all these big fish being caught-

[Nebe]

Originally Posted by 1dozenraw

STATEWIDE REGULATIONS OPEN SEASON January 1 through December 31, inclusive (except the Kennebec watershed, see below). BAG & SIZE LIMITS A person may take and possess 1 fish per day. The fish may be between 20 and 26 inches total length, inclusive, OR 40 inches or greater in total length. TOTAL LENGTH Total length is a straight line measurement from the lower jaw to the tip of the tail with the tail pinched together. DISPOSITION Personal use only, sale is prohibited. Fish must remain whole and intact. GENERAL GEAR RESTRICTIONS Hook and line only, no gaffing of striped bass.

Now those are regulations. Here in RI, its just 2@28.. because of this, people say that they are perfectly legal keeping 2 fish a day, because that is the law... however, none of that fish ever makes it into thier kitchen... but I digress..

Personally i dont think we are on a brink of a collapse, but we as a whole should have learned the lessons of the late 70's -early 80's....

[Fishpart]

Based on how few schoolies I have caught the last two years, the end is well on it's way...

[Brian L]

Originally Posted by Fishpart

Based on how few schoolies I have caught the last two years, the end is well on it's way...

This is a little over the top and alarmist, I think. I've seen quite a few schoolies around this year. I'm curious as to where you're at? Southern RI has had plenty of packs of different size fish working their way through all summer.

If I'm just lucky as to what I've seen and there truly is a shortage of schoolies around, we'd have to look somewhere else other than the Comm. and Rec. takes on bigger fish to try and understand what the future of the fishery is.

I happen to be very friendly with a lifelong (40+ years) marine biologist who has done numerous studies on fish stocks. He claims(and it makes sense to me) that there's nothing that affects year classes of fish the way that pollution of spawning grounds does. This includes not only Stripes, but Fluke, Tautog, etc.. and any other fish that spawn in shallow inland waters. He insists the pre-moratorium fishing was more due to a polluted Chesapeake than any other factor. 50 bass dragged up on the beach dead during a blitz certainly doesn't help, of course (fewer fish returning to spawn), but I'm struggling with the notion that modest commercial catches coupled with the average recreational catch and a two fish limit will be responsible for a future destruction of the fishery.