SB stocks dwindling

[JFigliuolo]

Don't forget about how many juvenile fish are killed as by catch to the shrimping industry, which has fired up in Maryland, and Virginia in addition to the existing fishery in NC. I've read that the by-catch is ~90% of the haul.

[piemma]

Guys, the fact of the matter is the management of the species has failed. There's no way around it. We had world class fishing after the moratorium because no one was killing fish. Yes, there was a certain amount of mortality due to poor C&R release techniques but we had a massive amount of fish in all sizes.

I'm seeing reports from guys in Maryland that there are NO micro bass, few schoolies and nothing in the pipeline.

How many years will it take until the management people realize what the hell is really happening? The 28" to 31" isn't the answer. The googans kill everything they catch anyway. I saw a guy in the Canal, in June, catch 3 fish in the 30# range and carried each one up to his truck and put it in the cab, in back of the seat.

I don't think anyone is paying attention. Just shut it down. No C&R (I know hard to police), but if something doesn't happen soon, the only Stripers that will be caught will be in your dreams.

[clambo]

What I mean is if the count inshore is low then the scientists say there are few Stripers. Until all areas where Stripers go, offshore and inshore are looked at how does one get an accurate count. I don't believe they can and will continue to give a flawed count.

[zimmy]

Originally Posted by clambo

What I mean is if the count inshore is low then the scientists say there are few Stripers. Until all areas where Stripers go, offshore and inshore are looked at how does one get an accurate count. I don't believe they can and will continue to give a flawed count.

It is impossible to survey every area. When stripers are abundant, they are found throughout their range; inshore, offshore, etc. We also know where they reproduce and reproductive success has been generally poor overall for a long time. Some schools offshore don't change that. It is like when the big schools were on the block and nowhere else in the early 80's and people on those fish thought stocks were great. No they weren't. Stripers basically didn't exist in the Chesapeake for a decade. Those videos you saw were circumstantial evidence at best. It isn't the science that is a problem, it is the power of special interests and the politician's they feed.

[Got Stripers]

[QUOTE=zimmy;1242791It isn't the science that is a problem, it is the power of special interests and the politician's they feed.[/QUOTE]

Same probably in so many things, fisheries, politics and other industries, you hit the nail on the head.