ASMFC Striped bass board winter meeting minutes

[WoodyCT]

and up until now that has been the commercial lobby because it has the funds to donate to reelection campaigns. In the past recs had virtually no voice while commercials stuffed pockets and packed meetings to ensure that the gravy train kept rolling.

It is only very recently that a somewhat strong and vocal recreational voice is beginning to be heard up and down the coast, and that voice is SF. After watching the first crash and moratorium folks decided never again was too soon and began spreading their message- preserve sportfishing for bass by making it a game fish throughout its range. Some states have done so, others have not, nor has the federal government gone so far.

I can't blame SF for being fed up with the status quo, who isn't!, and reaching for the ultimate protective measure- gamefish status.

However, I believe that if managed properly the stock can support a thriving recreational fishery, and all the related economic injections it brings, as well as a tightly controlled and strictly monitored commercial fishery.

Comms want all the fish so they can earn a living. Recs want all the fish so they are protected and can be enjoyed. Eventually compromise will be reached and the bass can be shared.

It appears that the threat of a resource grab by SF is just the thing to get everyones attention and begin some meaningful dialogue as we are doing here.

[Sashamy]

Dude dude dude woody woodrow woodski...we already have compromise that works its called a quota! get off the shrooms dude..sf doesn't represent any of my recreational friends infact they hate them and they don't even commercial fish...they represent an elitest bunch of retired doctors, lawyers and socialites that want to flyfish in the penobscot river...they do not represent the interests of the every day joe who want toi go out and take a couple fish home for dinner...again I will say it that is the rec interest group attacking a group that has never brought anything to light about how many bass get killed recreationally each year....STOP drinking the Koolaid...

[MikeToole]

Originally Posted by Sashamy

...they represent an elitest bunch of retired doctors, lawyers and socialites that want to flyfish in the penobscot river...they do not represent the interests of the every day joe who want toi go out and take a couple fish home for dinner...again I will say it that is the rec interest group attacking a group that has never brought anything to light about how many bass get killed recreationally each year....STOP drinking the Koolaid...

This may be some what true of the group that started Stripers Forever but it is not a true statement today. SF has a much broader base of fisherman. Most groups start as a radical fringe but as they grow they attrack a larger group that moderates their actions. Read the history on the formation of Ducks Unlimited. Not saying that SF will ever become DU, but much of what you say about SF is the attacks made on DU in their earlier years.

I thought RFA might be the answer but IMO they are not. To much influence from the boat manufactures.

[MAKAI]

Wasn't it an elitist bunch of agenda driven wealthy earthy crunchies that got the ball rolling for bird closures.
How's that working out for the rest of us.
The more we bitch like a bunch of entitled spoiled 3 year olds, the more we weaken our commonality.
We are nothing more than a divided angry mob.
The proverbial Ship of Fools.

[WoodyCT]

Originally Posted by Sashamy

Dude dude dude woody woodrow woodski...we already have compromise that works its called a quota! get off the shrooms dude..sf doesn't represent any of my recreational friends infact they hate them and they don't even commercial fish...they represent an elitest bunch of retired doctors, lawyers and socialites that want to flyfish in the penobscot river...they do not represent the interests of the every day joe who want toi go out and take a couple fish home for dinner...again I will say it that is the rec interest group attacking a group that has never brought anything to light about how many bass get killed recreationally each year....STOP drinking the Koolaid...

Pehaps you should try someone else's Kool-Aid. Yours appears to have fermented. Dude.