MA gamefish bill up for committee

[DarkSkies]

From the Stripercoastsurfcasters site:

They need help on this one guys. Even if you're not a resident, but live close to or fish in Mass, they could use some support. Thanks.

[DarkSkies]

IT IS NOW UP TO EACH ONE OF US!!!

The MA Game Fish Bill is up for a Committee hearing soon (probably mid Jan.). This is our chance to get in front of them and let them know how we feel. It also will be the same opportunity for commercial supporters to do the same. In order to plan our legislative strategy we need to know how many MA members of Stripers Forever will agree to any of the following (see below). If you can participate in any way - AND WE REALLY HOPE YOU WILL - please hit “reply� and send back this email with your answers to each question Y(yes) or N(no).

We need your help. This is for real. The pro commercial forces have lined up in strength to fight the Game Fish Bill. It is important that we plan realistically and present our case with strength of numbers and credible support. Thanks.

Will you:

1) come to the State House on the day of the hearing? We estimate the day would run from 10am to 2PM

2) Ask a friend or two to join you at the State House?

3) join in a rally at the State House?

4) call on your legislator that day in Boston?

5) attend the hearing?

6) would you consider testifying at the hearing?

7) offer written comments to the hearing Committee in support of the Bill?

8) Telephone or send an email to the members of the hearing Committee prior to/after the hearing? :

9) Other (please explain):

10) IMPORTANT: Your name and best contact information please. Thanks for helping.


NOTE: we anticipate serving a light lunch at the State House for those attending. Our staff will provide maps, instruction, and help to anyone who agrees to participate. We hope that you and some friends will be there. Thank you – Ted Purcell for Stripers Forever MA

[vpass]

STRIPED BASS HEARING ON JANUARY 14


The MA Striped Bass Conservation Bill hearing is set for Thursday, Jan 14th at 11 a.m. at the State House in Boston. Details and directions will follow in a separate e-mail.


Plan to arrive at the State House by 10:00 a.m. on the 14th for a pre-hearing briefing. The proceedings will probably last into the early afternoon.


All anglers who fish for striped bass in Massachusetts – whether they are residents of Massachusetts or not - are invited to attend and to be heard if they wish. The economic value of tourist fishing is an important part of this bill. So ask your fishing friends to join you. Remember there is great strength in numbers. This is YOUR CHANCE TO HELP US MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Thank you and look for a follow-up email in a few days with all the details.


The MA Legislative Coordinating Committee
in Support of the Striped Bass Conservation Bill

When I get more details I will add.

[Jackbass]

Anyone that wants to attend and support this initiative is more than welcome.

I will be posting the names and contact info of committee members here and at Striper Coast. If you feel obliged write a letter or send an e-mail whatever works for you.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

I will be at the State house along With SC1 Gunny and possibly another member or two will be joining us. If you have any interest what so ever in attending. Feel free to PM me.

This is huge if it passes. If MA Falls RI will be next.

[BassBuddah]

Good luck guys, I hope the fishermen representation will be strong enough.

[buckethead]

Mass is a long distance but I'll talk to the wife and see if I can come up. I always believe in supporting fishing causes no matter where you live. If I don't make it good luck!

[dogfish]

I cant get out of work that day, but I did send a hand-written letter, and the same letter by e-mail. I hope we win this, fellas. It's important.

[vpass]

An Act Relative To The Conservation Of Atlantic Striped Bass

An Act Relative To The Conservation Of Atlantic Striped Bass A broad coalition representing the interests of recreational fishermen and women, business groups, conservationists, and others is presenting a bill to the Massachusetts legislature to promote an act to conserve the Atlantic Striped Bass.

Here is why the citizens of Massachusetts should support this bill:
+ Striped bass is the most popular saltwater fish in Massachusetts and the rest of the USA
+ Recreational striped bass fishing contributes more than $650 million to Massachusetts retailers
+ Massachusetts retailers could expect increased sales of $200 million if this bill passes
+ Recreational fishing for striped bass supports 11,000 jobs
+ Massachusetts could expect an additional 3,400 jobs if this bill passes
+ Aquaculture can more than meet all consumer demand for striped bass
+ History shows that striped bass cannot be sustainably managed for commercial harvest

Massachusetts allows recreational fishermen to keep 2 striped bass with a 28" minimum length. Current law allows state residents to purchase a commercial permit for $30, which enables them to catch and sell 30 fish over 32" per day (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays). By simply purchasing an inexpensive license, these "commercial" fishermen (most are not full-time commercial fishermen) are able to keep 1500% more fish than the average citizen.

