DMF

[piemma]

Originally Posted by Mike P

The Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act was passed by Congress in October of 1984, and it gave the Feds the authority to impose a moratorium on states that weren't in compliance with the conservation plan put out by ASMFC. Moratoriums were done by most coastal states without the Feds having to intervene. Mass never had a moratorium for either the rec or comm sectors. 1@36" seemed to satisfy the Feds.

As far as what Chaffee had to do with it, no idea. The bill was sponsored in the House by a Congressman from NJ. His attempts to get gamefish status for the bass later were all shot down by Gerry Studds, who chaired the House committee overseeing fisheries, and who got tons of campaign contributions from the commercial sector, especially in New Bedford which was part of his district.

Mike, this is what I was referencing:
In 1981 Senator John Chafee (R-RI) became an advocate for striped bass obtaining millions in funding to conduct important research on the dwindling species which led (in 1984) to Representative Gerry Studds' (R-MA) sponsoring the Striped Bass Conservation Act in the House.Mar 8, 2018

[tlapinski]

Originally Posted by piemma

Mike, this is what I was referencing:
In 1981 Senator John Chafee (R-RI) became an advocate for striped bass obtaining millions in funding to conduct important research on the dwindling species which led (in 1984) to Representative Gerry Studds' (R-MA) sponsoring the Striped Bass Conservation Act in the House.Mar 8, 2018

But NONE of it would have gotten legs had there not been the public health concern (high levels of mercury if I remember correctly.) The powers that be didn't do it for the bass, they did it for the humans who were too stupid to stop eating poisonous meat.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by tlapinski

But NONE of it would have gotten legs had there not been the public health concern (high levels of mercury if I remember correctly.) The powers that be didn't do it for the bass, they did it for the humans who were too stupid to stop eating poisonous meat.

In the Hudson, it was PCBs from an old GE plant on the river. NY version of DMF came up with some ludicrous "demarcation" line based on some half-assed theory that Hudson fish didn't migrate past a line drawn from Wading River to Smith Point, so there was no commercial fishing allowed west of that line. It was done to allow Billy Joel's favorite persecuted gang, the East End Baymen, to continue commercial harvest.