Quote:
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.
Quote:
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.
Quote:
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.
how many other fish
Hybrid Mode
