MSBA Action Alert--Stripers Forever Bill Could Pass- Only One Hearing--This Thursday

[BigFish]

I agree Frank! Funny how they think they have any accuracy what so ever for stock assessment! What a joke! Any more than they can give us accurate mortality rates for catch and release!!! "Excuse me Mr. Striper......could you drop me a line in a day or so and let us know you survived the catch and release? We are compiling data for our reports and it would help!" Its all half assed estimates and unfounded "facts"! I never put much faith in those reports! They can just fudge the numbers any way it suits their needs!

[Sashamy]

The one factoid you all seem to be missing is that there is no hard tac for recreational bass fishing! Yet in all commercial fishing there is a quota which equals 65000 bass, yup they are over 34" inches and yes they may be breeding fish, but they have bred at least once and in most cases 2 or 3 times. My question to you guys is this...how would SF bill have helped the fish? answer in short it wouldn't. They are a greedy organization, and anyone that knows me knows that I do stand for the fish, for example I will not fish for baby tuna...do I begrudge the guys for doing it? at first yes I did just like you guys are begrudging the Ma commercial fisherman, but do i now? Nope...have at it...opinions are great but with opinions you need compromise, SF offered no compromise and even went as far as to say that the legistlation was not aimed at stopping commercial fishing...but line 4 of the bill read...prohibit the sale of wild striped bass in massachusetts that included the importing of bass from other states...that is completely selfish...do I personally think the bass is in trouble? Nope and I fish for them more than most of you...I start in the surf in late April and finish my charters around the end of September/early October...I never had a problem catching fish at all from the boat or surf...the surf was different last spring as the bluefish were thick early so I fished bass at nite and was extremely successful...sometimes you have to change your methods thats what makes it fun!

But to say that the massachusetts commercial fishery should end and Maine will have some fish is wrong. To say that the Ma commercial fishery is the problem is wrong as well. Charters for example kill a lot of fish...I take 12 a day for my customers if they want them and most of my clients want to release the smaller fish and keep the BIG ones...can u imagine that a person wants to keep a big fish...infact there are periods in the summer when I don't see a fish smaller than 30 plus inches...so lets do the math together...there are about 7 charter boats in barnstable...if each does 60 trips and limits out once a day at 12 fish that is 5040 fish, now sesuit has 7 boats thats another 5040 fish....rock harbor has 30 boats thats 21600 fish...this does not include doubles and is being constructed in a vacuum...that is half of the commercial quota and that was being modest in my numbers of trips...now add your weekend warriors...the charterboats on the south side....plymouth...green harbor...scituate...Gloucester...boston....do you see my point...our commercial season is a drop in a bucket and in no way a problem to any one of you...so I say please step off your high horse and stop blaming the commercial fisherman for what you say is the problem...the problem in the chesapeake is not massachusetts...it is chemical fertalizers...a moratorium is not going to stop farming is it?

Capt. Doug Amorello

[MAKAI]

I've stated a bunch of times that the biggest issue is the pollution, destruction of the natal estuaries.
Not how they end up but how they start.
How do you deal with that issue ?
Anybody ?

[Crafty Angler]

Lots of cogent points have been made here regarding the already defeated bill in MA but there are just as many contradictions in the arguments supporting each side of the issue - which is par for the course on this hot button issue

First, the science is supported and then questioned as a baseless guesstimate at best.

There have been posts documenting the plight of the fishery and then others would like to have you believe that it's never been better and any problem is more the result of sheer lack of skill on the part of the angler

Personally, I don't think that's the case and that opinion is supported by surfmen who have enough time in to be taken seriously.

They have no financial ties to the striped bass fishery as pinhookers, charter skippers, shop owners or their employees, tackle manufacturers or lecturers which would have to make those opinions suspect from the start. So consider the source first

IMNSHO, it is not the robust fishery it once was and that's not through the rose-colored lens of nostalgia

But removing comms from the equation would have been somewhat like treating a cancer patient with Tylenol and the relief - if any - would have been as short-lived as it was short-sighted. Just be ready - while it may be over for now in terms of the bill in neighboring MA going down in flames, you can fully expect SF to make another stronger run on it. A skirmish was won, not the war, they're not going away and I don't doubt that they'll be back with reinforcements to push their agenda

A broader, more holistic approach is needed because there is simply no one user group or single contributing factor at the base of the problem and a part of the recreational sector is also going to have to shoulder the blame

It's not the commercial guys, it's more of a case of 'all of the above' as has been noted here

Just a question I'd like to pose to you all in regards to the health and sustainability of the fishery, regardless of your stake - whether it's money or ego or a combination of both

If it were proven beyond the shadow of a doubt - after more accurate data is collected on the recreational impact on the fishery as a result of the license - would you be willing to support a complete moratorium on striped bass for a period of several years to aid in it's recovery and future health?

You could simply find another job, another sport or another hobby for a few years

Or you could still continue to fish if you wanted to target another species - like scup, blackfish or bluefish, for instance - or maybe go the freshie route

Yes or no?

[numbskull]

Absolutely.

