One Scientist's Take On It

[Flaptail]

You know, I have thought long and hard over this and there are a few facts that need to be said:

1. How many fisherman made over, hmm say, 5 grand commercially harvesting stripers last year? How many made over a $1,000.00?
2. 99% of these "commercial" striper fisherman have real jobs and do this on vacation or week ends. A plumber is a plumber not a "commercial fisherman".
3. Striped bass are the most important game fish in the Northeast, between tackle sales, bait, gas, lodging, fishing shows/expos, clothing etc etc what are the real numbers in cash flow generated by that aspect as opposed to what a 2 month regulated season brings from the sale of wild harvested stripers? The higher number wins, end of story
4. As stated in my previous post, why don't these various clubs and organizations fund, collectively, professional lobbyists?
5.If you want to make bass a game fish fine with me, I don't sell them anyway (if I was going to sell any fish it would be bluefish at a $1.00 a pound, now that's easy money). What I want is a slot. 1 fish between 20 to 24 inches, the perfect table bass. Take a picture of all the others and keep one trophy if you must a year.
5. As a provision whatever article goes before the legislature must include the banning of taking any herring, menhaden or eels by anyone, commercial or sport fishing for thier use. You want to save the bass, save the bait that sustains it as it's primary sources of protein.
6.Also, add legislation to protect inshore water resources such as bays, inlets, marshes etc from run off from lawn care products, septic system leeching and storm drain and road way runoff.

You need professional lobbyists, not well intentioned sportsman. You need infusions of money, vast amounts of money because that is what turns the wheels of the lobbyist and legislative machine. You need public awareness. Not just to the sporting/fishing community but to everyone. The green movement is a perfect example. Kindergartners know what it means, we are inundated with the principle everywhere we go. Reusable bags at the shopping center etc.
You need to have everyperson who turns on a computer or television to see a 30 or 60 second spot promoting your cause.

It all boils down to money on both sides. If you want to win your fight(s) put up or shut up and then live with the consequences.

That is all. Now back to refinishing my kitchen cabinets.

[BassDawg]

THANKS to everyone for their informed and uninformed opinions,
as it is interesting and illuminating on many different levels.

i've done some reading of the data,
i've yet to crack open Dr Ross' tome,
i've listened and asked ??? of several surfcasters,
i've talked to some lobstermen and rod and reel comm's, and
i've even fired off some eletts to sum of our politicos regarding fisheries mngmt issues.

for me, what it boils down to is this:

we are facing a multi-headed beast here that will take a
collaborative effort to determine and many years to implement which incremental proactive mgmt measures will best MANAGE forage, species, and ocean. the pollution factor(pcb's, prescription drugs, mercury and led) must be addressed as well. however with specific regard to the changes in FM guidelines, my semi-informed opinion at this stage of the managing PROCESS, would favor the following and would be WITHOUT state legislative intervention, since that is truly a slippery slope:

for SB~~ a slot of 1@26"-36", and 1@55"+ with a Trophy Stamp system and only from Sept to Nov in MA, Oct to Dec in RI/CT/NJ/NY. you would have to buy a $25 stamp per season. the monies from the stamping program would go directly to scientific research and NOWHERE ELSE! there would be no COMM fishing for three years, period! i am NOT advocating a fish grab, i just would like to see how a MGMT choice like that would impact the fishery ITSELF without regard for lobbyists interests, financial agendas, political posturing and put the fish first for a change. idealistic, YES!! helpful or harmful???? we MAY never know, since it'll prolly never happen~~~~but it would be nice to at least have the shot at gathering THAT data someday???

for menhaden~~ a 3 year moratorium inside the 5 mile intercoastal zone. let Omega Protein freakin' plant SOY BEANS~~ for the Love of God ~~and give this VERY important FORAGE, FILTER FEEDER, DIFFERENCE MAKER a chance to prosper once again!!! and here is why,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

from the first menhaden landing numbers ever established, wasn't the abundance of bunker MUCH MORE abundant than today's currently "acceptable" numbers??? while i do not know the exact figures from back then, i have read about the days before reduction boat purse seining. i have never seen the Great Silver Balls of Menhaden~~what used to be acres of a living, thriving, super-effective "organism" unto itself and an infinitesimally important piece to the estuarine, oceanic, food cycle sytem~~~but i would like to someday.

