they want an increase

[Uncle Rob]

Did you hear. The comm. strip bass fishing gang, wants to increase their limit by 16.5% for next year. I wish I could increase my striper catch by one third of that! One tenth would be nice.

[Nebe]

Fools!
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[Slipknot]

just shut it down already
enough is enough

[RussSommers]

agreed. the bass stocks are going fast. pinhookers in new England, trawlers in VA/NC and illegal gill nets all over the Chesapeake.

Irresponsible recreational anglers do damage too, but the commercial pressure is too much on such a fragile fishery.

[Raven]

incredible stupidity

[MakoMike]

Originally Posted by Uncle Rob

Did you hear. The comm. strip bass fishing gang, wants to increase their limit by 16.5% for next year. I wish I could increase my striper catch by one third of that! One tenth would be nice.

Exactly who is "The comm. strip bass fishing gang"?

[Nebe]

Im assuming this is the Mass Comm bass fishermen, who if i remember right, struggled to fill their quota last year… so to make up for their financial loss, want more this year..

This is all just my opinion and i have done no research so i could totally be wrong.



That all said, the logic is flawed beyond belief… what happens if they catch less this year? Will they want 30% more for the following year???

[bobber]

last I heard tehy ASMFC had punted on any rule changes, even tough theyhad intimated they would adopt the new stock assessments from the meeting in Oct (2013)- basically they balked at anything substantive. had not heard anything about any increase n commmercial take(?)

[big jay]

Originally Posted by Nebe

Im assuming this is the Mass Comm bass fishermen, who if i remember right, struggled to fill their quota last year… so to make up for their financial loss, want more this year..

This is all just my opinion and i have done no research so i could totally be wrong.



That all said, the logic is flawed beyond belief… what happens if they catch less this year? Will they want 30% more for the following year???

Mass in no way struggled to fill the quota - it went faster than ever before. Mass reopened the fishery with 3 "extra" 5 fish Sundays that had us fishing into September - this was an effort by DEM to fill the quota without going over. (They stopped fishing before it filled to get an accurate count- one more 30 fish day, and they would have gone over again, and no one wanted that).

That said, I have no idea what the OP is talking about - Mass DEM has an open meeting next week to talk about effort REDUCTIONS. in the fishery - there is no talk whatsoever of an increase.

I think someone is trolling Some BS to get a reaction.
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[Clammer]

Just from what I [heard ] there was a solid rumor that the AMFC was going to put someking of reduction into effect in 2015 . Maryland got wind on if so they went & requested a approx 16 -20 % increase .so when the reduction took effect they would still be ahead ..I,ve heard they have done this before .
This week I was told that the [AMFC} punted on doing anything ........... the printed a agenda for their meeting ......&& when the meeting came they didn,t even follow their own written agenda ,,,,,,,,,,,, & basically went back to no issues ....... so AGAIN no action is proposed
F U C K Ing A/H.s Someone has alot of Pull which translates in big money ......... one of the only reasons we had the moroturim [sp] last time because .
Senators Chaffe & c. Snider [sp] had a bill passed to save the bass ... at that time we had two people in power that fought for the bass ,
Not so this time .............. If ya don,t have soneone or two with big clout ............its never gonna happed or it will happen because there are none left .
as the old saying gos ... MONEY talks & B/S & science don,t mean a damn thing ><><

[Guppy]

http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dfg/dmf...ing-notice.pdf

The 18th

http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dfg/dmf...ineyard-ph.pdf

fist fight?

[Nebe]

Originally Posted by big jay

Mass in no way struggled to fill the quota - it went faster than ever before. Mass reopened the fishery with 3 "extra" 5 fish Sundays that had us fishing into September - this was an effort by DEM to fill the quota without going over. (They stopped fishing before it filled to get an accurate count- one more 30 fish day, and they would have gone over again, and no one wanted that).

That said, I have no idea what the OP is talking about - Mass DEM has an open meeting next week to talk about effort REDUCTIONS. in the fishery - there is no talk whatsoever of an increase.

I think someone is trolling Some BS to get a reaction.
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well.. it got my reaction! Troll successful.

I will go back to my rock and crawl under it now..

[Redsoxticket]

Yesterday, at the Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission striped bass meeting, Ken Hastings, Stripers Forever's ASMFC policy coordinator gave the#^&testimony at the bottom of this page.#^&

If you wanted to be upset you should have been there. According to Ken there was so much confusion and nitpicking discussion over obscure details of striped bass science that whether or not the needed cuts in striped bass harvest will even be implemented in 2015 is now in doubt! Meanwhile, since MD didn't kill every possible fish allowed in 2013, and rationalized by additional theoretical statistics, their plan to increase their catch by 14% in 2014 has now mushroomed to something over 16.5%. The vast majority of the targeted fish will barely make the 18" minimum size. they can't find enough of those, however, they will simply take an even bigger slice of what is left of the spawning stock. You can be assured that this is to represent commercial interests - most recreational anglers don't want it. They see the need to conserve the one decent year class in the pipeline.

Stripers Forever was organized to bypass the commercially dominated ASMFC process by going directly to the state legislatures and submitting legislation to make striped bass a game fish. One thing is clear to us, and that is that there is no substitute for the eventual goal of game fish designation. As long as wild striped bass can legally be fished commercially we will be fighting to keep the fishery from being destroyed by overfishing.

Here is Ken's testimony:



Testimony Before the ASMFC SB Management Board, 2/4/14



Good morning. My name is Ken Hastings and I am a recreational fisherman from Mechanicsville, MD. I am here today representing Stripers Forever. Stripers Forever advocates for game fish status to end the commercial exploitation of Atlantic Striped Bass. We believe, supported by credible expert analyses, that the socio-economic values of live SB far exceed their value as food and that they should be managed to maximize their greater recreational value both socially and economically. Substituting recreational priorities for commercial priorities would create an inherent conservation ethic. Recreational values are measured by the opportunities for success thus more fish alive becomes the goal. This simple fact is Species Management 101.



We believe ASMFC's flawed policies and biased priorities are directly responsible for the decline of the SB fishery and that they continue to impede any attempts to restore this fishery. For example, allowing the Chesapeake Bay jurisdictions to increase the exploitation of the 2011 year class in the face of potentially drastic cuts in allocation for everyone is irresponsible at best. Every fish we eat today is one less that will join the SSB in 2016.



You should have seen the decline coming. Everyone else did. And you were obligated to head it off. All the signs were there even before the Boston Annual Meeting but this commission chose to ignore the fact that data uncertainties can cut both ways. Greed continues to rule the day. The overwhelming commercial bias of this Council and its relentless desire to support exploitation over conservation encourages you to ignore even the admonishment and pleas of one of your own to reduce harvest. This bias of always seeing the abundance glass as half full even when confronted with an obvious down-turn in the stock has twice resulted in your voting to continue kicking the can down the road. Meanwhile, plummeting fish abundance and lost recreational fishing economy and opportunities have become the norm and produced some of the worst SB fishing in years.



Now, you have another chance although with far fewer fish to work with than before. Your new stock assessment report has a very candid assessment of uncertainties that even tops the 2011 discussion in Boston. It's time to stop kicking the can.



Thank you for this opportunity.

[big jay]

Originally Posted by Nebe

well.. it got my reaction! Troll successful.

I will go back to my rock and crawl under it now..

Reaction just means you care. Stay out of the rock, I like reading your take on things.
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