future of the stripers?

[Pete F.]

[.

All of this musty stuff I like to shuffle through on 19th and early 20th century club records and catch rates always seems to repeat the same tune. Periods of phenomenal fishing for bass always seem to be followed by a precipitous stock crash. Cause and effect may be hard to establish, but increased catch rates on both sides of the fence are certainly part of it. Sure, other factors are involved too but it's way too obvious to be discounted.

Perhaps when the info is in we'll meet the enemy only to find it is us -that is to say, not the crowd gathered here but the recs who are tonging fish just for the slap on the back from the boys and not their value as damn good table fare put to good use.

Do you think recreational fishing was much of a factor prior to the Second World War?
Are the fluctuations in Striped Bass and Bluefish populations part of a normal cycle where populations increase until they eat themselves out of a supply of food or become so dense, that the populations crash from lack of food or disease. I understand that this does happen with some species.

[Nebe]

Originally Posted by bluefishercat

[.

Do you think recreational fishing was much of a factor prior to the Second World War?
Are the fluctuations in Striped Bass and Bluefish populations part of a normal cycle where populations increase until they eat themselves out of a supply of food or become so dense, that the populations crash from lack of food or disease. I understand that this does happen with some species.

the industrial revolution really took its tool on the fish stocks.. damming of rivers, dumping chemicals in the rivers.. etc.. Polution was to blame then.

[Crafty Angler]

Originally Posted by bluefishercat

Do you think recreational fishing was much of a factor prior to the Second World War?

Sure it was.

I have a lot of photos in my collection from the late 1800's and early 1900's with lots of large dead bass which equals....well, lots of dead large bass. The unimaginably wealthy men who were members of those historic striped bass clubs spent phenominal amounts on their sporting pursuits. The combined catches of the clubs in Newport, on West Island (off Sakonnet Point) and on Cuttyhunk is nothing short of amazing - West Island's catch records alone list 2,406 striped bass caught in 1874 but it dwindled to a paltry eight by 1906. When you add to that the flood of immigrants in this area sustainance fishing for bass to feed their families during the boom it starts to add up from what would be considered the rec side.

I also have a copy of a 1914 Field and Stream that has the story of Church's world record 73# bass told in his own words that I gave to Tattoo to use on his website. What makes it even more impressive was that there were so few bass of any size and it took years for the fishery to recover in the '40's.

Originally Posted by Nebe

the industrial revolution really took its tool on the fish stocks.. damming of rivers, dumping chemicals in the rivers.. etc.. Polution was to blame then.

The pollution from the industrialization of the Northeast that destroyed the spawning habitat was another major link in the chain of events that compounded the problem and led to the crash.

Originally Posted by bluefishercat

Are the fluctuations in Striped Bass and Bluefish populations part of a normal cycle where populations increase until they eat themselves out of a supply of food or become so dense, that the populations crash from lack of food or disease. I understand that this does happen with some species.

Overfishing of the forage stocks was probably the final nail. The number of barrels of mackeral shipped from Newport to New York on the regular steamship route was so great it made the Newport Mercury as news. But the largest commercial catch landed in our waters in monetary value during that boom period was not striped bass but - did you guess it? - menhaden.

You know what they say about those who don't learn from history.

[dar3]

I just read this thread again and it was not intended to be taking the way it was it was to see if you guys thought the striper stocks could be helped with the raising of these fish. Did anyone of you read the article that was posted. I am sorry if commercial guys got bashed that was not the intention at all.

Peace

[Raven]

other than striped bass...

can be grown commercially in fresh water...

not that many...

i can't think of a single other fish at the moment

that's where the solution is... imho

when it's said to be more profitable than
raising hogs...

and without all the pollution
that's killing off the Chesapeake bay...

i think that's an important fact to remember.

[bart]

i don't think you should withdraw your thread just because a couple of comm's got upset. as long as striped bass are not game fish, there will always be some sort of discussion/debate...

[Crafty Angler]

Dar3, I see you're a new member - at least you got a valuable lesson as a newbie.

Be very careful when you push the button on that topic.

We really oughta label it:

Caution: May cause spontaneous combustion

[dar3]

Yes folks I agree that it will start some controversy I know on the other site there are some hard feelings and such I was told that over here were very educated and open minded indvisuals. I am not saying all of you are or are not. I was simply intrgied by the article and I know 50 years ago they would not be doing the surgery that I am undergoing in 48 hours and I would have to live a very painful life. So with that being said we may not see any drastic change of breeding stripers for the market in fresh or salt water but There may be a possibility in the future of this helping with the control of the fisheries. No they do not tatse as good as salt water fish but with the world gooing the way its going unless we have a major kill off of human beings we will need to continue to find alternative ways of food, heat, auto mobiles etc. That is just my two cents. The only reason I took it away is because I do not want to be the cause of a flame war at all. I will sit by the sidelines for a while and evaluate the way that I should go about wording my post. I know things can get heated and the last thing we need is that, remeber strength in numbers.

Peace
dr3