has anyone ever correllated the numbers between(and i am sure it would have taken years to happen or coincide) two decades of unharnessed(or any at all) reduction boat fishing to the two decades of the hammering of the SB fishery simultaneously as if there was NO TOMORROW, which is OUR TODAY???

in other words, from the mid 60's to the mid 80's how many menhaden were decimated from the Atlantic Coastal Stock, or what was the difference in the ACStock count before purse seining leading up to the SB moratrium. likewise, from the mid 60's to the mid 80's how much of an impact on the migratory SB Stock was wreaked by the stacking of 30#-50# fish on the beaches and the rocks of the Striper Coast with the mindset, "we will never run out of these fish"? is there a correlation at all as to the effect that those types of managerial decisions had upon the crash then (the 80's) and from the direct result of those actions how it is effecting our SB fishery today??

strictly from an anecdotal perspective, it would make sense to me that if you EFF with the Creator's creation how Man sees fit, you are going to reap very negative results. and if you do it from a two-fold perspective, removing menhaden by the BILLIONS over 20 years and taking as many SB as was humanly possible over the same 20 year time frame you are gonna wind up with an effed-up fishery, nature saying WTF and screaming to be heard, and in a political place with menhaden where the interests of the ONE private enterprise holds hostage the well being of a forage species for the many. and since the two, forage and predator, are inextricably linked from an environmental and SB species perspective the interests of the MANY public domains are being squashed based solely on political postioning and maintaining the staus quo. by taking the unilatteral positions of "it's always been this way", "it ain't that effed up", and "there's still SOME pogies out there" we WILL NEVER return the Great Silver Balls of yesteryears. by shifting our thinking with menhaden to a "FIX the FORAGE" mantra and by implementing NEW and proactive Menhaden mngmt decisions we COULD see, in time, ridiculous amounts of SB Lahhhhhhge, belly-fillers, and dinks or "potentially" return to the Glory Days of The Striper Coast if we give them back their "super-food" and stop using it for our own selfish interests.

only NOW it IS different because our mindset HAS changed for the better with stripers. my point being, if we were ever to restore the ACStock Counts of Menhaden to its pre-purse seining numbers, with the current/more conservative SB fishery mgmt guidelines how amazing would our Striper Coast be???

the other thing that sticks in my craw about menhaden is this.

if Omega Protein was removed from the equation, then how quickly would the ASMFC move to enact a moratrium for ACMenhaden? i get why Menhaden does not get the same considerations as does river herring, alewife, sand worms, seals, plovers, sea turtles; because neither of them are being used by so many end product industries. still the menhaden's primary function, if allowed to remain in our ailing estuaries and depleting oceans and stripers' bellies without human extraction, is worth discovering isn't it? at some point we said no more whale oil/blubber, sealskin coats, nor elephant ivory. at what point do we give Menhaden a break and tell the reduction purse seiners to diversify?? i could give two flying flukes for Omega Protein and their connections to THE Bushes down in Houston and the ways in which they've had their way with OUR fishery. i want what's best for the whole picture and not just for NOW, but i want what's best for our children's, children's, children.

while i DO realize that many things must happen to get this fishery restored to primordial GREATNESS, and THAT may NEVER happen. still for me it IS WELL WORTH the shot,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and most certainly not with a SHOT in the arm/across the bow from the Great Commonwealth of Massachusetts ~however well-meaning the Rep Patrick may or may not mean his actions to be. just once from a political stance, can we not recall the intentions and voices of our Founding Fathers? can we not speak to the promises of Greatness? can we not err on the side of conservation as opposed to manifesting the destiny of the few?

HISTORY you say? i say tHIS STORY is in our hands and the legacy that WE leave ~whether noble or negligent, intended or ignorant, staid or stagnant~ begins in this day and need not repeat its horrific woes, but yearns to be rejuvinately rewritten.

[maddmatt]

bassdawg! i am not worthy.. Now THATS a rant!

[BassDawg]

thanks YOU, i THINK??