JackC

Very fast response - I need to go to bed. I did not say the recreational regs should stay the same either. The fish need to be managed to provide a consistent recreational fishery and I could argue with the state of fish stocks today we need to protect a few recreational fish for just that purpose. Managing bass stocks for "maximum yield" misses the point.

I fish out of Clinton, Ct. Not what one would term world class but normally we have great bass fishing. This year its "off" in a big way. Fishing is also "off" in traditional bass areas to the East. A good friend thtat chats with the "eastern charter fleet" feel that the sport fishing community have switched over to live bait in a big way and are decimating the "trophy stocks" via the live bait fishing which used to be a somewhat novel technique that everyone has adopted.

Responses to these issues could be "trophy tags" or slot limits and reduced bag limits. Not that I'm advocating anything yet and stock assessments show the fishery to be fine - but my collective gut feel is that trouble is coming to the bass fishery (and everyone will say "what happened"?) My point was that a federal license is going to change the complection of fisheries management. Southern states manage redfish in pretty interesting ways, you may see bass management radically change to somewhat mirror redfish management. The FLW tourney format (no bait/no kill) is an interesting concept that I think somewhat predicts the future of fisheries management in relation to recreational bass fishing. I don't fish this event but you get the point.

As for commercial fishing, the reality for me is that you can buy farm raised bass. I eat farm raised steelhead trout all winter and its great. While there is a great deal of bitching about the impact of fish farming, I think it is more hysteria than fact.

My comparison - white tail deer, do you pick that up at the local "meat market" harvested form the RI/CT woodlands? Bass are exactly the same for me, a resource that is best managed as a recreational species.

Just my 2 cents (since CT does not have a commercial bass season its totally logical to me) - and I don't have an axe to grind with the commerical communityl. Just my perspective.

By the way - tautog should also be a RECREATIONAL SPECIES (and the recs take 90% of the LEGAL harvest.) In CT there is going a great many unhappy tog anglers with a cut back in harvest of approx. 28%.

Jack

JayR

Well thought out response Jack but ya still did not answer my question. How does the elimination of the 3M pounds of commercially caught bass being prohibited help the stock in the long run?

It is a modest harvest, a stable harvest and the biomass can sustain it. It just needs to be kept in check and with a hard quota they are doing just that. There are no plans to raise it either.

Wild game harvest were outlawed for a reason. There is but an infinite amount of land available and the stock upon which they live is in reality very small.
The ocean is vast, it can produce enough to have both a recreational and commercial harvest if managed correctly. Granted, our gov't has failed miserably in that regard but that's because they keep siding with economics rather than sound science. We need to ensure they do the right thing.

I've said this before..... Limit the commercial take to hook and line only. It is selective and cuts down on by-catch considerably. Institute a slot size rather than a minimum size limit and
do not allow for an increase in the total annual yield in both rec and comm harvests.

I am of the opinion that the charter business that is pushing for the gamefish status is just as greedy as the commercial sector and that when dollars are in the picture, the stocks will suffer. They'll catch as many as they can in order to please the customer. F mortality be damned!

Removal of the comm harvest will just increase the amount the recs can take. The stocks will still be over fished as they are doing so right now.

Gamefish status is not the answer. Better management is the avenue we all should be walking.

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striperchaser

B2 if i may, i think you hit the nail on the head. that being a slot limit, allow the average angler to take a striped bass say 24 in or less not to target the females who are becoming sexually mature. this way your average angler is happy, and the recreational fisherman as a whole are not targeting one size fish. then we can allow say one trophy fish per angler ,per year. this fish could be 48 in or above. this is just my opinion, and just that . asB2 stated we ,meaning rec fisherman really dont need 2 fish per day.

AlloyToy

A lot of the six pack charters I see coming into port have 16 bass. 2 each for the capt. & mate. Although legal.........come on, it's a sales gimmick at the dock for the boat & capt.

Christ, I remember my neighbor planting bass in his garden for fertilizer...........

JayR

I won't take fish home unless it already has a place to go. I donate a lot to land owners for hunting access and I freeze a ton for use throughout the year.

Guys coming in with a limit just because they can is a sin. I've seen them in the dumpster too many times.

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JackC

Hello again - tonight I like this site more and more (and I need to get to bed again) - at least tomorrow I will hopefully be fluking and not working.

B2 - excellent dialouge and I agree with your comment on the the commercial bass fishery via hook and line versus other methods. (I could live with that.) I could make a passsionate agrument in favor of recreational status but you all make valid points and all the logic presented in this collective post is great. I agree with slot limit comments - the issue is that every state would pretty much need some kind of slot limit in order for this to work.

The charter boat issue is interesting and part of what is going on with bass. My little joke is "bass the other white meat", I think many of the traditional charter boats think they need to end up with a pile of fillets when the trip is over (my guess is some do and some don't).

As for wasting fish - I don't see that happen at the 2 marinas I hang around in CT - which is a good thing. Wasting fish is BS.

We will see what happens with the bass stock assessment in the coming years.

Tight Lines..

TODDMANCHU

The road and reel commercial fishery in Ma. is a QUOTA fishery. When the quota for the year is caught, it is shut down. What is the difference if the bass are caught inside or outside the three mile mark? This recent enforcement activity seems to have been aided by the use of HOMELAND SECURITY funds. Yes your anti terrorism tax dollar is being spent having the Ma. green shirts and coasties teaming up to snag bass fisherman in the EEZ while they remain vigilant for terrorists. The amount of money being spent on this is amazing. Have any of you fall tuna fisherman ever seen an acre of floating dead 20-30lb stripers in the BB Bouy area? This is OK with fisheries managers as it is called "By catch". I will bet that the
bycatch of stripers by draggers each fall in Ma. far exceeds the yearly commercial quota. However you dont see fisheries managers outlawing that! They always go after the little guy. I lknow because I used to be a commercial rod and reel cod jigger. Now they have put me out of business
in the name of effort reduction. If any of you get any film footage of dead stripers (dragger bycatch) the RFA is interested in it.

JayR

Let's see now... legalize the EEZ and make that by-catch salable and reportable.... The quota will be filled before the rod and reel guys get a chance to wet a line.... all with by-catch.

Opening the EEZ will open a federal fishery as it is outside the states jurisdiction. It's not as simple as just letting the state licensed guys into federal waters. You let them in, you need to let federally licensed fishermen into the picture as well. THAT will cut into the quota. Or, they would raise the quota for the federal fishery and likely allow them way too much as they have demonstrated in the past (cod) and deplete the stocks.

There are plenty of stripers to be caught in inshore waters. Heck, the MA quota is reached in 3 to 5 weeks each year. This year, it looks like it will close after 4 weeks of fishing. Last I saw 25% of the quota has already been caught. The quota page at MA DEP is currently down and I can't see where it is at the moment. I'll bet somewhere near 35%....

Stop your belly aching..... The EEZ has been off limits for a long time and if you were fishing it in the past, SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!

As for the homeland security funds.... I agree, they should be spent elsewhere.

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TODDMANCHU

Opening the EEZ to bass fishing would only open it to rod and reel fisherman. The draggers do not report by catch silly. That is the problem. Opening the EEZ to bass fishing would not result in any more pressure put on the fish than is already there. It would just spread the pressure out. Are you a commercial bass fisherman in RI? Do you also hold a Ma. lic?

JayR

My fear is that the fed water fishing would allow them to sell the net caught by-catch.... Which in turn would effect hook and line guys quota...

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