Menhaden Bill introduced

[piemma]

I go on a business trip for a week and all hell breaks loose.

OK, my 2 cents.

Banning the taking of Pogies by ARK bait is a GOOD thing. It will benefit everyone. To say that the rec guys should also be prohibited from taking Pogies is ridiculous. It's like saying that all deer hunters should be banned because one nitwit goes out and slaughters 10 deer.

There is a big difference between a rec guy in a boat like me snagging a half dozen pogies to live line and Ark bait netting 50, 000 pogies on one drag.

If they do ban Ark bait from netting Pogies there will be a lot more Pogies...EVERYWHERE!!! The upper Bay will not support a huge biomass for an entire season. Sooner or later many of the Pogies will filter down the Bay and end up around Narragansett. Do you think there will be a line of demarcation where the pogies will stop?

And what about fishing the bay from shore. Last I hear Jamestown was in the Bay. Casey, Point, Sally Rock, Goddard Park, Barrington Beach, Colt State Park, Rome Point, Sabin Point. Pojac Point, Warren River, etc, etc.
Everyone will benefit from the commercial ban.

[zimmy]

[QUOTE=piemma;456808]

There is a big difference between a rec guy in a boat like me snagging a half dozen pogies to live line and Ark bait netting 50, 000 pogies on one drag.

QUOTE]

You are probably right... but how can you be sure there is a big difference in the overall impact between comms and recs? There are alot of boats out there snagging a couple dozen at a time several times a week for months. I hear the same argument about the rec vs comm. striper catch. The data indicates that recs dramatically out-harvest the comms. with bass.

[piemma]

[QUOTE=zimmy;456861]

Originally Posted by piemma

There is a big difference between a rec guy in a boat like me snagging a half dozen pogies to live line and Ark bait netting 50, 000 pogies on one drag.

QUOTE]

You are probably right... but how can you be sure there is a big difference in the overall impact between comms and recs? There are alot of boats out there snagging a couple dozen at a time several times a week for months. I hear the same argument about the rec vs comm. striper catch. The data indicates that recs dramatically out-harvest the comms. with bass.

Zimmy:
Point well taken. But, I still don't think the rec bass guys or the comm bass guys will make a dent in the Pogie population compared to what the ARK bait boats and their spotter planes do. We are talking tons as opposed to pounds of pogies harvested.