Bassin
1st Mate
I have heard a lot of talk about a movement by stripers forever to ban the commercial bass season in Mass. I personaly think this is a terrible idea.
Here are some facts I have seen:
Recreational anglers already have 60% of the catch; why shouldnt the commercial fishermen have some? Cant we share this fishery?
The commercial fishery for striped bass is executed by an estimated 10,000 people, with the vast majority being pin hookers or weekend warriors who simply pay for their own sport by selling their catch. There are some 3,000,000 recreational anglers who fish for striped bass coast wide. Because of very restrictive size limits, most of these recreational anglers are never able to keep any of the fish they catch for their own consumption.
The limits I have heard would be:
1 fish a day 20-26 inches and 1 fish 40inches +
To me this says that the recreational fishery has a big impact on the commercial fishery. Changing these limits will drasticly reduce the population of small fish. Where im from almost every day in the summer you can fish small fish around 18-28 inches on top feeding on bait and it takes about 1 cast to hook a schoolie. Now lets think about how many fish could be taken from one school. A lot. Yes i know, rec. fishermen do not catch as many fish as we commercial fishermen do... except me..
I did some reasearch on this issue and i have found a few things that drasticly stand out to me.
"Stripers Forever pushed unsuccessfully for a commercial ban in 2010. According to the Cape Cod Times, Game fishermen like (Dean Clark, co-chairman of Stripers Forever) say the ban would help what they say is a threatened striped bass population. They argue that the bass are being overfished by commercial boats.
The fishery in my mind is not over fished and last year the bass quota was filled with in 29 days. To me that doesnt seem like there is a lack of fish. This is where my point comes in about the small fish. If we let this limit happen that that could have a large impact on furture fish populations. I know theres a lot behind the spawing and reproduction that i dont really know about but i just think its a little crazy to be able to keep one fish a day 20-26 inches. I just feel the recreational total catch will sky rocket and ruin the possiblity for them to get larger.
I also saw a youtube video presented by stripers forever. I do not have the link but it said that 14000 jobs would be created from the ban of bass fishing. I want to know how? the only thing i see is job loss. From the fisherman himself, wholesalers, cutters who cut the fish, fishmarkets, fuel consumption, local tackel shops all will suffer losses. Obviously some more then others and im not expecting a recession if this ban passes but it will reduce income for people who are involved. Im not one of those people who thinks that every fish should be caught and sold so you can make a profit. If i thought the fishery was in danger then i wouldnt want it to go any further. I dont think its in danger at all. yes we are taking a lot of fish but shutting down the commercial fishery is insane. there are many other things the state can do to help lower this. Such as reduce out of state permits. Sorry if your an out of state fisherman.
My point is this whole stripers forever is gonna ruin the fishery if it happens.
I hope theres other people who know what im trying to say. I hope i didnt put any false information up here.
-Nick
Here are some facts I have seen:
Recreational anglers already have 60% of the catch; why shouldnt the commercial fishermen have some? Cant we share this fishery?
The commercial fishery for striped bass is executed by an estimated 10,000 people, with the vast majority being pin hookers or weekend warriors who simply pay for their own sport by selling their catch. There are some 3,000,000 recreational anglers who fish for striped bass coast wide. Because of very restrictive size limits, most of these recreational anglers are never able to keep any of the fish they catch for their own consumption.
The limits I have heard would be:
1 fish a day 20-26 inches and 1 fish 40inches +
To me this says that the recreational fishery has a big impact on the commercial fishery. Changing these limits will drasticly reduce the population of small fish. Where im from almost every day in the summer you can fish small fish around 18-28 inches on top feeding on bait and it takes about 1 cast to hook a schoolie. Now lets think about how many fish could be taken from one school. A lot. Yes i know, rec. fishermen do not catch as many fish as we commercial fishermen do... except me..
I did some reasearch on this issue and i have found a few things that drasticly stand out to me.
"Stripers Forever pushed unsuccessfully for a commercial ban in 2010. According to the Cape Cod Times, Game fishermen like (Dean Clark, co-chairman of Stripers Forever) say the ban would help what they say is a threatened striped bass population. They argue that the bass are being overfished by commercial boats.
The fishery in my mind is not over fished and last year the bass quota was filled with in 29 days. To me that doesnt seem like there is a lack of fish. This is where my point comes in about the small fish. If we let this limit happen that that could have a large impact on furture fish populations. I know theres a lot behind the spawing and reproduction that i dont really know about but i just think its a little crazy to be able to keep one fish a day 20-26 inches. I just feel the recreational total catch will sky rocket and ruin the possiblity for them to get larger.
I also saw a youtube video presented by stripers forever. I do not have the link but it said that 14000 jobs would be created from the ban of bass fishing. I want to know how? the only thing i see is job loss. From the fisherman himself, wholesalers, cutters who cut the fish, fishmarkets, fuel consumption, local tackel shops all will suffer losses. Obviously some more then others and im not expecting a recession if this ban passes but it will reduce income for people who are involved. Im not one of those people who thinks that every fish should be caught and sold so you can make a profit. If i thought the fishery was in danger then i wouldnt want it to go any further. I dont think its in danger at all. yes we are taking a lot of fish but shutting down the commercial fishery is insane. there are many other things the state can do to help lower this. Such as reduce out of state permits. Sorry if your an out of state fisherman.
My point is this whole stripers forever is gonna ruin the fishery if it happens.
I hope theres other people who know what im trying to say. I hope i didnt put any false information up here.
-Nick
