MASS Commercial Fishing

[inTHERAPY]

Up to nearly 250,000. The number reported is definetly behind, well behind actual landings/sales. I think MA is probably a week behind in inputting data. At the time of 93,000 I knew 4 guys who totalled more than 10,000. I do not think they accounted for 10% of the catch!

[clambelly]

Originally Posted by inTHERAPY

Up to nearly 250,000. The number reported is definetly behind, well behind actual landings/sales. I think MA is probably a week behind in inputting data. At the time of 93,000 I knew 4 guys who totalled more than 10,000. I do not think they accounted for 10% of the catch!

you would be close...its actually 232, 584. i just called the DMF hotline to check because i know their website is a week behind. if you check that page there is even a note on the bottom saying that there is a problem with the dealer reporting system they use via. the internet.

if you want the number to check for the future..1-978-282-0308.

Sandman, i doubt they will ever close the season, even if it takes through September to fill the quota. only 5 or 6 years ago guys were fishing until September, but that was because there were only around 2500 -3000 permits, pretty much all full timers. now there are close to 7000 permits out, thus, the quicker season. all's its gonna take is a big school to move in off chatham or gloucester and the quota will jump. it happens every year. i know gloucester took in over 12,000 pounds last thursday alone. the guys were surprised at how slow the season had been, and then all those fish.

[Little Round]

I know that Clam Man said he usually gets 4000lbs to kick it off, and only got about 500 on the first day this year. He stated that the guys fishing the vineyard only were coming in with a couple fish. I listen to the buyer, b/c that is his business, he isn't a tackle shop or somebody trying to sell something that dosen't exist.

[Back Beach]

Clambelly, we haven't had a commercial fishery into september since the early 90's. Maybe one year we did. I don't have the data to back it up, just memory.Definitely not in the last 5-7 years though.

[clambelly]

well, a fleet of boats, along with myself, fished off Scorton Ledge the week after labor day, and i want to say it was 00 or 99. pretty sure it was 2000. a school of big fish moved in and that was the last week of the season.

[Grapenuts]

still think they should divide the number of permits into the total number of lbs allowed..everyone gets X number of lbs.and your done for the season....drop the the total to 10 fish per day....I get tired of hearing "if they do that, how can we make a living"..guess what,,,comm. bass fishing is only a short term job..there's no such thing as a full time comm. bass fisherman...it's only a supplement to one's over all earning's.spread out the landing's,,keep the price up and make the season last longer.....yes! I was a comm. basser.

[nightfighter]

figures updated today
http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dmf/comme...ndex.htm#frame

[pal156]

most of the beaches are closed so people are staying home, because they have no wher to stay.And the bloody gas prices.

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by clambelly

well, a fleet of boats, along with myself, fished off Scorton Ledge the week after labor day, and i want to say it was 00 or 99. pretty sure it was 2000. a school of big fish moved in and that was the last week of the season.

Was that the red tube slaughter? If so, I remember that one.

[teaser]

How much does it cost for a commercial license in MA, and what do you have to get one? Are there just so many a year or is anyone able to buy one? Not looking for one, just curious.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by teaser

How much does it cost for a commercial license in MA, and what do you have to get one? Are there just so many a year or is anyone able to buy one? Not looking for one, just curious.

Depends. A basic rod and reel license is $35, which allows you to commercial fish from shore. For boaters, the license cost varies with the size of the boat. Additionally, certain species require an endorsement on your license, which requires an extra fee per species. For stripers, it's $30.

To get one, you send a completed application to DMF with a check for the license and any species endorsement. There are currently no restrictions or grandfathering affecting obtaining one. To renew one, you must submit a completed catch report by October 31.

[clambelly]

Originally Posted by Mike P

Depends. A basic rod and reel license is $35, which allows you to commercial fish from shore. For boaters, the license cost varies with the size of the boat. Additionally, certain species require an endorsement on your license, which requires an extra fee per species. For stripers, it's $30.

