone.

“The Atlantic striped bass is a valuable resource along the Atlantic coast and is one of the most important fisheries for recreational anglers in New Jersey,” Pallone said. “I have a long history of involvement in protecting, preserving and enhancing the striped bass fishery, and I know how critical it is to take action now so we can avoid the potential threat of a collapse in the future. It is in this spirit that I would like to designate the striped bass as a federal game fish.”

Pallone’s legislation would prohibit the commercial harvesting of striped bass and reserve the resource exclusively for recreational fishing. New Jersey is one of six states along the Atlantic Coast that already classify the striped bass as a game fish.

In his introduction of HR 2059, Congressman Pallone cited the Southwick Study, The Economics of Recreational and Commercial Striped Bass Fishing, commissioned earlier this year by Stripers Forever. The landmark study concluded that if commercial fishing for striped bass were eliminated, "…future harvest levels would produce greater returns for coastal economies and the national economy…" since "…fish captured by the recreational sector are far more valuable on a per-pound basis than when harvested commercially.”

“The Southwick Study specifically forecasts 14,400 new jobs and a $1.79 billion increase in economic value to the U.S. economy by making wild striped bass a gamefish coast-wide,” says Brad Burns, president of Stripers Forever. “Striped bass raised through aquaculture, which already account for 60 percent of all the stripers consumed in America and could replace the wild harvest within a year or two, offer a more consistently available product than seasonally available wild fish. The Southwick Study shows that wild striped bass and stripers raised through aquaculture command almost identical retail prices.”

Game fish status for wild stripers would mean more jobs, a stronger economy, and a more consistently available food source for the public. “It’s a win-win situation,” says Burns.

For more information on Stripers Forever, and to view a copy of HR 2059, visit the Stripers Forever website at www.stripersforever.org.

[Nebe]

Personally Stripers for Ever makes me want to but sellfishly, this could mean awesome striper fishing for the recreational fishery....... lets see what happens

[Rob Rockcrawler]

i havent really studied up of strpiers forever but have heard mixed messages. Whenever i read an article like this one i always question any statistics. Does anyone know if the farming of stripers takes place in fresh or salt water? All the poo from the farm raised fish causes a few problems. I dont see many problems with the status of the fishery right now. I dont get skunked very often so im happy. I would think that keeping the status of the fish the same and managaing the ecosystem, not just the species would be at the advantage to both comms and recs.

[Raven]

both.....some fish farms are right next to the ocean so they utilize the saltwater... to fill all their tanks....others are freshwater and are used
to stock the local lakes .talapia which tastes kinda like flounder or sole
fillets is super easy to grow....and stripers are a close second...
we discussed this once...on the board...and as it turns out raising stripers is as profitable if not more so than raising HOGS....so with that kind of profit margin the business is spreading rapidly.

[Bass Babe]

Stripers Forever isn't quite up there with PETA on my scumbag list, but they do seem a little misguided. Eliminating the commercial sector from striper fishing will just make it that much harder and time-consuming for managers to get accurate population estimates and catch/release/death rates. It's a relatively simple formula one can use to determine relative population abundance and year class strength from year to year with commercial catch and effort figures. Does anyone from Stripers Forever want to volunteer hours and hours getting guesstimates and tall tales of catches in person and by phone from recreational fishermen? What will anglers do if there is another huge population decline like in the 80s, and there are no commercial fishermen to blame it on? Maybe then they'll smarten up and realize that pollution, habitat loss, and even things beyond their control, like weather, could be partially to blame. Fish and fish alike, people, and let the managers do their jobs. Impassioned lobbyists are usually not the most well-informed.

[Mr. Sandman]

BB, thats nonsense. While the catch numbers are interesting, the SB comm industry does not exsist so we know how many stripers there are or have been taken. When there was a complete moritorium on the fish they knew exactly how many fish there were. The comm industry is there in large part becuse of tradition and because of greedy loud mouths thinking it is their "right" to be able to comm fish for stripers. Frankly it makes no sence today to even have a comm striper industry. Farming addresses the marke need fine. There are many other ways to "count" stripers instead of each state killing 1mil# of them for a 1.50/lb.

IMO The fish should be a rec only fish with firm rec limits that are strictly enforced. Why? because it is a special fish that deserves protection not exploitation. While I don't belong to SF I support their goals and think they are taking the right approach to acheive them. As I said for years the way to protect the SB is thru federal channels since each state that supports comm sb fishing is poisioned with very strong comm fishing bias some I would even lable as corrupt.

I don't blame the guys doing the fishing...I blame the guys that made the law that said they can fish for them.

In time this will pass and states will be forced to comply. It will be good for the rec industry to rid the comm greedy 40fish /day mentality from our sport and as recenend independant studies have shown...good for tax revenues as well.

[Bass Babe]

I don't believe that it's entirely nonsense, Sandster. I know that commercial fishing doesn't exist solely for population survey purposes, but it does provide useful statistics. Nobody knows exactly how many fish there are ever, anywhere, unless it's in their fish tank at home. The more info we can get, I think, the better, also while satisfying the most people. You're still catching fish, right? They're not running out? Then everyone gets to enjoy, whether it's for sport or for money.

I feel that recreational fishing is a little underrepresented in regional fisheries management councils and that yes, alot of people in the industry go a bit too far with pushing their agendas. But people dig tradition, and the government has been subsidizing commercial fishing for quite a while now. There would be a huge uproar if all of a sudden these fishermen couldn't fish and were also not compensated/helped out. I don't feel like that would ever happen. Nor would I want to pay taxes and have them go to supporting somebody else's a$$ because the only skill they possess is fishing, and they can't do it anymore.

Aquaculture's a cool thing, I agree, but I am loathe to push it to provide all of our seafood needs, even for just one species. I don't feel like we're as advanced in the technology needed for cheap and efficient fish farming as we would need to be to get rid of commercial fishing. Maybe for stripers, in regards to farming, because they're not really a hugely popular food fish. I don't see it often at the grocery store or on restaurant menus. But with all the problems stemming from fish farming -- eutrophication, genetic bottlenecks, escapees, parasites...I just don't know.

I'm interested in why you feel that stripers are a "special fish". I mean, they definitely have a place in my heart, but who decides which fish is special and which isn't? Do you feel that making stripers a strictly recreational species would make more people become fishermen and make those that are, go out more? Granted, anglers are sweet for the economy in many, many ways. But would your proposed change in striper management make any additional money?

You seem like a pretty smart dude, Mister, and I love to talk shop.

[Raven]

a special fish would be one that can be grown commercially......

it should be able to be stocked in both fresh and salt water

and grow to 40 lbs and up. they havem that big in Arkansas.

IMHO thats what makes the striped bass unique and or

special.

[vineyardblues]

TEST

[vineyardblues]

ERHG