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The ocean fishery is supposed to be managed for the greater good of the public. This greater good includes financial and human good. To accomplish this you first need to maintain the core stocks at a level where it maximizes this greater good and than distribute the surplus stocks to the users where the greatest gain can be made. In some cases the commercial fishermen meets this need. This occurs when the sale of fish and the supply of food to the public meet’s the greater need. In other cases giving the surplus fish to the recreational fisherman meets this need. To me this is the case for stripers because the financial gain from recreational fishing far exceeds what the commercial fishery could deliver even if they got the whole stock. Plus, from the human standpoint the number of people who get to enjoy recreational fishing for stripers in itself meet the need.
I’m not against commercial fishing by any means but I do not believe they have any additional rights to the fishery. In any case, there is no way the present form of commercial rod and reel fishing in Mass meets any of the needs. It’s nothing short of a license to steal for a large number, not all, of the participants. What it does do is send a bunch of money to a Mass fishery commission and allows some people to get around the limits the recs face. I have even less support for the person selling fish just so he can operate his boat. Learn to surf fish.
Oh yeah, I usually keep out of these discussions but like many others the winters taking affect. Smile everybody has an opinion. One more thing, Mike Toole is not my real name, he's really a nice guy and if you meet him be sure to say hello.
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