Striped Bass, the condition of the fishery

[inTHERAPY]

Originally Posted by JFigliuolo

What really gets my nuts in a vice (and I'm not singling anyone out) is guys that in one thread (not necessarily this one) say the bass are in trouble... Yet post pictures of BIG dead bass they kill for a contest or sale...

I keep fish to eat, don't get me wrong. But if YOU think there is a problem how about changing YOUR actions as a first step.

-putting on my asbestos suit.

J, I agree that change will have to start at home. Problem being that as long as every angler is within their legal right to take an amount of fish, the amount of fish taken is not going to change. I do not think anglers are going to take less fish.
As of last year, I started to commercial bass fish in earnest. I will continue to do so this year. Please do not interpret the fact that as a commercial fisherman (albeit very part time) that I am not conservation minded. I think many comms are like myself. If the comm catch is quota based, that quota will be filled by someone.
I think, as many others do, that the fishery is in trouble, but we do not get that impression from the Managers of the resource. Therefore, what isn't broken doesn't need to be fixed.
The ASMFC has a meeting scheduled for early Feb. It is important to me to see what comes from the striped bass board and menhaden board in particular. Art

[Back Beach]

Lots of good points. Often times, we equate the quality of fishing with what we experience personally. This may or may not be representative of the big picture.

On one hand, you have to buy into and trust the managers judgement to a degree. Many of them are responsible for the great fishery we have right now. Yes, it seems there may be a few less fish, but I also believe its a distribution thing. Fish show in different places in different quantities each year. This is one of the things that supports the landings as a % of total biomass method of managing the population.
My last point/question is this.....how many(stripers) fish should there be in the ocean? Do we need to walk on the backs of 50# fish? Keep in mind populations of fish and wildlife will fluctuate even without harvest. What is the true definition of a healthy population?