1@32 Pledge

[zimmy]

I like the sentiment as well. I have thought about what kind of pledge I could make that fits with the spirit of what they are trying to accomplish. I will pledge to intentionally keep no more than 2 fish between April to December. They will be 28-30"unless a fish is terminally injured. If I fish the Chesapeake, the size drops. I would rather take an 22" than a 28".

[FishermanTim]

We have taken out own personal steps as recreational anglers to be better stewards of the ocean. We practice C&R, we are more careful handling fish in the process, and we report issues to the authorities that directly affect the fisheries.

What has me concerned is that if nothing is done on the commercial side of the coin, meaning the by-catch kill rate by netters, then our efforts will be worthless. It's been reported that recreational anglers kill more fish than the commercial anglers. True, but those numbers do not include the commercial kill from netters which would probably change the results in our favor.

Of course that would also mean that the reports had been wrong and our environmental efforts were only supplying the netters with more fish to kill.

Heck, I didn't start fishing for stripers until the 90's (voluntarily) and I've been slowly shifting my interest back to freshwater due to a continued decline in the quality of the fishery.

Keep in mind that if every shore angler were to pledge to give up stripers for just one year it would make no difference at all. Even if we gave it up for 5 years it would yield the same results.

Why?

Because our fish would then be given to the commercial guys and would be used to downplay the bycatch kill numbers.

Here are words to keep in mind, and they may soon be used for stripers as well: Remember when we used to be able to use live herring as bait?

Remember when we used to be able to catch/keep stripers?

[Rockfish9]

alot goes into the equation... and every little bit helps.... as Nebe so aptly pointed out... there are alot of anglers out there weren't around the last go 'round... I was... I wish I knew then what I know know...

as i said in my open there is so much to the whole picture... IMHO, bait is still an issue... we haven't had a sustained school of pogies in the Merrimack since the mid 80's...it seems ( from what i hear and read) not many large schools make it north of Boston anymore...and personaly, i think it's part of the bluefish issue as well...

Angler commited mortality ( com and rec) is an issue.. and along that line... enforcement of the rules comes into play.. we ( as a governing body) can make all the ruels we want.. if no one is there to enforce them they are not worth the paper they are written on...

I stopped selling my bass in 2004... something I did since the early 70's...back when 16" was a legal fish... I now release %99 of my bass especialy the cows.. I'm a trophy hunter and those get released (out of respect) as well...I kept 2 fish last season.. the last trip.. I kept a fillet off of a 10lb class fish for me and gave the other 3 to my neighbor ( with 4 kids) because they enjoy fresh fish and have to stare at my boat with the ugly blue cover all winter...

IMHO gamefish status would be a huge step... but all parties involved need to get together on this.... recs. need to quit blaming comercials.. because everyone that keeps a fish or kills it unknowingly has a hand in it.. surfman need to realize that for every boat working 100' deep offshore rips... there are 100 working the SAME skinny water they do.. they see what the surfman sees....laws need to be made to sustain the fish... not sustain a yield.. there are many other factors that go into this.. most beyond my scope of knowledge.. I only know what father time has taught/shown me.. the finger pointing NEEDS TO STOP .. and that Is something they havent been able to do in the 40 odd years or so I have been doing this...

[rphud]

I pledge to put 'em all back.

[bart]

Originally Posted by Rockfish9

IMHO gamefish status would be a huge step... but all parties involved need to get together on this.... recs. need to quit blaming comercials.. because everyone that keeps a fish or kills it unknowingly has a hand in it.. surfman need to realize that for every boat working 100' deep offshore rips... there are 100 working the SAME skinny water they do.. they see what the surfman sees....laws need to be made to sustain the fish... not sustain a yield.. there are many other factors that go into this.. most beyond my scope of knowledge.. I only know what father time has taught/shown me.. the finger pointing NEEDS TO STOP .. and that Is something they havent been able to do in the 40 odd years or so I have been doing this...

Couldn't agree more with this..