MA striper conservation act, please help!

[CharlieTuna]

This came from the Stripersforever site, people. See if you can give them some support if you fish in the Mass area, thank you.



Filed by Rep. Matt Patrick, a Democrat from Falmouth, the legislation is in early form as a bill and has not been assigned a number or a committee.

In addition to prohibiting the sale of wild striped bass, the Patrick bill also would reduce the recreational limit from two fish a day to one, and would only allow fish to be kept that measure between 20 and 26 inches or more than 40 inches.

PLEASE FORWARD THE MESSAGE BELOW TO YOUR FISHING FRIENDS

Stripers Forever sends out timely and important information about the welfare of stripers and how you can help end the commercial culture that controls their management. This won’t happen if you and I sit on the sidelines waiting for the other guy to get it done. With the filing of the Conservation Bill we are at a critical juncture in the on-going attempt to conserve and protect wild striped bass. Up to now it has been all words. Now it is time for action by our members...YOU!

Wild, migratory striped bass are under more pressure than ever, and Stripers Forever, a free membership, internet-based organization, is fighting to end commercial fishing for the wild striped bass and manage the resource for personal use/recreational fishing. We need as many members as possible to show the politicians HOW IMPORTANT striped bass are to our economy, our recreation and our grandchildren .

If you haven't signed up yet as a member of Stripers Forever, here are a few things you should know:

Membership is free – no dues - and there are no meetings to attend. Everything is done via the internet and emails.

Stripers Forever helped draft and file a comprehensive Conservation Bill in the MA House of Representatives that will: a) eliminate commercial fishing for wild stripers b) protect the large breeding females, and c) reduce the overall harvest. This is critical legislation that will serve as a model for other states if we can get it passed.

Please help by joining Stripers Forever

Here is all you have to do -- it will take less than a minute and cost nothing:

Go to www.stripersforever.org (note - we have not used live links so that we don't set off spam filters, cut and paste into your browser)

Select “Become A Member” and fill out the very easy to follow sign-up sheet. It is really that simple and you will be helping the bass.

You can also volunteer for a more active role by e-mailing Ted Purcell at this address - tedpurcell@verizon.net

Thank you - Fred Jennings MA Chairman for Stripers Forever

P.S. TWO IMPORTANT REASONS TO FORWARD THIS MESSAGE (again!):

1) Many have changed their email service/address since they signed up to help support the bass and we can no longer contact them....some may be your friends that think they are still active members.

2) With the filing of the MA striped Bass Conservation Bill we need to reach out for as much support as possible by having everyone that cares about the wise use of our natural resources join Stripers Forever.

[rockhopper]

Here is an article about the bill

REGIONAL - Striped bass have been imperiled in recent times but now their hunters, on the commercial front, are the endangered species.

A bill, numbered (House Docket) HD 245, introduced by state Rep. Matt Patrick of Falmouth on Jan. 14, would prohibit the commercial harvest and sale of striped bass in Massachusetts.
Recreationally caught fish and kept would have to be between 20 and 26 inches in length or more than 40 inches. Currently the minimum size limit is 28 inches for recreational fishing and 34 inches for commercial.
“That (26-40 inches) is prime spawning size for female fish,” Patrick noted. “This limits the kill of spawning size fish.”
Anglers would be restricted to one striped bass per day (down from two).

“The spawning stock (females) has declined for three or four years,” Patrick explained. “What I wanted to do is protect the fishery. I don’t think the commercial fishery is economically much of a fishery. Several other states have made it recreational only. That’s something we need to investigate.”
States without a commercial harvest include Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey and South Carolina. Commercial fishing is ongoing in New York, Rhode Island and in the states surrounding Chesapeake Bay.

Prohibiting the sale of bass would eliminate illegal harvest under the guise of out of state catch.
“There is no way to control the black market,” noted Craig Caldwell, Massachusetts policy coordinator for Stripers Forever, an advocacy group for recreational fishermen and a bill supporter.
Aquaculture-raised bass would be fine for sale provided they have an identification tag.
“The benefit is the long-term conservation of a species that is being mismanaged by the Division of Marine Fisheries, by saving the larger breeding stock and allowing them to reproduce,” Caldwell explained. “When you continue to remove the largest breeders of any species you’re affecting evolution. You are not only producing fewer stock, they are getting smaller and smaller because only smaller fish get to the point they can reproduce.”
“Typically, regulating fisheries and fisheries management is done by our agencies. We generally don’t have legislative involvement in managing fisheries,” DMF spokesman Catherine Williams noted in a statement from director Paul Diodati that said, “The division will be following the debate over this proposal and taking a serious look at any proposal that would make substantial changes to our current regulatory structure.”

Bass fishing was slow last year.
“Last year was kind of a dismal year for what we were catching,” observed Rock Harbor charter boat Captain Hap Farrell.
“In Maine the recreational catch was down 70 percent,” Caldwell said. “In Massachusetts it was down 50 percent.”

Don’t blame commercial fishermen
I think there is room for everyone,” said Fran Keough of Goose Hummock Shop in Orleans. “There are plenty of fish out there.”
“I’m 100 percent against it,” declared Eric Stewart, co-owner of The Hook-Up fishing supply store in Orleans and captain of the Tammy Rose. “My biggest thing is every time you turn around they’re limiting access to fishing, commercial or recreational, they’re consistently losing access. Commercial fishing is a quota based system and 10 to 15 times the amount of fish are caught recreationally.”

