NC commercial striped bass fishermen can keep 50biggest bass/day, high grading ok!!!

[DarkSkies]

You all need to be aware that there are now lobbyists for the commercial fishing industry registering on the fishing websites. Some of them are very persuasive. I feel their logic is flawed and try to debate their manipulation every chance I get. I and some others spent hours yesterday debating with one such lobbyist.

I want you folks to be able to recognize the pattern of some of these arguments in case you run across them. Don't merely wish violence upon comms, don't merely hold on to your anger....but please DO educate yourselves so you know what to say if you get sucked into one of these debates asking for "parity" for the Comm sector.


The pattern of the argument is this:
(Currently this form of argument is being used to get fisheries management to open NJ to Commercial striped bass fishing.)

1. Comm fisherman have been beaten up for too long, and the stringent regulations have been too heavily on their backs.

2. Comms are not killing most of the bass. The Recs are. (to some extent I agree with this, and there are threads on this site that go into more detail why).
But...I am in complete disagreement with any further advancement of this premise.
The lobbyists I mentioned skew the facts and manipulate the truth so their side's apathy for the longevity of a growing biomass is obscured.

3. Because of the Magnusson Stevens Act, many comms are demanding parity with rec anglers and say they have the right to catch striped bass the same as rec anglers do (It's a little more involved than this, folks, I'm just trying for a simple outline here)

4. They are manipulating and grandstanding, saying they represent all those in America who cannot fish but want to eat fish. They claim the fishing rights for those people should be represented by the Comms, and therefore they should be allowed to fish for striped bass everywhere, including the EEZ.

5. They are claiming that their mortality rate is far less than the rec mortality rate, and as such this "unfairness" should be addressed.
(The problem with this argument is that the figures represent when they have an observer on board - the mortality of fish brought in by trawler or bottom dragger is far greater when the observers are not on board, or in many other instances, such as high-grading, keeping prohibited species, etc. )

6. They are also "ashamed" that when they catch other species of fish, that they are "forced" by "idiot gov't regulations" to throw back dead striped bass. The gov't should just allow them to keep "a reasonable amount" of those dead bass discards, they claim, since they are dead anyway.

7. To bring things back to "parity", they argue they should be allowed to fish for striped bass in every state where it is currently prohibited. This is the only fair choice, they argue.




If you ever run across arguments like the above one, please try not to attack the ones who advance them. Instead, try to poke holes in their logic, respectfully and assertively.

Ignoring them won't help.
Engaging them to show others of their flawed logic....will.

This thing about them getting striped bass quota won't go away, folks. Every year at the marine fisheries hearings they bring this subject up and ask for consideration. So, merely getting angry at them solves nothing.

They are as persistent as those in the Pew Trust. Like those in the Pew Trust, we must learn not to ignore them or their agendas. Instead, those who care about the future of the resource should educate themselves and be willing to face them in any debate that arises.





Of course, there are those on those site and others who don't give a crap about this stuff and other fishing issues... they only want to fish and can't be bothered.

That's fine, no one is forcing you to care.

But please remember these words....the Pew Trust and Commercial fishing lobbying groups like the ones I described above....

are counting on your apathy.


Thanks for reading, people.
All comments welcome.

[vpass]

from a email that I recieved:

Stripers Forever Members – never question the value of e-mailing or otherwise communicating your comments to politicians and/or fishery managers. Dr. Louis Daniel called me from NC last Wednesday evening and told me he had received an unprecedented amount of comment from our members on the dead striped bass high graded by commercial trawlers last week off the Outer Banks. To Dr. Daniel’s credit he has changed this regulation to one that does not allow the practice of high grading. It is a positive step for the striped bass. Dr. Daniel was very gracious in our conversation, and we should remember that he inherited the regulations already in place in NC, a state with a history of total commercial dominanation of the fishery management process. I believe that the input of our members affected this change just as I think we were an important voice in motivating the ASMFC to vote against the commercial quota increase two months ago.


We must end the commercial exploitation of striped bass. Nothing short of that will ever solve these problems. For those that would say it is more important that we work on forage issues, I would respond that forage fish are vital, but after 40 years of crying about the over harvest of shad, herring, eels, menhaden, sand eels, and the like, that we have gotten almost nowhere. Envision striped bass as a coast wide game fish, managed for a much higher level of abundance, and the incredible guiding, tackle, and tourism angling businesses that would be generated. Then we'd then have the clout to demand the reduction of or the end to the plunder of the prey species needed to feed these fish. Until now we've gone with hat in hand and we've come out with nothing. That is the wrong approach.


Thanks to the dedicated efforts of our MA board, with the help of one of the state’s top lobbyists working for a small fraction of his normal fee, we have filed three striped bass conservation bills in the state legislature this session. Help us get them passed, and we will have done something of enormous value for the generations of saltwater anglers to come.


Make It A Game Fish!
Brad Burns, President of Stripers Forever

[nitestrikes]

.

But please remember these words....the Pew Trust and Commercial fishing lobbying groups like the ones I described above....

are counting on your apathy.


Thanks for reading, people.
All comments welcome.

Absolutely, it won't be long before the rants about the netters and the commercial catches start. what about the long island capts fishing over the line?