Striped Bass, the condition of the fishery

[MAKAI]

Not where we used to fish Mike. Most were pretty lean. However when trolling squid bars with mark out on stellwagon, very fat fish would come up into the spread, good eats out there I suppose. Some of my best bass were caught on the 130's, shame.

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by MAKAI

Not where we used to fish Mike. Most were pretty lean. However when trolling squid bars with mark out on stellwagon, very fat fish would come up into the spread, good eats out there I suppose. Some of my best bass were caught on the 130's, shame.

Bob, it seems like they were always skinny out there now that you mention it. I can't count the number of 50" fish I caught that didn't break the 40# mark. Lots of times they had skates/lobsters in them too.
I don't fish out there anymore, but the canal/buzzards bay vicinity fish were well fed this year.

[Fish_Eye]

Hi Everyone,

This is a subject that I know a little bit about. I worked with National Geographic on two projects related to mycobacteriosis: “Strange Days on Planet Earth/Dirty Secrets” and “Wild Chronicles”.

As for Capt. Jim White’s assessment of the situation as being grim…well it is! Jim DOESN’T make assumptions, he bases his conclusions on FACTS. I’ve followed this situation for years, read most of the studies and concur with Jim White and #^&#^&#^&#^& Russell.

Yes, there is a need for ecosystem wide management of both game fish and forage fish. This was recommended to Congress in 1999; it’s been 10 years and we don’t even have workable models for dealing with this complex issue. Add to this the relatively new threat of midwater and pair trawling off OUR coast and it’s a surefire recipe for disaster. You think we have problems with forage fish now, you can’t even begin to imagine the rape of the resource that is going on RIGHT THIS MINUTE off our coast. The mackerel stocks off RI that could have sustained the local day boats for a couple of weeks were decimated in ONE TOW late last week by one of these huge boats. Check out http://www.comminternet.com/websites...tail.php?id=28
and get an idea of the scope of the problem. Want to know where your river herring are? They got scooped up with the targeted Atlantic herring and with little observe coverage to document the bycatch we have little hope to get the proper time and territory closures we need to protect the bluebacks and alewives. Think the bass are skinny now (and they are malnourished in many of the areas I film in -- which translates to areas you fish in) wait till they arrive this spring and find fewer herring, fewer mackerel, and possibly fewer menhaden.

Yes the fish in the Chesapeake are under extreme duress…in fact, a noted expert on the subject of gut content has established that one of the peak periods for feeding takes place right around now, IN THE WINTER (something biologists believed didn’t happen), in order to help fortify their reproductive systems for upcoming spawning. The problem is that there are far too few menhaden age 0 to provide adequate nourishment for the pre-spawn fish that are too small to eat mature menhaden…see http://www.chesbay.org/articles/latest.asp for more details.
Let's not forget a growing dead zone in the Chesapeake, over nitrification of the bay with run off from the poultry industry (which may be getting a stay of execution from having to deal with their immense contribution to this problem -- got to love big business and their influence).

In the past I couldn’t support game fish status for stripers simply because a well managed stock should provide enough fish for both recreational and commercial interests. However, over the past several years I’ve seen more and more pressure put on the stocks by both user groups. Yes, the recreational take is massive, however the commercial quotas never seem to be high enough for the commercial interests and the black market fishery is completely out of control. How many pirates do you know? How many pseudo-commercial fishermen are out there looking to offset boating and fishing expenses? How many “anglers” sell fish at the back door of a restaurant? How many tons of undersized fish make it to market? How many fishermen exceed their quota and look at a fine as a reasonable cost of doing business? How much meaningful enforcement is there out there?

Consider all of the above and all the anecdotal evidence that the fishery is in decline and it’s time to do something NOW.

I’m not sure that game fish status is a winnable battle, but when I hear commercial striped bass fisherman, who also run charter boats say that they would like to see a halt to the commercial fishing because they would rather have a successful charter business rather than an ever shrinking commercial catch that eventually leads to a collapse and then no business at all.

So what do we do? Talking about it on the site is fine for spreading the word and getting more public awareness, but talk is not going to make one bit of difference. You need to go to the meetings and voice your outrage with the current situation. You need to support organizations that our working to correct these problems. Game fish status for striped bass…I’m still on the fence, but it won’t take much for me to say, enough is enough -- the resource needs to be saved.

Remember, history has a way of repeating itself.

Mike

[hq2]

I don't think there's any doubt that things are not what they were 8 or 10 years ago. I've basically stopped fishing for stripers except maybe Mid June in the canal or Joppa, and even there they're not what they were. The fall migration has become almost a shadow of what it was. If we have to have another moratorium, so be it, but definitely something needs to be done about the herring situation, and closing the runs isn't the whole answer.

[Cape Cod 19]

Originally Posted by Fish_Eye

In the past I couldn’t support game fish status for stripers simply because a well managed stock should provide enough fish for both recreational and commercial interests. However, over the past several years I’ve seen more and more pressure put on the stocks by both user groups. Yes, the recreational take is massive, however the commercial quotas never seem to be high enough for the commercial interests and the black market fishery is completely out of control. How many pirates do you know? How many pseudo-commercial fishermen are out there looking to offset boating and fishing expenses? How many “anglers” sell fish at the back door of a restaurant? How many tons of undersized fish make it to market? How many fishermen exceed their quota and look at a fine as a reasonable cost of doing business? How much meaningful enforcement is there out there?

Consider all of the above and all the anecdotal evidence that the fishery is in decline and it’s time to do something NOW.

The only sector who has increased their "pressure" is the recreational.

Recs are killing 2/3 as many fish as they are keeping and they are already taking 80% of all the fish. Their discard mortality is equal to all the commercial landings and discards....so who do the fish really need saving from?

[BasicPatrick]

Originally Posted by Fish_Eye

So what do we do? Talking about it on the site is fine for spreading the word and getting more public awareness, but talk is not going to make one bit of difference. You need to go to the meetings and voice your outrage with the current situation. You need to support organizations that our working to correct these problems. Game fish status for striped bass…I’m still on the fence, but it won’t take much for me to say, enough is enough
Mike

Well said Mike....this bit above is the actual bottom line...less than 6 recreaitonal fishers at the last dozen hearings on bunker and river herring...this is why we loose.

[BassDawg]

Originally Posted by BasicPatrick

Well said Mike....this bit above is the actual bottom line...less than 6 recreaitonal fishers at the last dozen hearings on bunker and river herring...this is why we loose.

i would LOVE to be more visual,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

yet, aren't most of these meetings when
us blue collar guys are working ??

if memory serves the last couple of meetings were being held
around 10:30 and in Providence, when i work/live in Boston/NShore.

makes it kinda tough to participate, but i did send an email
the last time you told us to fire something off about the
herring bycatch losses,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,what can i do on w/ends, brah??