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finchaser
03-18-2011, 07:45 PM
CALL FOR ACTION

[Stripers_FED] Call For Action!



We apologize for the short notice on this Call For Action, but it is a chance for you to have a positive influence on how striped bass are managed. All indications and data suggest that the coastwide recreational catch of striped bass has been declining since 2006 - an eye-popping 70% drop in just 5 years. Add to that the poor spawning year classes since 2003, and the resulting lack of recruitment of young fish into the population, and the future does not look very promising. The striped bass population is being propped up by the good year classes of late 1990's, plus 2001 and 2003, but if these now legal bass are overfished, as they are being now, and are not replaced, we could witness an epic crash in the striped bass population over the next 5-10 years.





There are real problems with the fisheries management plan for striped bass and it all starts with commercial and recreational fishing mortality rates that are too high, and triggers for management board action that are unrealistic. Action by the Striped Bass Management Board is like turning an ocean liner - it takes forever. So while the population continues to decline precipitously, the Striped Bass Management Board appears to be unresponsive. All of this scares the daylights out of us at Stripers Forever, and is all the more reason why gamefish status for striped bass is critical.





But there is something you can do to help - RIGHT NOW!





On Wednesday March 23, 2011, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board will hold their winter/spring 2011 meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Alexandria, Virginia. Stripers Forever learned recently of a very important agenda item for this board meeting which is a proposal by the Maine Department of Natural Resources requesting that the board consider initiating an addendum to the Interstate Fisheries Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass to reduce coastwide mortality on striped bass. Other state marine fisheries directors, including Massachusetts, are recognizing the problems with the striped bass population and the lack of response from the management board. The board will be discussing this agenda item and taking possible action next week. It is unknown how many states will support this proposal, but we need as many fishermen as possible to urge your own state's representative to the Striped Bass Management Board to support it. We also need you to contact the ASMFC directly in support of this proposal.





Attached is a PDF file with all the members of the Striped Bass Management Board. We suggest you start by emailing your own state director, then other board members from your state if possible.





It is critical for you to email Robert Beal, the ASMFC's interstate fisheries management plan coordinator for striped bass at rbeal@asmfc.org (mailhtml:mid://00000289/rbeal@asmfc.org).





Here is some sample language. Please cut and paste it into an email and send it to as many of your state's representatives on the Striped Bass Management Board as you can, as well as Robert Beal at the ASMFC.





Dear _______________,





I am writing with serious concerns about the current trends in the data for the coastal striped bass population. Specifically I am very disturbed by the fact that the over all recreational catch of striped bass on the Atlantic coast has decreased by 70% since 2006. Concurrently, the Young of the Year index from the Maryland sections of the Chesapeake Bay have been very poor since 2003, resulting in extremely low recruitment into the coastal striped bass population. It is my strong belief that current fishing mortality rates set by the Interstate Fisheries Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass are too high and are resulting in unsustainable levels of striped bass mortality.





I strongly support the proposal by the Maine Department of Natural Resources that asks the Striped Bass Management Board to create an addendum to reduce coastwide mortality on striped bass. I am aware this is an agenda item for the Striped Bass Management Board at the ASMFC Winter/Spring 2011 Meeting in Alexandria, Virginia on March 23. I want to go on record as supporting this proposal and I urge the Striped Bass Management Board to take positive action to move forward with generating a new addendum to Amendment 6 of the Interstate Fisheries Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass that will address reducing coastwide striped bass mortality as soon as possible.





Thank you.





Signed,





Your Name


Your Address

speedy
03-18-2011, 08:44 PM
sent it to every one on the list bro.....thanks bro

rip316
03-19-2011, 08:39 AM
All done. Thanks Finchaser and congrats on the fish.

DarkSkies
03-19-2011, 12:18 PM
[The striped bass population is being propped up by the good year classes of late 1990's, plus 2001 and 2003, but if these now legal bass are overfished, as they are being now, and are not replaced, we could witness an epic crash in the striped bass population over the next 5-10 years.

Ya know, some people have the perception in some circles that Stripers Forever is just a bunch of elite fly fishermen...
That they are an alarmist group ranting about things that only have the possibility of happening...
That they are a bunch of chicken littles who have been screaming "the sky is falling" for too many years now...

And yet, the sky has not fallen as predicted....:huh:



I have been doing some independent research to satisfy my curiosity.
Yesterday I was on the phone with a DMF scientist from MA. They do research in conjuction with the Wood's Hole Institute in MA.

This gentleman told me essentially the same thing that your guys see above. He said

1. there hasn't been a strong recruitment year class of striped bass since 2003.

2. They at DMF are predicting a severe decline and "possible" crash by the year 2014.

Think about it. people. That's a 4 year scenario! Even shorter than the timeframe indicated by SF. If that doesn't get you to thinking and maybe getting involved by sending one of these suggested e-mails, I don't know what else will.

I told him the old-timers I know, Finchaser, Surfwalker, Clamchucker, OFFC, and many others, have been saying this for years, and it appears not many have been listening.

He explained that everything they do has to be done methodically, and is subject to many reviews. I understand that, but in the meantime the catch statistics of shore fishermen have seen a decline for anyone who keeps a detailed log.