Recreational fishermen do take more fish; 4.9 million pounds in 2006 versus 1.3 commercial, although Caldwell contended the split was closer to 50/50 due to under reporting.
“Nobody in this business wants to see these fish go away so we’re all extremely careful not to over fish or abuse it,” said Farrell. “Unfortunately, it’s the recreational fishermen who get greedy and can slip fish under a blanket and cover it or filet them before they go in.”
Stewart and Keough contend the bass have moved offshore.
“We see less on the beach, yes – that’s related to the seal population,” Stewart said. “If you go out three miles and drop a jig to the bottom, you can catch all the bass you want. There’s no shortage of fish. They’re just not where people can catch them.”
President Bush signed an Executive Order Oct. 20, 2007 making striped bass a game fish only in federal waters (beyond three miles).

“If someone truly wants to make a difference, why don’t they target the bycatch of the big commercial draggers offshore?” Stewart asked. “They catch striped bass by the tens of thousands. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. They see striped bass mixed in with the forage fish and tow them in anyway, then shovel them over the rail and they’re all dead.”

Draggers can’t keep any bass while a quota limits commercial fishermen. Last year the quota was 1,107,118 pounds. The commercial season starts July 12, and is limited to three to four days a week. A fisherman can take 30 fish a day (five on Sunday). The recreational season is year-round.

“There are 10 to 12 commercial fishermen fishing Cape Cod Bay,” reflected Farrell. “They can fish three and a half days a week and take (30) fish per day. Very rarely do they get their limit. But what people see is a guy coming in with two crates of fish and say, ‘Those guys are killing the stock.’ But there are 30 recreational boats out there every day and they each get two fish.”
According to the DMF, if you include the mortality of released fish, recreational fishing consumes 7.3 million pounds a year. But Patrick and Caldwell point out it is a much greater economic engine than the commercial side.

Sport fishing equals big business
“Thousands of fishermen come here every year just to fish for striped bass and that generates in the region of one billion dollars from the recreational fishery,” Patrick said.
“A live fish caught by recreational anglers is worth over five times more than a dead fish caught by a commercial angler,” Caldwell said. “Sixty-four percent of all recreational fishing in Massachusetts targets striped bass.”

A study sponsored by Stripers Forever estimates recreational fishing added 1.16 billion to state economy versus 24.2 million from commercial fishing (in 2003) and created 10,986 jobs to 524 in commercial fishing. Only 23 fishermen caught 6,000 pounds ($18,000 worth) of bass.
“So it’s not a commercial fishery,” Caldwell opined. “In Massachusetts there are 665,000 (striped bass) recreational fishermen, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and only 1,207 commercial fishermen reporting a catch.”

It is an industry to those who are doing it.
“There’s a dozen left, guys who have been doing it all their life,” Keough said. “They make a living out of it – in cold weather – they’re out every day. They’re fighting restrictions all the time but they see what’s really out there.”
Keough was concerned about too much management.
“Over protection of one species leads to the depletion of small species like shad, poagies and other fish that are used as bait,” he ventured. “Look at what they (protected bass) did to shad in the Connecticut River. They totally decimated the shad population.”
But bass were once decimated themselves. In 1987 the recreational catch was just over 10,000 fish, compared with a healthy 345,000 in 2006.

“I remember back when there were no striped bass,” Patrick said. “Then they came back and it’s become and more difficult to catch them again. That’s just my perception but that perception is shared by a lot of other fishermen. Since filing the bill I’ve probably gotten 300 e-mails and most are in agreement.”
The bill is a long way from law.

“I’m not close-minded on the question. I’d be happy to hear what people have to say,” Patrick said. “I want to do something positively to protect the fishery. That’s really the goal here.”
“It’s going to hurt the commercial fishermen,” Farrell countered. “It’s a way of life. It’s what brought people to the Cape; if they couldn’t do this stuff, they’d leave.”

[captnemo]

Don’t blame commercial fishermen
Recreational fishermen do take more fish; 4.9 million pounds in 2006 versus 1.3 commercial, although Caldwell contended the split was closer to 50/50 due to under reporting.
“Nobody in this business wants to see these fish go away so we’re all extremely careful not to over fish or abuse it,” said Farrell. “Unfortunately, it’s the recreational fishermen who get greedy and can slip fish under a blanket and cover it or filet them before they go in.”

“There are 10 to 12 commercial fishermen fishing Cape Cod Bay,” reflected Farrell. “They can fish three and a half days a week and take (30) fish per day. Very rarely do they get their limit. But what people see is a guy coming in with two crates of fish and say, ‘Those guys are killing the stock.’ But there are 30 recreational boats out there every day and they each get two fish.”
According to the DMF, if you include the mortality of released fish, recreational fishing consumes 7.3 million pounds a year. But Patrick and Caldwell point out it is a much greater economic engine than the commercial side.

Sport fishing equals big business

A study sponsored by Stripers Forever estimates recreational fishing added 1.16 billion to state economy versus 24.2 million from commercial fishing (in 2003) and created 10,986 jobs to 524 in commercial fishing. Only 23 fishermen caught 6,000 pounds ($18,000 worth) of bass.
Keough was concerned about too much management.
“Over protection of one species leads to the depletion of small species like shad, poagies and other fish that are used as bait,” he ventured. “Look at what they (protected bass) did to shad in the Connecticut River. They totally decimated the shad population.”
But bass were once decimated themselves. In 1987 the recreational catch was just over 10,000 fish, compared with a healthy 345,000 in 2006.

”

Some good points were made here, the most important that we as recreational fishermen catch most of the bass. I think I have seen figures somewhere that put out totals around 80-90% of all bass caught. There are planty of guys in my marina whose main objective is to catch their limit every time. There is not much talk of conservation. Yet people want to blame the commercial and party boat guys, that perception is not always true.