To get one, you send a completed application to DMF with a check for the license and any species endorsement. There are currently no restrictions or grandfathering affecting obtaining one. To renew one, you must submit a completed catch report by October 31.

a boat permit will cost you $130 for any boat under 59 feet. a striper endorsement will cost you $30. in fact, all the endorsements cost $30. its pretty simple. the only factor today is they make you sign a sheet saying that the state reserves the right to take your license b/c you purchased after the state initiated a control date, which i think was sometime in 2004. so if you buy a license now, and the state decides to cut down the number of permits, you can lose it. also, if you don't send in your catch reports they are pulling permits. they are having a real problem with the numbers and i almost lost all my permits last year b/c i didn't send in a catch report for eels that i never even received from the state! they were holding all my other permits which i need to make a living until they got that peice of paper.

that was the one BB. the red tube did the job.

[ProfessorM]

Originally Posted by clambelly

well, a fleet of boats, along with myself, fished off Scorton Ledge the week after labor day, and i want to say it was 00 or 99. pretty sure it was 2000. a school of big fish moved in and that was the last week of the season.

August 15th 2000. Full Moon, rain and NE wind blew for a few days prior and went into a NW wind after. Lasted a good week but the first few days were the best. I did not make the best of it but know a few who did. Never seen so many boats in such a small area. Anything from canoes to sportfishers. The guys that were there the first few days did 40 fish no problem, some caught all they could before they sunk their boat, went in for more bait and to sell and went out again, then it turned into a free for all. P.

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by Professor Moriarty

August 15th 2000. Full Moon, rain and NE wind blew for a few days prior and went into a NW wind after. Lasted a good week but the first few days were the best. I did not make the best of it but know a few who did. Never seen so many boats in such a small area. Anything from canoes to sportfishers. The guys that were there the first few days did 40 fish no problem, some caught all they could before they sunk their boat, went in for more bait and to sell and went out again, then it turned into a free for all. P.

That's the one I'm thinking of. Free for all is a good description.

[sokinwet]

Just a correction on the permit requirements. An individual permit does not restrict you to shore. You can either have a boat permit that allows all on board to fish or all each individual on board must have their own permit. Only 1 limit per boat regardless of the # of permit holders on board.

[redlite]

I think a memo goes out to all fish after their numbers get decimated the 1st week. Season always opens with a gang buster, then fizzles There are fish, just not in the normal spots that poeple have always been accoustomed to them being in.
As far as licensces go, get a little burned that where we were the past week, majority of boats are from RI. Why is it that RI and CT residents are allowed to come and fish and take my regulated fishery where as I can't go and commercially take theirs?

Gas prices are definately having a BIG impact on pretty much everybodies budget and gameplan. Not only that but so many guys out there having fuel/ engine problems from the "improved" more expensive gas.

From what I gather being primarily a surf guy and from talking with tuna and cod guys, the fish are just staying off shore in the EEZ zones (Stellwagon) until they get the memo that it is safe to return to near shore waters because the seals have all been disposed of.

I am junk.

[Skitterpop]

Originally Posted by redlite

I think a memo goes out to all fish after their numbers get decimated the 1st week. Season always opens with a gang buster, then fizzles There are fish, just not in the normal spots that poeple have always been accoustomed to them being in.
As far as licensces go, get a little burned that where we were the past week, majority of boats are from RI. Why is it that RI and CT residents are allowed to come and fish and take my regulated fishery where as I can't go and commercially take theirs?

Gas prices are definately having a BIG impact on pretty much everybodies budget and gameplan. Not only that but so many guys out there having fuel/ engine problems from the "improved" more expensive gas.

From what I gather being primarily a surf guy and from talking with tuna and cod guys, the fish are just staying off shore in the EEZ zones (Stellwagon) until they get the memo that it is safe to return to near shore waters because the seals have all been disposed of.

I am junk.

Huu Yah

[kennebecstriper]

Man,
What the ----? Why would anybody take 10,000lbs in a year. I guess the reasoning is that it is legal. I just can't understand depleteing a resource that has shown time and again that if you limit the catch the fishing improves.
I know science is behind the quota, well guess what the scientists work for the government of MASSACHUSETS!!!! the same state that gave you the big dig and Ted *^%)#dy oops no politics.
I am the farthest thing from a tree hugger(or kelp hugger in this case) but darn the commercial harvest hurts us guys who fish for the love of it.
I remember a post from last year where a lot of the names I see in this post were ranting about a bunch of asians taking shorts...well the commercial fisheries hurts the stock a whole lot worse.
For the record I am not asian and do keep 1-5 fish per season. So do each of my buddies and that allows me to eat striper most of the season.
O.K. now I'll take the flaming.

