Caught!

[Mr. Sandman]

The book points out what every comm angler already knew, a lot of these guys take 2 + limits/day and sell the short fillets to restaurants on the side and fish out of season. (Not to mention the inshore dragger bycatch that is sold, kept or discarded. That is why this so called "quota" fishery is a ph#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g JOKE. Most of the catch is not included in any quota and there is not even an guess as to what it is. I have mentioned this to DMF scientists and the have told me..."there is no bycatch, they have observers to look over that" WTF? My response was then what was the USCG doing then chasing down the sqidders fishing 1/2 mile off of squibby all the way to pt jude and were nabbed with SB? This is for the most part an UNREGULATED UNENFORCED FISHERY. If you think it is regulated you are very naive. It's not just SB either. I saw in the newspaper last year and ad for a local restaurant for fresh local Tautog...it was November well out of comm season. No one gives a #^&#^&#^&#^&.
It's been going on forever and there is so much wiggle room that it is a game and the DMF sees this as some kind of historical fishery that is beneficial to the social fabric of America. They refuse to enforce anything. Next time you see an management guy, ask them how many arrests were made last year and see what he says. They don't see any problem(s). Nothing to see here...move on.

They only option is GAMEFISH w/ 1@ 36" for recs (or a tag system with that limits recs to X fish per season with a possession limit of 1) with a strong push for replenishment of baitfish coastwide and the halting of all inshore dragging inside 15 miles from shore. end of story.


Not one of my favorite reads but I see the book as a good gift to the uninformed. Please buy one for your fishery management friends. They will probably think its fiction and respond ...fishermen are liars.

[MakoMike]

Originally Posted by Mr. Sandman

The book points out what every comm angler already knew, a lot of these guys take 2 + limits/day and sell the short fillets to restaurants on the side and fish out of season. (Not to mention the inshore dragger bycatch that is sold, kept or discarded. That is why this so called "quota" fishery is a ph#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g JOKE. Most of the catch is not included in any quota and there is not even an guess as to what it is. I have mentioned this to DMF scientists and the have told me..."there is no bycatch, they have observers to look over that" WTF? My response was then what was the USCG doing then chasing down the sqidders fishing 1/2 mile off of squibby all the way to pt jude and were nabbed with SB? This is for the most part an UNREGULATED UNENFORCED FISHERY. If you think it is regulated you are very naive.

Originally Posted by page 23 of the SAW Assessment Summary Report, under Removals:

Commercial landings in the Atlantic striped bass fishery increased from roughly 115,000 fish (313 mt, 800,000 lbs) in 1990 to 913,160 fish (3,332 mt, 7.3 million lbs) in 2004. Since 2005, landings have fluctuated about an average of 988,410 fish (3,162 mt, 6.97 million lbs); however, landings have declined slightly in recent years to about 839,000 fish (2,952 mt, 6.5 million lbs) in 2012. In 2011 and 2012, the commercial coast-wide harvest was comprised primarily of ages 4-10 striped bass, while harvest in Chesapeake Bay fisheries (Maryland, Virginia, and the PRFC) was comprised mostly of ages 3-6. The estimates of dead commercial discards were 625,631 and 795,675 fish for 2011 and 2012. The highest discard losses occurred in anchor gill net, pounds net, and hook-and-line fisheries. Commercial harvest has generally exceeded dead discards since the mid 1990s.

Recreational harvest increased from 163,242 fish (1,010 mt, 2.2 million pounds) in 1990 to 2.78 million fish (14,082 mt, 31 million pounds) in 2006. Since 2006, harvest declined through 2012 to 1.5 million fish (8,740 mt, 19 million pounds). The number of striped bass that die due to discarding increased from 132 thousand fish in 1990 to 1.2 million fish in 1997. Dead discards have remained around 1.2 million fish through 2003, but increased to the series maximum of 2.1 million fish in 2006. Since 2006, dead discards have declined substantially to 459,954 fish. Total recreational striped bass removals (harvest and dead discards) in 2011 and 2012 were 2.76 million fish and 1.96 million fish, respectively (Figure B7).

unreported?