Status of Patrick's Bass Bill ???

[Sashamy]

wow its a good thing our state rep supports our sector....but you probably didn't hear Sarah at Boston

[Sea Flat]

I am not going to say I agree with everything that Patrick has to say, BUT frankly, most of what he wrote was spot on. The tough part for him is how to figure out how to be fair to the commercial fishermen. To me, and seamingly to all of you, paying them with money generated from a fishing license is not the way to go. For me to be completely on board with him this would have to change.

However, his numbers on protecting the fish stocks were great and his reasoning works too. I do not think Patrick has an agenda except to protect the fishery for fishermen, store owners, club/hotel owners etc. Don't tell me that every fisherman would just switch to catching blues either. That is a horrible excuse, plus Patrick is trying to avoid that happening again. Isn't that a good thing?

[Slipknot]

well, this thread is going well

[Sashamy]

Funny Johnny...you don't know me but u assume I am greedy.....if only you could see two ways instaed of just one...if I thought there was a problem with any fish I would be on the side of conservation..for instance I don't like gill netting and or dragging...however I understand that with out those two gear types people will not have access to grey sole, yellowtail flounder, monkfish scallops ect...I believe in hard tacs(total allowable catch) that eliminates bycatch, I also believe in fishing systems that use hook and line...such as the bass season we have in massachusetts or the hook sectors they have set up on Georges. You think I am some uneducated fisherman from god knows where who swears and beats his wife while drinking a 30 pack of bud...guess what i ahve a degree from Providence College, I am married with two beautiful girls, one is 3 and one was born 7 days ago. I love taking my 3 year old fishing, why would I want to catch the last fish available???? Infact most commercial bass/tuna guys like me think very unlike dragger and gillnet men. We aire on the side of caution..like this CITES situation with the tuna, I have caught hundreds of Giant Bluefin Tuna, the past few years have been awful, do i agree with a CITES listing, no, my reason is not monetary it is because of fairness, the us fisherman has not caused this decline the med did, and now we have to suffer. That is not fair to the average american fisherman. I am not a greedy person, if I thought the striper was ready to crash I would agree with some of you, but never with Matt Patrick. Johnny I could go on forever...but I know one thing I am not greedy, I fish with a rod/reel and a harpoon whats the harm in that?????

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by Sashamy

Funny Johnny...you don't know me but u assume I am greedy.....if only you could see two ways instaed of just one...if I thought there was a problem with any fish I would be on the side of conservation..for instance I don't like gill netting and or dragging...however I understand that with out those two gear types people will not have access to grey sole, yellowtail flounder, monkfish scallops ect...I believe in hard tacs(total allowable catch) that eliminates bycatch, I also believe in fishing systems that use hook and line...such as the bass season we have in massachusetts or the hook sectors they have set up on Georges. You think I am some uneducated fisherman from god knows where who swears and beats his wife while drinking a 30 pack of bud...guess what i ahve a degree from Providence College, I am married with two beautiful girls, one is 3 and one was born 7 days ago. I love taking my 3 year old fishing, why would I want to catch the last fish available???? Infact most commercial bass/tuna guys like me think very unlike dragger and gillnet men. We aire on the side of caution..like this CITES situation with the tuna, I have caught hundreds of Giant Bluefin Tuna, the past few years have been awful, do i agree with a CITES listing, no, my reason is not monetary it is because of fairness, the us fisherman has not caused this decline the med did, and now we have to suffer. That is not fair to the average american fisherman. I am not a greedy person, if I thought the striper was ready to crash I would agree with some of you, but never with Matt Patrick. Johnny I could go on forever...but I know one thing I am not greedy, I fish with a rod/reel and a harpoon whats the harm in that?????

You're right, I don't know you, aside from your own posts above which have personified you as the type of commercial fisherman that will exhaust a resource beyond recovery and then move on to the next one to exploit. I never made any assumptions on your education or background.

You most certainly do err on the side of caution. Cautiously protecting your wallet with an attitude of "until the fish stock is in total collapse, don't regulate me."