Stripers forever!

[Crafty Angler]

Originally Posted by numbskull

... Blaming housewives' detergent while you kill as many fish as you are allowed to keep or sell for your own benefit/profit may be accurate, but it is far from altruistic.

Let's face it, we make sport out of salt-water fishing, which is sort of a a patrician concept that was begun in earnest in the middle 1800's by very wealthy men for the sheer pleasure of it and we all spend a considerable amount of time, money and personal energy on that pursuit today.

If we wanted to truly preserve the fishery, we wouldn't put so much effort into dragging 'em around by the lips for our own enjoyment with the attendant risk of C&R mortality if C&R is your thing.

If the proposed saltwater fishing license ever does what it's supposed to do - which is get an accurate assessment of the rec catch rate - I think it will finally put to rest the notion that the recreational sector is completely blameless in stock declines.

This could be a long discussion and I've got other plans for the day, but sure, I realize there are plenty of flies in that particular ointment. Data already available would suggest just that there's plenty of blame to go around on a number of different fronts.

Numbie, none of us, regardless of what we do to put food on the table or keep a roof over our families head, does so without impact on the environment in one way or another.

Discussing altruism is a slippery slope.

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by Crafty Angler

If we wanted to truly preserve the fishery, we wouldn't put so much effort into dragging 'em around by the lips for our own enjoyment with the attendant risk of C&R mortality if C&R is your thing.

Exactly. If preserving fish, for the fishes' sake is your priority you shouldn't fish at all. It is not mine, so I fish. Anybody who fishes has their own agenda for doing so, which is why it is disingenuous to point fingers at other user groups/organizations. .

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by Crafty Angler

If the proposed saltwater fishing license ever does what it's supposed to do - which is get an accurate assessment of the rec catch rate - I think it will finally put to rest the notion that the recreational sector is completely blameless in stock declines.

Please! Who is claiming that?

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by Crafty Angler

Numbie, none of us, regardless of what we do to put food on the table or keep a roof over our families head, does so without impact on the environment in one way or another.

Why are you addressing that sentence to me? It implies that I don't realize this simple truth.

Stripers Forever is a somewhat amateurishly run organization that advocates eliminating the sale of striped bass via establishing gamefish status. Gamefish status puts the shaft to guys who fish for money, and to those in the non-fishing public who like to eat striped bass (though farm raised fish may be changing this). Gamefish status is great for guys who like to fish for striped bass, particularly those who are either not very good at it or like to use inefficient means to do it. It is probably also good for a substantially larger sector of the economy that caters to recreational fishing as opposed to that which serves the commercial side. Gamefish status does not automatically improve the fishery, but by eliminating a major user group (as well as the illegal sale of fish) it makes management much easier.

The issue comes down to one of fairness. Is it fair to deny someone the enjoyment of catching and selling fish for profit in order to increase your own success and enjoyment? Is it fair for someone to catch and kill much larger numbers of fish, and profit from doing it, while making it harder for others to enjoy catching and releasing or killing a much smaller individual share of the resource? Although most of us probably would prefer gamefish status, most do not want to hurt the others who use the resource differently......at least until the resource is sufficiently strained to unacceptably impact our own happiness.