The current commercial regulations have resulted in the following:
+ Significant reductions in the number of large breeding female fish (32+ inch fish are females) that sustain populations.
+ The development of a black market for striped bass as commercial fishermen sell fish "under the table" to dealers and restaurants for cash.
+ A common practice known among law enforcement called "ice fishing." You buy commercial licenses for yourself, your wife, your daughter and your son. Then you go out on a non-commercial day, catch as many fish as you can, and ice them down. The next day you sell 30 fish, your wife sells 30, and your kids unload the rest.

"A 100 percent allocation to the recreational fishery produces the greatest societal benefit among
various management scenarios."

The Economics of Recreational and Commercial Striped Bass Fishing in Massachusetts
2005 Southwick Study
Southwick Associates, Inc




A broad coalition representing the interests of recreational fishermen and women, business groups, conservationists, and others is presenting a bill to the Massachusetts legislature to promote an act to conserve the Atlantic Striped Bass.

Here is why the citizens of Massachusetts should support this bill:
+ Striped bass is the most popular saltwater fish in Massachusetts and the rest of the USA
+ Recreational striped bass fishing contributes more than $650 million to Massachusetts retailers
+ Massachusetts retailers could expect increased sales of $200 million if this bill passes
+ Recreational fishing for striped bass supports 11,000 jobs
+ Massachusetts could expect an additional 3,400 jobs if this bill passes
+ Aquaculture can more than meet all consumer demand for striped bass
+ History shows that striped bass cannot be sustainably managed for commercial harvest

Massachusetts allows recreational fishermen to keep 2 striped bass with a 28" minimum length. Current law allows state residents to purchase a commercial permit for $30, which enables them to catch and sell 30 fish over 32" per day (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays). By simply purchasing an inexpensive license, these "commercial" fishermen (most are not full-time commercial fishermen) are able to keep 1500% more fish than the average citizen.

The current commercial regulations have resulted in the following:
+ Significant reductions in the number of large breeding female fish (32+ inch fish are females) that sustain populations.
+ The development of a black market for striped bass as commercial fishermen sell fish "under the table" to dealers and restaurants for cash.
+ A common practice known among law enforcement called "ice fishing." You buy commercial licenses for yourself, your wife, your daughter and your son. Then you go out on a non-commercial day, catch as many fish as you can, and ice them down. The next day you sell 30 fish, your wife sells 30, and your kids unload the rest.

"A 100 percent allocation to the recreational fishery produces the greatest societal benefit among
various management scenarios."

The Economics of Recreational and Commercial Striped Bass Fishing in Massachusetts
2005 Southwick Study
Southwick Associates, Inc

http://www.magamefishbill.org/index.html

[vpass]

An Act Relative To The Conservation Of Atlantic Striped Bass


OBJECTIVES OF THE MASSACHUSETTS STRIPED BASS CONSERVATION BILL

The Massachusetts Striped Bass Conservation Bill has been drafted to accomplish interrelated achievements that can be summarized in the following categories: Conservation, Equal Access, Economic Gains (from Tour*ism and from Jobs and Revenues), Resource Management (Conservation and Consistency) and Public Health. It is time to recognize striped bass for their real economic, cultural and social value to Massachusetts by passing this Bill, which will bring the management of wild striped bass into the 21st century.

PASSAGE OF THIS CONSERVATION BILL WILL ACHIEVE THE FOLLOWING:

1) Conservation: It will insure the long term survival of this species by designating it as “game� along with nearly every other important animal, bird and fish in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts! “Gamefish� designation has proved to be the best way to conserve valuable fisheries for the long term by protecting them from commercial exploitation.

