DUH...

[Raven]

sample the ez

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by Raven

sample the ez

Sample the EEZ/

For fish or fishermen?

[numbskull]

The really disturbing thing about this is how they keep blaming environmental conditions. Obviously that is an issue. But why the hell don't they acknowledge that if environmental conditions are poor and a higher percentage of eggs don't survive then you need more eggs to compensate for it and that means more fish, particularly big fish.

They say there are enough spawners. Yet the YOY index proves they are wrong. There are clearly not enough spawners for the environmental conditions that exist.

[BluesHarp]

I don't get it, according to the state of MA, is there a problem or not?

"It's clear to us that the main signal is environmental," said Michael Armstrong, deputy director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.

Armstrong discounts overfishing and seals as the culprits. The total number of spawning fish today equals that of the 1990s, when large numbers juvenile fish each year rebuilt the stock to historic size. The female striped bass population, for instance, is 148 percent over the threshold of what is considered a healthy number.

But then he goes on to say:

"The problem is in the perception (of the recreational fisherman)," Armstrong said. State statistics show the numbers of keeper-size striped bass — 28 inches and over — landed by recreational fishermen has remained stable, or gone up a little. But the smaller fish that were born in the lean years after 2003 are fewer in number, and fishermen who used to catch 50 small ones before they kept the one big fish are disappointed in the lack of action.

It's a problem of perception. There's plenty of keeper size bass around. There is a problem with the environment but it's not in our environment it's theirs. It's the spring rain run off into the Chesapeake no other factors just that.

Spoken like a true fence sitting bureaucrat.

That may be a little harsh, but I wish someone in government would listen and not be so dismissive of what seems to be common knowledge. People who have been keeping logs for years say that all catches are down and not just schoolies.

[likwid]

Originally Posted by JohnR

Sample the EEZ/

For fish, commercials, or recs?

Fixed it for you.

[nightfighter]

I believe it is more about the bait. Is there bait present down on the Cape? Macks still around here, with herring as well. And the bass are here. (just couldn't find much of either today....)

[Liv2Fish]

Originally Posted by nightfighter

I believe it is more about the bait. Is there bait present down on the Cape? Macks still around here, with herring as well. And the bass are here. (just couldn't find much of either today....)

Sitting on the beach north of Scusset today, I watched full sized gulls work their tail feathers off. I jumped in a friends yak and paddled the mile or so to check it out. It was very large sand eels - like 8" or so. seems like it's gonna blow up in the next few days. Good thing I'm on vacation this week.

[OLD GOAT]

In the latest Cape Cod Chronicle an expert that has a handle on seal damage.
#1 Grey seals eat 4-6% of there body weight. Aprox44-48lbs a day each seal.
#2 An underwater camera in Bony Eldredge's Fish Weir found seals entering at night an ruining57% of the catch leaving heads and half fish, Eating squid as well.
I don't think you have to be a college grad to figure out that the seals are destroying outer Cape surf fishing let alone destroying the bass population .
I,m glade that the--experts --are finally catching on. Better late than never.

[Finaddict]

But the challenge is ... that they will likely be too slow in reaction ...

... and in regards to the seals ... it is unlikely that anything will be done about the seals ... until maybe the shark population continues to grow fat off the seals ...

[Karl F]

Originally Posted by OLD GOAT

In the latest Cape Cod Chronicle an expert that has a handle on seal damage.
#1 Grey seals eat 4-6% of there body weight. Aprox44-48lbs a day each seal.
#2 An underwater camera in Bony Eldredge's Fish Weir found seals entering at night an ruining57% of the catch leaving heads and half fish, Eating squid as well.
I don't think you have to be a college grad to figure out that the seals are destroying outer Cape surf fishing let alone destroying the bass population .
I,m glade that the--experts --are finally catching on. Better late than never.

even if it's on film, some will call it junk science...that is the sad part., but good deal on the fish cam.