Tight line for the rec. guys

[Mike P]

The Mass quota is 1.1 million pounds. With a 34" minimum limit. All of those fish have spawned at least once. Unlike the 22" slot fish some folks are allowed to keep. The entire coast-wide quota for commercials is about 6 million pounds. Recreational mortality is estimated at 28 million pounds. That's a 4.5:1 ratio of dead fish in favor of recs. You could also focus some of your anger at the recs in the Proud to be a Gamefish State of New Jersey who killed more 30#plus fish in a 6 week stretch from June until mid July than will hit the markets in Mass all commercial season. You don't hear the Mass and RI guys complaining about not getting a chance to catch those fish that never made it past NJ, do you?

The biomass of striped bass in the North Atlantic is estimated at 40-50 million fish. Maybe 50,000 to 60,000 fish are killed commercially in Mass before the quota is met. Plus, the season in Mass doesn't open until the week after JUly 4th. Those fish off the Elizabeths, the Vineyard and Nantucket, and off the backside, aren't making the trek to Maine after that date. They're resident fish, not migratory by that point. So, the Mass commercial season has little, if any, effect on your fishing.

[kennebecstriper]

Originally Posted by Mike P

The Mass quota is 1.1 million pounds. With a 34" minimum limit. All of those fish have spawned at least once. Unlike the 22" slot fish some folks are allowed to keep. The entire coast-wide quota for commercials is about 6 million pounds. Recreational mortality is estimated at 28 million pounds. That's a 4.5:1 ratio of dead fish in favor of recs. You could also focus some of your anger at the recs in the Proud to be a Gamefish State of New Jersey who killed more 30#plus fish in a 6 week stretch from June until mid July than will hit the markets in Mass all commercial season. You don't hear the Mass and RI guys complaining about not getting a chance to catch those fish that never made it past NJ, do you?

The biomass of striped bass in the North Atlantic is estimated at 40-50 million fish. Maybe 50,000 to 60,000 fish are killed commercially in Mass before the quota is met. Plus, the season in Mass doesn't open until the week after JUly 4th. Those fish off the Elizabeths, the Vineyard and Nantucket, and off the backside, aren't making the trek to Maine after that date. They're resident fish, not migratory by that point. So, the Mass commercial season has little, if any, effect on your fishing.

Gotta say I may stand corrected on this one. Thanks for not going over the top with your response. I had just seen catch rates improve in years past after tight regulations have been put in place. I guess that my thinking on the comm. fishery may be flawed.

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by kennebecstriper

Man,
What the ----? Why would anybody take 10,000lbs in a year. I guess the reasoning is that it is legal. I just can't understand depleteing a resource that has shown time and again that if you limit the catch the fishing improves.
I know science is behind the quota, well guess what the scientists work for the government of MASSACHUSETS!!!! the same state that gave you the big dig and Ted *^%)#dy oops no politics.
I am the farthest thing from a tree hugger(or kelp hugger in this case) but darn the commercial harvest hurts us guys who fish for the love of it.
I remember a post from last year where a lot of the names I see in this post were ranting about a bunch of asians taking shorts...well the commercial fisheries hurts the stock a whole lot worse.
For the record I am not asian and do keep 1-5 fish per season. So do each of my buddies and that allows me to eat striper most of the season.
O.K. now I'll take the flaming.

Tight line for the rec. guys

Go hump a black bear.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by inTHERAPY

Up to nearly 250,000. The number reported is definetly behind, well behind actual landings/sales. I think MA is probably a week behind in inputting data. At the time of 93,000 I knew 4 guys who totalled more than 10,000. I do not think they accounted for 10% of the catch!

As of July 26, the reported landings were up to 358,053 lbs. About 31% of the quota.