Striped Bass, the condition of the fishery

[Slipknot]

Originally Posted by Flaptail

Why elevate the bass to gamefish status only to watch it's stock numbers soar then be unable to feed itself?

May I also add that with those increased numbers, their predators(seals) will flourish even more by chowing on more bass than they already do now, and why is that? because seals have been given free reign gamefish status, no I mean protection. We will be eating seals soon, because that's all that's left

[maddmatt]

Originally Posted by Slipknot

May I also add that with those increased numbers, their predators(seals) will flourish even more by chowing on more bass than they already do now, and why is that? because seals have been given free reign gamefish status, no I mean protection. We will be eating seals soon, because that's all that's left

seal tastes good.... boilem , mashem, put them in a stew.

[Canalman]

"The new Massachusetts Striped Bass Conservation Bill prohibits the sale of wild striped bass in the Commonwealth and sets a recreational daily bag limit of one striper measuring between 20 and 26 inches, or alternatively, one fish of 40 inches or greater per angler."

This is a direct quote from their press release

[Clammer]

Dave ;;

I agree & disagree ;;

that bill or whatever is only in Mass . so yes it will put the mass commercials OOB / & with a slot / have it more difficult to keep a bas s . But lets be realistic
I don,t know all the numbers especially by state .. RI,s commercial R & R season is a joke / 5 fish a day per week /with the days being Sunday Thru Thursday . & the spring season closing in two weeks or less / while the fall season can start as 3 or 5 fish a day / then they close it short again / even if the fish arn,t coming in / then they open it again & in the last few years its been open longer /because by then they can,t reach the yearly Quota so they have opened it to draggers .
The traps are part of the quota & the size they are allowed to sell is smaller than the R&R .
IMO .. do you really thing stopping just MA , R&R from commercial fishing & a slot is going to turn this around .
For the most part / Ma commercial season was a bust . not many boats did 30 per day / & for those that did there were plenty that couldn,t get 5 /
After all this is said & done / how is this going t change the status of the striper population .
Millions & millions of pounds will still be taken by rec,s up & down the coast & add the commercial dragging that is allowed down south ... It looks ike from here .. that its a sword thru the Ma R&R & a band aid to the mass REC,s
have have no interest in Mass commercial tooooo F #$%^&*( old to play that game anymore ;
bait or no bait . it does have some effect /but the actual reduction of the stripers [again] is a combination of all of the above / plus pollution issue .s & disease ;;;
the C/B had a 25 year plan to clean it up / but as I said before it was a recommendation //& not a law / so the fencing that was suppose to keep the actual [%$%$%$%$} from farm animals washing into the small creeks & streams & eventually into the C/b system . never happened & now 25 years lTER & AROUND 6 BILLION DOLLARS LIGHT / THEY are talking about doing approx the same thing . / by excluding the famers / mostly the chicken farmers ;

If anyone has worked on a dragger of anysize [even] for a week / then they have seen what they catch & what by catch / undersize / off season fish are sholved back over the side ;;;

this is a whole lot larger than Stripers forever going to try & make it a game fish in JUST Mass .

that would do as much good as pouring a 8oz . glass on beer in a 55gal. barrel that has a whole in it ;;;

Just my honest opinion & observation of being on the water 50 years .. not 3 months on weelends .,.,

Carry on MIKE

[MagicWand]

Short and sweet!......Protect the baitfish first.

[fishaholic18]

Originally Posted by Clammer

Dave ;;


IMO .. do you really thing stopping just MA , R&R from commercial fishing & a slot is going to turn this around .
For the most part / Ma commercial season was a bust . not many boats did 30 per day / & for those that did there were plenty that couldn,t get 5 /

Well, the final #'s for 2008 aren't posted yet but I'm sure they came close if not hit the quota.. I know they were over 1/2 way there in a month..which Is down from years past but still a sh!tload of fish.
They have exceeded their quota of over 1,000,000lbs since 2003 (that's only because that's as far back as I could find records for). My info came from the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game website... So..yes..that WILL have a huge effect on the SB population alone, imagine if they started cutting in in '03.

BTW.. I have had a MA comm. lic. in the past...and sold many fish legally.........and I will not discount getting it again,,,

[quick decision]

IF THE STRIPED BASS POPULATION WAS IN TROUBLE LIKE IS BEING SAID BY SOME, THEN WHY ISN'T THE BLUE FISH HEARD HAVING PROBLEMS? I SAW MORE FISH THIS YEAR THAN EVER BEFORE. PERHAPS THERE IS MORE BAIT IN THE WATER THAN YOU THINK AND THE FISH ARN'T MOVING AROUND AS MUCH. JUST BECAUSE YOU WENT TO YOUR FAVORITE FISHING SPOT AND GOT SKUNKED DOSN'T MEAN THE BASS POPULATION IS HAVING A PROBLEM.

