ASMFC Striped bass board winter meeting minutes

[trapperpierre]

a bit beyond ASMFC.......tooo much leisure time.....tooo much $$$....tooo many Xperts....tooo much information-cell phones, websites, magazines, books, lectures/seminars...(oh yea, been to Costa Rica & Kona a number of times-many other exotic fishing locales...great fishing...understatement)...........hey try this..get a 10-gallon style cowboy hat...everyone in 30 words or less create a SB management plan...drop our slips into the hat..........shake stir........pull one out......this should settle the matter............

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by trapperpierre

a bit beyond ASMFC.......tooo much leisure time.....tooo much $$$....tooo many Xperts....tooo much information-cell phones, websites, magazines, books, lectures/seminars...(oh yea, been to Costa Rica & Kona a number of times-many other exotic fishing locales...great fishing...understatement)...........hey try this..get a 10-gallon style cowboy hat...everyone in 30 words or less create a SB management plan...drop our slips into the hat..........shake stir........pull one out......this should settle the matter............

I don't need 30 words.

Recreational: One at 36"
Enforce EEZ
Crack down on poaching

10 words.
would make a huge difference.

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

I don't need 30 words.

Recreational: One at 36"
Enforce EEZ
Crack down on poaching

10 words.
would make a huge difference.

[PRBuzz]

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

I don't need 30 words.

Recreational: One at 36"
Enforce EEZ
Crack down on poaching

10 words.
would make a huge difference.

How about 6 words:

Enforce EEZ
Stop Poaching
Stop Bycatch

[WoodyCT]

Limit entry to MA commercial fishery. 6

Utilize a tag system to reduce MA black market. 9

Use GPS monitoring to keep comms out of MA EEZ. 10

5 words left....

Boycott Virginia and North Carolina !!

[PRBuzz]

Originally Posted by WoodyCT

Limit entry to /MA/ commercial fishery. 5

Utilize a tag system to reduce /MA/ black market. 8

Use GPS monitoring to keep comms and charters out of /MA/ EEZ. 11

6 words left....

Boycott Virginia and North Carolina fishing!!

see embedded comments, removed MA since all striper populations are inter-related.

[WoodyCT]

Can't common ground be found so that recs and commercials can fight together against the true villains in this striper war?

I see it unlikely that an all or nothing bill will get passed, so why not work WITH the commercials in MA to create a better situation for everyone in MA - all the while working on the truly dire issues our bass face?

Collaboration in MA-
Cut out the 'recreational commercials' by limiting entry to the FEW who do rely on bass for a significant portion of their income. Mr. Diodati's notion that an almost free and open fishery is good for his entire state in times of GPS, fishfinders, live wells, radar, etc. is shear folly. A 'historic' fishery can be maintained, all be it in such a manner that the resource isn't raped by the general public.

Implement a tag/record keeping system that makes it much harder for a black market to exist. Allocate funds to enforce poaching regs.

Use GPS to monitor the few commecials deemed to worthy of the privilege of fishing for and selling bass.

Reduce the quota for the fishery to reflect the exit of the recreational commercials. Do not allocate the remaining quota to any other user group.


MidAtlantic/Coastwide Crisis-
The recreational/charter kill must be reduced and structured to protect the prime brood stock females.

Indiscriminate commercial/poacher netting must be addressed to protect the prime brood stock females.

NMFS and the Coast Guard must step up enforcement of the rampant EEZ poaching that is decimating the prime brood stock females.

Prespawn and spawning grounds in both the Chesapeake and Hudson must be off limits to all forms of fishing in the months leading up to the spawning run.

Omega Protein must not be allowed to strip mine the menhaden stocks of the MidAtlantic region.

Commercial agriculture operations within the Chesapeake watershed must be forced to treat their animals' waste to the same standards as human waste so it does not lead to algae blooms and subsequent hypoxia in Chesapeake Bay. .

Farmers upstream of the Chesapeake must be controlled in the way they use fertilizers that lead to algae blooms and subsequent hypoxia in Chesapeake Bay.
-------------------------

Would there not be enough fish for a limited and tightly controlled rod and reel fishery to exist for families that have historically fished bass in MA IF recs and commercials fought side by side to defeat the true enemies of the striped bass?

Just some thoughts on how to win the war by avoiding a costly battle.

[Sashamy]

Woody,
I agree we all need to fight together not against eachother...but remember in this fishery the comms have never attacked the rec sector because a lot of the guys do both...it is always groups like SF trying to shutdown the comm fishery and then the yelling insues...I believe that if SF pooled its resource and fought the major problem like bait and poor ecological conditions they would be welcomed more on both sides, but they don't they just seem to attack one group and it causes fights amongst everyone.

I have said it before like the rest of you...fix the bait...fix the problem...secondly SF is a Maine based group trying to pull political weight in another state, that is not right, I don't care if they think the fish swims everywhere so they have a right to fight in any congressional setting. Could you imagine me going to Maine and trying to stop Maine lobstering through the Maine legistlature because my lobstering in mass had slowed down???? Think about it? I would be killed! Or if I wanted to change the gauge size in Me because I couldn't get enough Keepers in Ma....