[BassDawg]

i just read everything that ALL of you said~~~
well put, some self-servingness, mostly passionate!

it ocurrs to me that "gamefish" status needs to be more clearly defined, since it seems to vary state-to-state. while i am for a comm moratorium, i believe that their 10% should be completely removed from the take quota so it does not become a fish grab. i also would support a reduction in the recreational take by at the least 75% of what it is currently allowed by ASFMC. very simply, 1 Striper @ 36" per day. 1/day would get you 50% less of a rec take, the 36" would (i'm guessing) be good for somewheres close to 25% more, roughly? this would be more of a compromise from both sides of the fishery killing machines and would certainly ease some pressure on our precious stocks.

lastly, i agree with Pat that thankfully SF was shut down. peer based science is most definitely the way to go with regard to ASBass. yet, this ALL seems moot if we DO NOT address the contingent issues that are most definitely intertwined within the intricacies of our marine resources. for me and my tax dollars spent, we should do ALL of the following:

1)FIX THE FORAGE: a ten year moratorium on ACMenhaden, period!!

2)FIX THE BAYS: the estaurine and spawning grounds pollution of the Hudson, Chesapeake, and the Outer Banks Stocks has led to, imho, the single most egregious waste/kill/depletion of our beloved species and on a much broader spectrum than science can EVEN MEASURE right now. as i understand from what i've read, it is impossible to generate the numbers/science that can give us an accurrate assessment of the horrific levels of damage that has been wrought by the big money interests(golfing, fertalizing, PCB'ers) and Industrial Greeds(Poultry, Pork, Purse Seiners) attached to this worsening plight on the species AND their spawning domains.

3)FIX OUR TUDES: as has been said, and i wholeheartedly AGREE, if we cannot reach mutally agreed upon limits and guidelines for the betterment of the Striped Bass' biomass moving forward, then we are falling into the well placed snares of these multi-lateral conservationists groups that WILL NOT stop at limiting our kill.

if we place our joint concerns and financial interests towards the advancement of a healthy and viable American Striped Bass fishery, then perhaps we could actually walk away from these boards with a legacy that does not echo our ignorant past, that promotes proactive conservationary actions for our future, and a proud legacy that reflects an attitude of change towards our resources and species as cohabitants to this God Blessed and God Given beauty that truly is The Striper Coast. in my view, it behooves us ~exponentially so~ to do NO LESS than to reasonably sacrifice what we deem is OURS simply because we are the dominant species.

how's about ONCE, just once, we GIVE something back to Nature(the surf) and something back to Beast(the stripah, bunkahs) at the unconscionable~ at least by today's standards ~ benefit to BOTH!!! is it even possible for us to get out of our own greedy, self-proliferating way at this point of "civilization". or has capitalism and the industrialization of America done enough, YET??!! what will it take for us to change our attitudes towards our resources,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,a collapse in our environment, ice caps melting, completely unviable estuaries??

something clearly has to GIVE, and we seem to be the only entity capable of doing so,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,the bigger questions lie in the WHEN, HOW, and the WILL WE, change???

[Sashamy]

Right BD that would be great in a world where the streets were paved with gold, but they are not! People make their livings utilizing the SB and until science proves that we are overfishing this stock than nothing needs to be done...however we do not disagree on all points the forage issue does need to be addressed, but again your attitude albeit positive, is not realistic...there will never be a 10 year moratorium on a fish that for the past 100 years has lived in cycles that scientists can not explain...by reducing the catch the way u see it we will putting a lot more fish back into the sysytem...probably not we will mostly create a population of skinny bass again...malfeasian economics says it best populations will control themselve with war famine and disease...the striper is best left alone to its own devices right now....we need to clean the environment that they spawn in..thats what brought them back in the 90's not only the 36" size requirement.

Doug

[BassDawg]

Originally Posted by Sashamy

Right BD that would be great in a world where the streets were paved with gold, but they are not! People make their livings utilizing the SB and until science proves that we are overfishing this stock than nothing needs to be done...
Doug

utulizing or abusing??
American Buffalo ring a bell?

one man's uses,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
is another man's abuses!

why does responsible, proactive, conservative action
at the expense of Industry or Commercialism/Capitalism
with regard to our Natural Resources, limited as they are, have
to be equated to "pie in the sky" pipe dreams??

Doug, does science or does it not work in reverse? Can numbers or can they not be manipulated to support both sides of the equation? and surely, a reduction from both sides of the killing zones would serve the species well, no? 10 years was a little over the top, but if ya shoot for ten and get five, then i would say that we've made an impact on behalf of the ACMenhaden.

further, why the HELL cain't Omega Protein farm soy? there is no STINKING way you will ever convince me that the disappearance of the Great Silver Balls of the turn of the century and even up until the mid 50's of bunker has not had a prolifically detrimental impact on BOTH~~~ estuaries and stripers!!

their filtering qualities alone coupled with the increases in pollution and a decimation of their numbers from what they were during the "Pre-Purseseinic Era" is unknowable at this time, why? because the menhaden harvesters have been able to haul to their hearts and fatt- arsed wallets content since the early '60's. cease and desist for five years and even YOU would be amazed at the result, i'd wager!

and to answer your querry, Charles,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,YES!! wholeheartedly i would switch to a different fish, should the numbers and reasonable science support a moratorium on our beloved prey. might have to go pelagic on yer butts. i'd figure some way to get my angling fixes fixed!!! i am very hopeful we won't screw this one up again. however, maintaining the staus quo seems futile at best.

[MAKAI]

Bassdawg.
Once you go pelagic. You get the bug bad.
Everything else becomes trout fishing.
Your money just disappears,
Sad it is.
Once the spring Bass bite is over we switch gears till the leaves are off the trees.
It's like chasing 18 yr old girls all over again.
Umm.. Sort of.