Menhaden Bill introduced

[Springtides]

here we come.
#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& has a good point about getting this to become law. You never know whats going to happen in the legislative process. However, these gents in the House that signed the bill are serious about the issue. They are committeed to getting this done and on the books. How do I know this you ask? I am proud to say that my brother is the co-sponsor. Hold on, this is going to be a good one. Kudo's to RISAA.

[Slinger]

I don`t very often get involved anymore, too many battles fought without a victory. But my wife fights on, heavily involved with local politics. I`ve allready phoned both my Rep and Senator and expressed my opinion and told them that I would be closely following this bill. A personal call is worth a hundred form letter E-mails.
Slinger

[Canalman]

Ahhh.... Finally a winter flame war!

I personally don't attribute the lackluster fishing in SoCo to the abundance of Bunker in the bay. When the guys were slaying fish in the Bay in boats... there were plenty of fish to be had from shore too... just had to look in different places sometimes... they're not always in the same places every year. The summer did SUCK but it has to be because of the outlandishly warm water.. no? The bay was no longer loaded with big fish in the summer or pogies... and then August... brought the fish back... although it seemed like almost no one knew it. The fall was excellent. I'll vote for this one twice if I can...

[zimmy]

Eben,
I really don't think you have to worry about your concerns. All the environmental benefits aside... If bunker were at historic levels, they would be all along the coast, in the salt ponds, etc. They would not be only in the bay. Maybe for the summer, but they would drop out in the fall and you would have blitzes all along the coast. The bunker are with out a doubt a GOOD thing. With the decline in herring, flounder etc. they are critical to sustaining the bass population.

[bobber]

Ebe- I think the idea of protecting bunker as being detrimental to South County fishing is preposterous(!) if you really think the only guys who are gonna benefit are th boaters in Gansett Bay, you're way off....... besides, who says that you aren't the guy whose fishing style has adapted to the "wrong way" of fishing without bunker??

[JohnR]

Mike - thank you & your brother on this. Also, let us know what we can do to support this...

Thanks!

[DZ]

I have mixed feelings about this development. It will hurt the local bait shops big time and they’re already hurting enough. I think there will be opposition on the bait front – from bait shops and lobstermen. And, like has been said already, pogies make bass to easy to target and catch (which I admit is not always a bad thing). But think about this for a minute – the run of pogies in Narragansett Bay this year was great, and I bet lots of fishermen took more large bass than any time of their life. So you have lots of pogies AND lots of big bass harvested. Is that good? I’m not so sure.
Secondly, it’s one stinking company – and a company that has always shared its catch with sport fishermen. To me this is stabbing Ark bait in the back.

Just a few thoughts to ponder….

DZ