1@32 Pledge

[piemma]

Dennis, I respect your opinion but please keep in mind that a 28" striper is 6 years old and this is, effectively, their first year to spawn.

Not saying you are wrong to keep a 28" fish. i am saying that the stocks are in trouble and some kind of comprehensive plan has to be put in place.

[FishermanTim]

It sounds good in principle but when you have more anglers that don't share our true love of the fish and the fishery it may not have much impact execpt that with our decrease in keeper fish the "allowable bycatch" kill numbers will be "allowed" ti increase.

Seeing how nothing much has changed in the kill rates of the bycatch fish (which usually are the major breeding stock) our pledge numbers may be dismissed as having little or no impact to the fishery as a whole.

Keep in mind also that if shore bound anglers are reporting a (much) less than stellar season, the commercial catches weren't impacted as much. I am not blaming the commercial guys, just to be clear!!!

I am concerned that our actions and intentions, noble as they are, will be used to further restrict the recreational angler and do nothing to address the real problems effecting the fishery as a whole.

For the record I would not be against 1 @ 34".
Just make sure EVERYONE has to follow the same rules and anyone that catches stripers, intentionally or not, has to be accountable for those catches ($$$).
If not, then it all means NOTHING.

[Liv2Fish]

I believe there is a significant education piece to something like this working.

There has been a lot of mentions of how many fish are killed at the ditch during the big runs. I'll bet most of those people have no idea about the status of the fishery and I'd bet most of those people would think twice about taking their limit just to be able to say they did. Not implying these fish are going to waste or anything but I know people who keep them and just give them to the neighbors, etc.

I'll bet only a small fraction of people who keep fish are on message boards, etc but they all eventually go to the tackle shops. Maybe a flyer in the shops to educate and direct them to a website if they want to read more and maybe even do something to help.

[zimmy]

Originally Posted by piemma

Dennis, I respect your opinion but please keep in mind that a 28" striper is 6 years old and this is, effectively, their first year to spawn.

Not saying you are wrong to keep a 28" fish. i am saying that the stocks are in trouble and some kind of comprehensive plan has to be put in place.

The only time the chance to spawn is an issue is if you keep a 28" when you wouldn't have kept a fish otherwise. If you catch a 32" and a 28" on the same trip, the 28" is the one to keep, regardless of whether it has had a chance to spawn. The 32" contributes more eggs than the 28" will at first spawn and numbers of eggs is the key. I am with Dennis. It is the reason I didn't take the pledge. I don't really keep bass since I think they are mediocre, but if I do, I will pick one smaller than 32".

[Sea Flat]

Generally I catch and release, but when I do take one it is usually in the low 30" range.

The challenge is that there are two ways to think of it:

1. Let the big girls go, they have more eggs etc.

2. Take one at 36" or bigger. Less fish will be caught in that size, but more 30-35" fish (which are more abundant) can breed.

Not sure there really is a correct answer. Maybe Maine has it right?