Scup poaching

[numbskull]

Breaking the law is one thing and if that upsets you then fine, take it out on a bunch of immigrants.

As for hurting the fishery.........have you considered that killing a single legal #30 bass ( a female that produces millions off offspring each season) likely harms the fishery more than poaching a hundred small fish (that are primarily males)?

Small time poaching is much less of a problem for fisheries than the legal ethic of recreational fishermen that encourages keeping large fish.

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by numbskull

Breaking the law is one thing and if that upsets you then fine, take it out on a bunch of immigrants.

As for hurting the fishery.........have you considered that killing a single legal #30 bass ( a female that produces millions off offspring each season) likely harms the fishery more than poaching a hundred small fish (that are primarily males)?

Small time poaching is much less of a problem for fisheries than the legal ethic of recreational fishermen that encourages keeping large fish.

I have considered what the effects of killing legal bass are, but I can't find anywhere in my post where I said anything about killing bass. Could you point out to me where I said I'm for killing any fish legally or illegally?

My point was more about justifying any poaching whether it be scup, bass, eels, etc... Maybe I should have been more detailed in my post. Why should it be ok to poach one species but not another? To me, poaching is poaching. There are regs in place for a reason, whether you, me or anyone else agrees with them.

And please, George, find a post anywhere in here that I've ever made about poaching and immigrants. If you think that poaching is only done by immigrants, you're pretty small minded. I don't believe that's the case, but your comment sure speaks to your thoughts on it.

[FishermanTim]

Seems to me that once you start adding "special exceptions" to the regulations you have pretty much said "The law is useless because we can't / won't enforce it because of some special interest influence."

Make a rule and stick to it.
Charge a fee/license and use the funds as intended (supposedly for more officers for more patrolling enforcement).

Once again, the powers that be have shown that they were born without a spine and without any balls!

No wonder why poachers give you a "you can't touch me" attitude when they know we LEGAL anglers have no real power except to call the EPO's and hope they show up and hope they will enforce the laws.

I buy my licenses every year with the presumption that those funds will be used as they were intended, but they I hear stories of waste and apathy and neglect and I wonder why I bother???

Hopefully things will change, but I've got a better chance of seeing a Republican State Senator in Mass.

[Liv2Fish]

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

Seems to me that once you start adding "special exceptions" to the regulations you have pretty much said "The law is useless because we can't / won't enforce it because of some special interest influence."

Make a rule and stick to it.
Charge a fee/license and use the funds as intended (supposedly for more officers for more patrolling enforcement).

Once again, the powers that be have shown that they were born without a spine and without any balls!

No wonder why poachers give you a "you can't touch me" attitude when they know we LEGAL anglers have no real power except to call the EPO's and hope they show up and hope they will enforce the laws.

I buy my licenses every year with the presumption that those funds will be used as they were intended, but they I hear stories of waste and apathy and neglect and I wonder why I bother???

Hopefully things will change, but I've got a better chance of seeing a Republican State Senator in Mass.

We've got a better chance of meeting Richard Simmons son than electing a republican here...

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by Liv2Fish

We've got a better chance of meeting Richard Simmons son than electing a republican here...

Hahahahahaha! That just made my day.

[BigFish]

I don't give a flying crap what anyone else does anymore legal or illegal!!! I abide by the laws set forth and I do not appreciate it when people bitch about people who take what is rightfully theirs under those laws 30# striper or 30 inch striper!!! People are going to be ignorant MF'ers whether you try to educate them or not or whether you call the authorities or not so I say......screw the bull#^&#^&#^&#^&.......I just do what I am required to do by law!!!

[Sea Dangles]

As George has explained,everybody can justify what they decide to do with a clear conscience,legal or illegal. It is a valid point to some and that is all they care about. I say open the gates and take what you want and if it is indeed illegal then step up and face the consequences. Jimmy is having a bad day and is married to an Asian so he says let them feed their families.Larry caught his PB and killed it so everybody kill their PB.George used to have dreams of catching cow bass but can only catch shorts so he says kill shorts and let the big girls swim. All of these scenarios happen on a daily basis but only Larry has the legal right to his possession. The other examples are halfway between Candyland and Chutes and Ladders.As for scup;keep them alive in 5 gallon buckets and toss them overboard when the EPO's show up.How many do Captain Leroy's slave ships kill every day?

[Ken_J]

Originally Posted by BigFish

I don't give a flying crap what anyone else does anymore legal or illegal!!! I abide by the laws set forth and I do not appreciate it when people bitch about people who take what is rightfully theirs under those laws 30# striper or 30 inch striper!!! People are going to be ignorant MF'ers whether you try to educate them or not or whether you call the authorities or not so I say......screw the bull#^&#^&#^&#^&.......I just do what I am required to do by law!!!

This

[Liv2Fish]

Originally Posted by numbskull

Breaking the law is one thing and if that upsets you then fine, take it out on a bunch of immigrants.

As for hurting the fishery.........have you considered that killing a single legal #30 bass ( a female that produces millions off offspring each season) likely harms the fishery more than poaching a hundred small fish (that are primarily males)?

Small time poaching is much less of a problem for fisheries than the legal ethic of recreational fishermen that encourages keeping large fish.

Completely agree with this part. As others have stated, the enforcement is such a joke that you can get away with it on a state pier? This is the problem that allows the exploitation of species that need protection. Why not say kcuf it and go back to fishing herring, i mean, what's the big deal. Does it make it more acceptable if I eat the ones that I don't use for bait?

[Slipknot]

There is a legal ethic that encourages recreational fisherman to keep large fish?
I didn't know that

I thought ignorance of the law was no excuse but somehow people don't seem to apply that to fishing

[numbskull]

Apologies to fishbone. I was speaking to the tenor of the thread in general rather than anything he specifically has posted about striped bass or immigrants and regret that my post implied otherwise.

Slip, I phrased it badly but my point is that an ethic of saltwater fishing has always been to keep and kill the largest fish one catches. It feels good to do it, we have all done it, it is perfectly legal, it is an entirely valid use of a public resource,...........but it also is a major harm to that resource and thereby hurts other fishermen. When the ethic becomes to catch and release the largest fish we catch (and yes I know some of those fish die) we all will be better off.

When people rant about poachers it is usually implied that they are hurting the resource. They are, but so are we who fish legally, enough said.

As for the bit about breaking the law, that might hold water if the poster never broke the speed limit or crossed railroad right of ways, etc. Since that isn't usually the case, protestations about breaking fishery laws are usually hypocritical even though they feel justified.

The other ugly side of this is the xenophobic emphasis. The fact that the ethnicity of the offender is often prominently described is unfortunate, since it shouldn't make any difference.......but obviously does to many of us.

Finally, I'm not claiming to be holier than anyone. I don't keep large (or short) bass, but if I get a large fluke or large seabass I don't care about the resource one bit.......I'm keeping it. Likewise, I don't fish live scup, but if I decide to I don't plan to carry a ruler. And when a bunch of guys show up drifting seaworms both sides of me at Nobska and force me off my rock I have no problem referring to their ethnicity when I bittch about it later.