Joe - in the loosest interpretation of "commercial fishing", you're right
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As far as fishing in Mass & Rhody goes, the vast majoirty of the fish are taken recreationally. Now that's OK becuase 98% of the people fishing in Mass & Rhody are also fishing recreationally. Like LI VT said, the biggest Rod & Reel threat to the fishery is the Rec & that's right. Of course the rec in MA & RI is 98% of the fishery.
The difference between Rhody & Mass is big too. Sure they're both Rod & Reel fisheries (though Rhody has a pound trap too) but Rhody has a small & tight set of rules 4 fish per day and is open usually in June and September only with a quota of about 100,000 pounds. Mass has a quota of 800,000+ pounds and a 40 limit per day which gets blown thru typically in 5 weeks - sometimes longer & sometimes shorter. Their license is a bit cheaper too. Mass gets a lot more fish commercially fished for.
But the biggest commercial states in the northeast combined, do not harvest anywhere near as much as the Maryland, Virgina, & Potomac fisheries. they get a LOT more fish, and they get both big & small.
So hile I'm not a big fan of commercial fishing for bass - I'm not against it. I would like to see more done by both Rec & Comm to reduce the pressure commercially and improve the release recreationally. Also get rid of the netters that decimate entire schools of fish.
The last thing that should happen is the increase of quotas that is being bandied about in Ammendment 6 - that's moving backward & not forward...
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