2) Equal Access: It will democratize the fishery 100 percent by mandating that everyone follow the same har*vesting rules and regulations with no exceptions. It will eliminate special, “user group� privileges. It will end harvesting discrimination and will make striped bass the most popular marine sport fish “of the people� that it once was, only now everyone will be treated equally.

3) Economic Gains: Tourism: It will reverse the currently rising loss of jobs and personal income being caused by a declining fishery. Each year there are fewer fish to catch and therefore fewer visiting anglers coming to Massachusetts, all of which is having a negative effect on the Massachusetts economy. Angling guides are going out of business; tourists are traveling elsewhere; and many anglers have given up fishing for striped bass in Massachusetts. The regulatory status quo is creating economic hardships that are easily remedied by making striped bass a gamefish.

4) Economic Gains: Jobs and Revenues: It will maximize the economic impact of gamefish status by creating almost 3,000 new jobs (net of commercial job losses) and increasing revenues in Massachusetts by “nearly $334 million,� according to the acclaimed and respected Southwick Striped Bass Study for Massachusetts (2005).

5) Resource Management: Conservation: It will both reduce the harvest and better protect the best reproductive females in the striped bass population while setting aside a reserve stock of fish for unforeseen environmental crises such as that now occurring from mycobacteriosis, which is nearlyb always fatal and has been found in 60% to 70% of the stripers (or “rockfish�) in Chesapeake Bay (the source of most of the striped bass caught in Massachusetts).

6) Resource Management: Consistency: It will eliminate a management choice between two opposing goals and standards: recreational fishing (that demands long-term species protection) versus commercial interests (driven by profit to maximum harvest). In sum, the tradeoff between recreational and commercial fisheries management is between species enhancement and species exploitation. The long history of commercial fisheries clearly shows the threat.

7) Public Health: It will better protect the consuming public by removing the older, more contaminated (mercury, mycobacteriosis and PCB) fish from the marketplace, and replace them with healthier and more predictable supplies of farm-raised stripers. Health advisories against consuming wild, migratory striped bass due to PCB and mercury contamination have been issued by many States along the Atlantic seaboard.


The welfare of striped bass and the measurable economic benefits to the public and to the Commonwealth are best served by passing this Striped Bass Conservation Bill. Thank you for your support.

__________________________________________________ _____________________


AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE CONSERVATION OF ATLANTIC STRIPED BASS.


Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in the General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:


SECTION 1. Section 110A of chapter 130 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking the section in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following sentences:


(a) Commercial harvesting and sale of wild striped bass shall be prohibited in the Commonwealth. The director, with the approval of the marine fisheries advisory commission, shall adopt rules and regulations relative to the taking or possession of wild striped bass by recreational angling, provided that in no instance shall any rule or regulation authorize the taking or possession of striped bass which are less than 20 inches in length or greater than 26 inches total length but less than 40 inches total length. It is unlawful to take or possess striped bass unless the fish are whole with head on and are between 20 and 26 inches total length or 40 inches and greater total length.

(b) It is unlawful to take or possess more than one (1) striped bass each day.

(c) All aquaculture raised striped bass for sale in the commonwealth shall bear the tag of the grower or distributor of the fish.

(d) Whoever violates any rules or regulations made pursuant to this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars for each fish taken or possessed for the first violation, five hundred dollars for each fish taken or possessed for the second violation and for each subsequent violation shall be fined one thousand dollars for each fish taken or possessed or imprisoned not more than sixty days or both. No part of any fine imposed for the taking or possession of any striped bass in violation of any such regulation shall be remitted.

SECTION 2. The striped bass quota for commercial fishing provided to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission shall not be added to recreational fishing quotas. Said quota shall be set aside for conservation and the Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries shall use his best efforts in working with the Commission to see that the amount of this quota is not given to other states but remains the property of the Commonwealth to be used for conservation of striped bass.

Please Note: Revised with Latest Version of Bill - Feb. 27, 2009

http://www.magamefishbill.org/the-bill.html

[vpass]

How to Take Action

Stripers Forever is currently working on several issues that you can help with.