Please take a few minutes from your day...
and C&P the e-mail above.
I'll be sending mine later on tonight.

Fin has made it real simple for us, don't even have to buy a stamp for a letter. :cool:
Thanks again, for this and all your activism, Fin and others. :clapping: :thumbsup:

jigfreak
03-19-2011, 12:50 PM
Done, thanks.

storminsteve
03-19-2011, 12:55 PM
You're right, it was easy, done.
Thanks Finchaser!

seamonkey
03-19-2011, 10:12 PM
Hey thank you for putting that up. Done!

cardoc765
03-20-2011, 06:59 PM
done
However, when are they going to do something about the huge bass kills done by netters and draggers like in the carolinas? It is one thing to watch fish populations and manage them properly. But if you are going to manage them, don't just hit the recreational guy. The population gets destroyed when you have draggers and netters leaving thousands of bass floating in the ocean for no reason.

finchaser
03-21-2011, 12:17 AM
done
However, when are they going to do something about the huge bass kills done by netters and draggers like in the carolinas? It is one thing to watch fish populations and manage them properly. But if you are going to manage them, don't just hit the recreational guy. The population gets destroyed when you have draggers and netters leaving thousands of bass floating in the ocean for no reason.

When it's too late and lets not forget all the rec's on the striper coast that snag and drop to kill fish for ego's and pictures

surfstix1963
03-21-2011, 06:17 AM
Done deal.

cardoc765
03-21-2011, 06:50 PM
When it's too late and lets not forget all the rec's on the striper coast that snag and drop to kill fish for ego's and pictures



as well as the poachers keeping short bass.

jonthepain
03-21-2011, 08:51 PM
got this from Stripers Forever today. I've alerted all my NC friends, but I think it also concerns you guys up north, cuz of what the NC netters have been doing to the bass down here:

Stripers Forever NC - CCA NC and the Coastal Fisheries Reform Group recently introduced HB 353 into the NC legislature. HB 353 would make red drum, speckeled trout, and striped bass game fish in NC. These three species could be taken only by rod and reel and the sale of the fish would not be permitted. Additionally the bill would compensate commercial fishermen for three years of lost revenue on these species. The bill has passed its first reading in the House and has been assigned to “ Committee On Commerce and Job Development Subcommittee on Business and Labor”. Stripers Forever strongly supports this bill and applauds the CCA and CFRG for getting this action underway.

The bill will be discussed in committee this Wednesday, and will be voted on at that time. If passed, it will then be sent to the House floor for discussion and a vote. Our next hurdle is to win the vote in this committee, and therefore we need to email and call every one of these committee members encouraging them to vote for the bill. Here are the members, their email link, and their phone numbers. Please forward this to your email list and encourage them to do the same. It does not matter if these folks are your personal representatives or not. They are now responsible for considering this bill, and they ALL need to hear from ALL of us tonight or tomorrow at the lastest!


Darrell McCormick, Darrell.mccormick@ncleg.net 919-733-5654

Kelly Alexander, Kelly.alexander@ncleg.net 919-733-5778

Harold Brubaker, Harold.brubaker@ncleg.net 919-715-4946

Becky Carney, Becky.carney@ncleg.net 919-733-5827

Jeff Collins, Jeff.collins@ncleg.net 919-733-5802

Jerry Dockham, jerry.dockham@ncleg.net 919-715-2526

Nelson Dollar, nelson.dollar@ncleg.net 919-715-0795

Elmer Floyd, elmer.floyd@ncleg.net 919-733-5959

Dale Folwell, dale.folwell@ncleg.net 919-733-5787

Ken Goodman, ken.goodman@ncleg.net 919-733-5823

Charles Graham, Charles.graham@ncleg.net 919-715-0875

Mike Hager, mike.hager@ncleg.net 919-733-5749

Dewey Hill, dewey.hill@ncleg.net 919-733-5830

Bryan Holloway, bryan.holloway@ncleg.net 919-733-5609

Stephen LaRoque, Stephen.laroque@ncleg.net 919-715-3017

Tim Moffitt, tim.moffitt@ncleg.net 919-715-3012

Rodney Moore, Rodney.moore@ncleg.net 919-733-5606

Bill Owens, bill.owens@ncleg.net 919-733-0010

Garland Pierce, garland.pierce@ncleg.net 919-733-5803

Efton Sager, efton.sager@ncleg.net 919-733-5755

Mitchell Setzer, Mitchell.setzer@ncleg.net 919-733-4948

Phil Shepard, phil.shepard@ncleg.net 919-715-9644

Michael Stone, Michael.stone@ncleg.net 919-715-3026

William Wainwright, William.wainwright@ncleg.net 919-733-5995

Winkie Wilkins, winkie.wilkins@ncleg.net 919-715-0850

edit- thank God Marc Basnight is no longer around, it never would have made it to committee

rip316
03-21-2011, 09:26 PM
Thanks for posting that.

porgy75
03-25-2011, 07:27 PM
I sent one to rbeal, thanks finchaser.

vpass
03-25-2011, 09:03 PM
Done, Thanks

surferman
03-26-2011, 05:45 PM
Finchaser and Dark, correct me if I am wrong, but wouldn't it still be beneficial to send these, at least 1 to R Beal? I sent mine today, than for all your hard work.