Why is The Striped Bass Conservation Bill so hush hush?

[zimmy]

Originally Posted by Slipknot

he also put one up instituting salt water fishing licenses, another for health care trust.
I don't know why they'd allow us to kill bass before they get a chance to spawn

Although I have a science background, I am not a fisheries expert. I will give you my best explanation based on my limited knowledge...

by have the slot between 20 and 26, the population of fish that size is reduced with the intent of taking some pressure off of the forage fish. This is supposed to allow the remaining fish to grow bigger, faster and reproduce more as they will be healthier/better fed. Also,some fish may breed a few times by 26".

The 27-40 fish are now off limits, have less competition from schoolies and should serve as a healthy breeding stock to replenish the smaller fish. It is easy to replenish lots of 20-26" fish. It is harder and takes longer to replace the 38" fish.

The above 40"? Most likely it is to again reduce pressure on bait and allow for trophies to be kept.

[Sweetwater]

Originally Posted by zimmy

Although I have a science background, I am not a fisheries expert. I will give you my best explanation based on my limited knowledge...

by have the slot between 20 and 26, the population of fish that size is reduced with the intent of taking some pressure off of the forage fish. This is supposed to allow the remaining fish to grow bigger, faster and reproduce more as they will be healthier/better fed. Also,some fish may breed a few times by 26".

The 27-40 fish are now off limits, have less competition from schoolies and should serve as a healthy breeding stock to replenish the smaller fish. It is easy to replenish lots of 20-26" fish. It is harder and takes longer to replace the 38" fish.

The above 40"? Most likely it is to again reduce pressure on bait and allow for trophies to be kept.

I tend to agree with Zimmy (but I'm not a fisheries expert either). One thing to keep in mind is that the vast majority of striped bass over 34" (or so) are female. By allowing the 20"-26" slot, the mix is more likely to include an equal proportion of males to females; whereas, the over 28" requirement will tend to unevenly impact females as the fish get progressively larger.

The new ruling would leaves a big, protect slot of 27"-40" fish in the spawning population and would curtail the disproportionate mortality of female bass.

[MikeToole]

The purpose of the slot limit is to allow for taking more males and to protect a larger number of females so that they can reach breeder age. If you go down into the Southern striper states they already have a 18-28 inch slot or a 20-26 inch slot, two fish per day. Most of these states have seasons to protect fish larger then 28".

I have no real idea of how many more fish would be caught with a 20-26" slot for 1 fish a day, but I do not think the difference would hurt the fishery as much as you might think. If a fair percentage of the fish killed are males and a reduction in the number of larger fish killed occurs, in the end the fishery may make out.

Right now 8 of the 14 states allow commercial fishing for stripers. If Mass stops commercial striper fishing this will balance out the states at 7 to 7. This could end up playing very large in the ASMFC.

[BassDawg]

leptar, you ARE joking, right?

do the math on 2 per day on the low end of the slot times yer x number of anglers in MA, and then figure in 2 per day on the over 40" slot. there is no way in hale this does not kill LESS fish by the simple reason that 2 is twice 1.

more importantly, this will protect millions of commercially caught stripers per year. why didn't yer numbers offset the millions of stripers that the comm's can no longer take?

i LOVE the idea and am hopeful that the ASMFC will follow suit and do something proactive to Fix the Forage. i must say that 1@36"+ seems a bit more feasible and a better protection of the species. i will take this though and it seems like a good place to start,,,,,,,,,,

[leptar]

BassDawg, not joking...

Tell me if i am wrong,and this is what i thought to be true when i started this.
1,100,000 lbs of stripers more or less is what MA comm's are allowed to take for 2009.
If Ma abolished the Striper fishery all together the other states do take a split share of that 1,100,000 lbs since it is all regulated by the feds?

So really Ma comms miss out and the commercial fishing is just extended in other states to make the market quota...

[animal]

To my understanding Leptar,you are correct.

[MikeToole]

No, that is not a sure thing or even close to being a sure thing. Mass will have to work out a new agreement with the ASMFC due to the slot limit. For 2009 Mass owns their commercial quote and it is highly unlikely that the ASMFC will try to give that to another state in 2009. Plus now you will be looking at a 7 7 split on states that do or don't allow commercial fishing. It is highly likely that the Mass quota will not be given to another state. I think what you will actually be seeing is the end of commercial fishing for stripers if Mass ends it because I think NY would soon fall in line.

[BassDawg]

Originally Posted by leptar

BassDawg, not joking...

Tell me if i am wrong,and this is what i thought to be true when i started this.
1,100,000 lbs of stripers more or less is what MA comm's are allowed to take for 2009.
If Ma abolished the Striper fishery all together the other states do take a split share of that 1,100,000 lbs since it is all regulated by the feds?

So really Ma comms miss out and the commercial fishing is just extended in other states to make the market quota...

i am aware of that possibility,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

but it still reflects on the MA take, right?
just trying to hep ya arrive at better numbers, bro!

and i DO agree that we are looking at the overall state of the migratory stocks; still yet a slot, a reduction IN HALF of the daily allowable kill for MA, and stiffer fines SHOULD go a long way towards protecting our beloved prey!!

not trying to ruffle any feathers, my fine feathered friend.

[smac]

Originally Posted by leptar

BassDawg, not joking...

Tell me if i am wrong,and this is what i thought to be true when i started this.
1,100,000 lbs of stripers more or less is what MA comm's are allowed to take for 2009.
If Ma abolished the Striper fishery all together the other states do take a split share of that 1,100,000 lbs since it is all regulated by the feds?

So really Ma comms miss out and the commercial fishing is just extended in other states to make the market quota...

Thats the way I understand it.