Stripers Forever strongly advocates passage of a federal bill H.R. 2625 introduced by Congressmen Tom Allen of Maine and Frank Pallone of N.J. This legislation would make the striped bass a gamefish both in all state waters, and in the EEZ waters more than 3 miles off the coast that come under federal control. To help with this legislation please do the following:


1. Choose a state via the drop down arrow on the left side of the home page. Find the list of Congresspersons for that state. Print out this list and add the e-mail addresses to your address book. Many members of Congress use a government e-mail system that directs e-mail by the sender's zip code to the appropriate Congressperson. In other words many Congresspersons will accept no e-mail from outside of their district. You can however, approach the other Congress people by snail mail, (instructions for that are below), and we urge you to contact every Congressperson in your state as well in as any other states that you wish. The more of us that they hear from the better.


2. Click on the link for the HR#2625 sample letter at the bottom of this page. You can either use this letter as is or as a template for your own letter. We encourage you to use your own words if you wish. Stripers Forever is made up of all of us who love striped bass and cherish the concept of public fishing. This letter is from YOU, not Stripers Forever. Save the finished document.


3. Cut and paste the document into an e-mail and send it to each Congressperson; address each one to the individual Congressperson. Make it personal, from you, the voter with the power to elect representatives that you approve of.


4. Print these same letters, and mail them snail mail too. Put them in hand-addressed envelopes. Elected officials are concerned about what you, the voter, thinks. Hand-addressing is personal and shows commitment and effort.


5. Don't hesitate to e-mail and snail mail to every Congressman from Maine to So. Carolina, even if you are not a resident of that state. Many anglers travel and spend money in various states. Your input is important. Besides, the striped bass observe no state lines. If a migrating cow striper is killed for market in one state it will not be available to breed in another the next spring.


6. Please copy us on your e-mails so that we may know how many commudocnications each legislator has received.

The link below has a sample letter.


http://www.stripersforever.org/Info/takeaction

[vpass]

Guys, tomorrow I will be spending some time sending emails, and postal mail to all elected officals of Massachusetts.

We got to try!

[DarkSkies]

This was published Feb 2009


http://www.dickrussell.org/articles/savingstripers.htm


Saving Stripers Will Require Tighter Net of Regulations

by **** Russell
Martha's Vineyard Gazette, Friday, February 6, 2009
Twenty-five years ago, the striped bass were on the verge of disappearing altogether from our waters. Federal scientists trying to pinpoint a cause listed pollution in the Chesapeake Bay spawning grounds as one probable reason — from residues of the banned pesticide DDT to the new phenomenon of acid rain. The other factor was clearly overfishing, and only this could be addressed immediately. As a longtime summer fisherman on the Vineyard, I got deeply involved in what soon became a coastwide grassroots campaign to try to save this magnificent fish from the endangered species list.

It worked. After Maryland declared a five-year moratorium on striper fishing in its bay waters on Sept. 11, 1984, and the other states along the migration route followed with similarly strong conservation measures, the striped bass made an amazing comeback. Less than 10 years later, managers declared it a fully recovered fishery.

As Scientific American said in 1995: “The resurgence of striped bass along the eastern coast of the U.S. is probably the best example in the world of a species that was allowed to recoup through tough management and an intelligent rebuilding plan.�

Today, sadly, the question is whether we may be witnessing a déjÃ* vu. Last fall, Maryland’s young-of-the-year index of annual spawning success in the Chesapeake — where more than 75 per cent of our striped bass come from — fell to its lowest level since 1990, when the population was just emerging from its near-total collapse. An average of only 3.2 fingerling stripers were taken in each seine-haul, well below the long-term average of 11.7.

Although some experts blamed a late cold front that may have killed many larvae, this marked the third time in the last seven years that the survey has been alarmingly lower. The mega-spawning years of 1989, 1993, 1996 and 2001 haven’t been remotely approached — yet the allowable catch levels and quotas remain based on a theoretical abundance of fish from the 1990s.
Last November, scientists from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science published a study showing that a chronic wasting disease called mycobacteriosis — now at epidemic proportions, detected in sixty per cent of the Chesapeake’s striped bass — eventually kills them. The disease began showing up a decade ago, sometimes in the form of skin lesions and often eating away at the fish from within. For humans handling infected fish with an open wound, scientists advise wearing gloves to avoid fish-handler’s disease that can lead to arthritis-like joint problems. Mycobacteriosis has now spread to the Delaware Bay system, and has been seen in striped bass all along the coast, including Massachusetts.