[Crafty Angler]

Originally Posted by Clammer

Dave ;;

I agree & disagree ;;

that bill or whatever is only in Mass . so yes it will put the mass commercials OOB / & with a slot / have it more difficult to keep a bas s . But lets be realistic
I don,t know all the numbers especially by state .. RI,s commercial R & R season is a joke / 5 fish a day per week /with the days being Sunday Thru Thursday . & the spring season closing in two weeks or less / while the fall season can start as 3 or 5 fish a day / then they close it short again / even if the fish arn,t coming in / then they open it again & in the last few years its been open longer /because by then they can,t reach the yearly Quota so they have opened it to draggers .
The traps are part of the quota & the size they are allowed to sell is smaller than the R&R .
IMO .. do you really thing stopping just MA , R&R from commercial fishing & a slot is going to turn this around .
For the most part / Ma commercial season was a bust . not many boats did 30 per day / & for those that did there were plenty that couldn,t get 5 /
After all this is said & done / how is this going t change the status of the striper population .
Millions & millions of pounds will still be taken by rec,s up & down the coast & add the commercial dragging that is allowed down south ... It looks ike from here .. that its a sword thru the Ma R&R & a band aid to the mass REC,s
have have no interest in Mass commercial tooooo F #$%^&*( old to play that game anymore ;
bait or no bait . it does have some effect /but the actual reduction of the stripers [again] is a combination of all of the above / plus pollution issue .s & disease ;;;
the C/B had a 25 year plan to clean it up / but as I said before it was a recommendation //& not a law / so the fencing that was suppose to keep the actual [%$%$%$%$} from farm animals washing into the small creeks & streams & eventually into the C/b system . never happened & now 25 years lTER & AROUND 6 BILLION DOLLARS LIGHT / THEY are talking about doing approx the same thing . / by excluding the famers / mostly the chicken farmers ;

If anyone has worked on a dragger of anysize [even] for a week / then they have seen what they catch & what by catch / undersize / off season fish are sholved back over the side ;;;

this is a whole lot larger than Stripers forever going to try & make it a game fish in JUST Mass .

that would do as much good as pouring a 8oz . glass on beer in a 55gal. barrel that has a whole in it ;;;

Just my honest opinion & observation of being on the water 50 years .. not 3 months on weelends .,.,

Carry on MIKE

Ya know, I may be one of the few guys who is fluent in Clammish, but he makes sense to me, anyway...

Discounting poaching and illegal sales, the numbers just don't work - for all intents and purposes, there aren't any verifiable figures for the take by recreational fisherman targeting striped bass. What is being used now barely even qualifies as a guesstimate, at best.

I don't wanna set fire to my own teepee here, but data collection on that - meaning OUR - side of the fence is way the hell beyond imprecise. It's my understanding that the point of the coming saltwater license is to provide NOAA or NMFS or AFC with more precise numbers on recreational catch to set sustainable size and possession limits to bring striped bass to a sustainable fishery for the future. I hope that's going to be the case but I've got my doubts.

Even if the rec take figures do end up giving the fisheries managers good data, what is it that they intend to do with it? Ya know, it's obvious to just about everyone how important this issue is - and you've got recs and comms in a pitched battle between the two user groups. Striped bass are a common resource for ALL of us.

You want to point a finger at someone? Try pointing it at the fisheries managers - they're not working in the best interests of either us, both recs and comms or the bass. That's the third group in this mess and the one ultimately inflicting the most damage.

An 8 year old kid could tell you why bass are in jeopardy, for chrissakes -

1. You're not letting 'em eat, and
2. You're not letting 'em make baby bass like they used to so there's not enough to catch.
3. Ya gotta leave 'em alone for a little while until they get better. All of ya.

The problem is, there's no political will to do the right thing in terms of habitat and forage - because it's going to be extremely expensive and step on some very big toes in a lot of non-fishing industries. It will also take a paradigm shift in the way in which people have been led to believe they have to live their lives in terms of consumption. And those two issues cover both habitat and forage.

Absolutely no one wants to see a moritorium again - but in a few years there may not be a choice. There's way too much anecdotal evidence from just this board alone that doesn't look good. Everybody will have to take a reduction on an equal basis on a common resource.

To me it seems like the coup de grace for the striper is ultimately going to be delivered by the fisheries managers, if it is indeed going to happen. They're the guys at the helm, not us.

[Raven]

the animal farmers ,,,pigs & chickens ect. are seeing their animal waste as a source for making bio fuel and more money so eventually less of it will be washing into streams and rivers due to run -off...
but........
the use of pelleted grass fertilizers is a whole other dilemma
especially from golf courses ...and parks

i used to see mounds of cattle manure in texas bigger than a football field that was 30' tall... that's all gonna change....

[DZ]

Some good points mentioned in above posts. While a gamefish status in Mass may not make much difference in the "big picture" it would increase the numbers of surviving bass that call Mass waters home for much of the season. Just imagine how many pin hook boats pound Sow & Pigs and Gay Head during the season. Their take is a LOT of quality bass that, if there is no sale, will continue to populate local waters stabilizing the local population. Every bass that is not kept or sent to market is a bass that everyone has a chance of catching in the future. Of course every quality bass that is released increases the amount that a pin hooker can sell.

DZ