David Gauthier, lead author on the recent study, calls it a stress disease. Since a higher mortality rate seems to occur during the summer, it’s possible that low-oxygen dead zones could be forcing the bass out of their preferred cold water into warmer areas. (Early in December, another scientific report concluded that the 25-year, $6-billion effort to clean up the Chesapeake has so far been a dismal failure).

Many of the diseased fish are also emaciated, so an even more likely stressor is a lack of food — bay anchovies and the striper’s preferred prey, young menhaden. The Chesapeake Bay Ecological Foundation recently determined that malnutrition observed in more than 5,000 stripers is a consequence of such ecological depletion. A single company, Omega Protein, kills millions of menhaden annually to be ground up into fish meal and fish oil. A harvest cap implemented by regulators in 2006 has not proved effective, because menhaden landings since then have averaged 30 per cent below the cap.


At the same time, illegal catches of striped bass are escalating. At the end of January, investigators announced having broken up a black market involving watermen and fish dealers who sold millions of dollars’ worth of striped bass illegally taken from the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River to restaurants and shops around the U.S. The problem has been widespread in Connecticut and Rhode Island, too, and this is probably the tip of the iceberg.
What is to be done?

For many Vineyard fishermen, striped bass last season were few and far between. Fish taken in the June catch-and-release derby were one-quarter of what they’d been only a few years before. The annual fall derby also saw a dramatic drop in landings. Some have placed the blame on huge mid-water herring trawlers discarding striped bass bycatch; off Chatham, fishermen once saw dead stripers stretching for three solid miles. Since herring also serve as important forage, clearly the trawlers need more onboard observers and stricter regulation. But curtailing them isn’t going to be a panacea.


In January, an act “relative to the conservation of Atlantic striped bass� was introduced for the first time in the Massachusetts legislature. It calls for much greater restrictions on recreational fishing, cutting the allowable take in half and changing size limits to protect a greater number of fecund female fish (one striped bass a day could be landed between 20 and 26 inches in length, or of greater than 40 inches). The bill also would prohibit commercial sale of wild stripers, already a law in seven of the coastal jurisdictions along the migratory route (Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the Potomac River, and South Carolina), as well as in federal waters three miles offshore.


While I don’t sell my catch, I have resisted supporting such a measure until now; I don’t like the idea of taking away part of anyone’s livelihood. However, I have reluctantly concluded that banning commercial sale is a conservation necessity. Already farm-raised striped bass comprise more than 60 per cent of the market; the taste, and the price, is comparable to that of wild-caught fish.

Fish raised in ponds or other enclosed systems are not tainted with mercury, PCBs and other contaminants found at levels high enough in ocean stripers to warrant health advisories against consuming them in many states. The Environmental Defense Fund recommends that people eat only farm-raised stripers, and the Massachusetts legislation would require any sold to bear a tag from the grower or distributor.

Approximately 1,200 active market striper fishermen in Massachusetts average selling about 850 pounds for around $2,000 a year, hardly a significant portion of income for a commercial fisherman. There could, however, be a dedicated fund to buy back commercial striped bass permits on an amortized basis, perhaps coming from a recreational saltwater fee. A century ago, market hunting drove many species of game birds and animals to near-extinction until the practice was outlawed.


In recent years, we have seen red drum become a recreational-only species in Florida, and sea trout and redfish in Texas, because there weren’t enough fish to also support a commercial industry. Given all the problems striped bass are facing today, if we’re to preserve them for future generations, there appears to be little choice but to follow such precedents.

[finchaser]

Hopefully someday before it's too late this bill will pass it's been around for around 15 years

[BassBuddah]

Guys, tomorrow I will be spending some time sending emails, and postal mail to all elected officals of Massachusetts.

We got to try!

I don't fish Massachusetts, but I sent a letter as well. good luck to whoever is going tomorrow. Give em hell!

[Simp]

I definitely wish you guys the best of luck up there tomorrow!