Recreational Bass landings down 70% from 2006

[finchaser]

This equates to almost 20,000,000 pounds



Stripers Forever members -NOAA Fisheries has posted the updated official estimates of the recreational catch of striped bass to their website. Using this data, we've created a graph that displays the recreational catch, both for the entire Atlantic Coast and for Massachusetts only. We've singled out Massachusetts because we have filed three bills in this session of the legislature, one of which is a striped bass game fish bill. The recreational catch has fallen by more than 70% since the peak in 2006, and with very few small fish coming into the fishery these numbers will continue to decline. The population of large older fish that make up the bulk of the current striped bass biomass will continue to provide some fishing opportunities for a few years, but unless regulations change to catch and release only, the already reduced spawning potential will be further eroded.

The publicity surrounding the wasteful trawler fishery off the Outer Banks of North Carolina and the criminal gill net fishery in Maryland has caught everyone's attention these days, and certainly, these are shocking events -although it's no great secret that activities like this have gone on for many years. Changing those commercial net fisheries to rod and reel harvest only wouldn't necessarily make the problem go away. For example, in Massachusetts there are nearly 4,000 commercial permit holders to keep an eye on, and nowhere near the enforcement capability available to do it. Less than a third of all commercial permit holders reported catching or selling any fish at all. The desire to not reach the state's quota too quickly, and to avoid income taxes by selling for cash, are both considerable incentives to hide your actual catch. Just as everyone close to the scene knows that the problems in NC and MD have been going on for years, so too do people in Massachusetts know that the commercial quota there is vastly overachieved. One Massachusetts man was caught last summer fishing in Rhode Island with a false deck in his boat that when opened via a hidden switch, revealed a fish box full of illegally harvested striped bass. Is it likely that this was this man's first time out, or that he planned to report these fish? We all know the answer to that. We constantly receive e-mails that tell us of the under the table peddling of striped bass to restaurants and fish markets all over Cape Cod.

No amount of rules or enforcement effort is going to stop this once great fishery from being degraded by commercial fishing both legal and illegal. Nothing will do the job except for the outright prohibition of the sale of wild striped bass. We need to cut back the recreational catch too, perhaps drastically at this point. Once striped bass have been made a game fish we can charge the ASMFC with setting targets that will put striped bass back on the track they were following in the late 1990s. Nothing less than this is going to work, and the longer we wait the deeper the hole is going to get.

Brad Burns President of Stripers Forever

To see the latest recreational catch statistics and graph follow this link to the SF website.

[jonthepain]

wow.

what kills me is that we've been through this before

[surfstix1963]

Yes we have and we will again if this commercial fishing is not stopped which it won't because somebody is getting paid off to let it continue because anyone in their right mind invovled in fisheries conservation would not have it the worst part is when the bass are gone they will keep paying off and move onto the next valuable fish for the plate and so on and so forth when the bass are depleted to a stock that is no longer viable money wise they will shut it down to the rec's.

[storminsteve]

wow.

what kills me is that we've been through this before

So is it really necessary to go through it again for people to see the possibilities before it is shut down?

[surfstix1963]

I don't think we have a choice in the matter they just do what they want and thats that.We have no control as recs we don't have the $$$$$$.

[DarkSkies]

You guys all make valid points. One of the biggest problems is apathy of the majority of fishermen.

Some issues swirling together for a perfect storm...

1. Increased visibility of commercial landings and dead discards.

2. More awareness of YOY declines, and Yearly catch stats of recs and comms. Even with this, if you look closely at the actual stats out there, and really examine them, it starts to look like something is wrong with the #s. Finchaser has been sending me some real damning data lately, Sorry but this is the first chance I've had to throw some of it up. The more I look, the more convinced I become that some groups are fudging their numbers. Yes, Recs do catch more than Comms, that's a fact. But the Comm landings data is so low that it seems incredible. Don't just take my and Fin's word for it. Look at these numbers, and see if they make sense to you.

3. Failure of Rec fishermen groups to organize into a cohesive lobbying force. I blame part of this on modern parenting. Some of our parents raised us to believe we always have different choices and options.When I say "Modern" parenting, I'm referring to parents in the 60's and onward. The parenting in the 50's and before was different. Kids learned they had to get along with the world, and adapt to it.

Now, kids are told the world must adapt to them and their needs. This doesn't work when you need people to come together for political action. People need to learn to sublimate their specific needs for the good of the whole.
Some might question my logic here, and think my reasoning is crazy. That's your opinion, you're welcome to it.

But think about it....right now, all over the internet on fishing forums, people are discussing the options, talking about choices.Some are actually getting involved.
That's great!
However, when I have time, I scan different message boards for the tone of some of the threads. IMO there are too many out there who are willing to disparage the efforts of others, just because the platform doesn't fit their exact needs.
Ex: "I am a surf fisherman, I don't see the RFA or another PAC as representing my exact needs, so I will not support them....."

And then you have those who will attack the ideas of others simply because the idea of one PAC doesn't represent the PAC that they believe in.

This will not do any of us any good in the long run, folks.
I'm sorry to sound pessimistic, but after long conversations with some of the old-timers out there, who lived through the moratorium and fought to bring Conservation into focus as no longer being a dirty word, it still seems to me that we won't get it together in time to prevent another moratorium.

We are our own worst enemies


4. Political groups are using fishermen for their own agendas. There are cases where, with the NOAA, they pretend they are listening to fishermen. Meanwhile, they already have the agenda planned. If and when striped bass is shut down, they will blame the fishermen this time, saying they "did all they can"

[DarkSkies]

There are many more issues to this folks, as it has become very complex....
How can we trust numbers if you are saying some of them are bogus, Dark?
Why should we get involved if we are being used as pawns in a chess game we will never win?
How do we know this isn't some giant conspiracy by PETA and PEW?
Why bother fighting if many politicians continue to represent special interests, and in cases like the above fail to inform that they stand to benefit from legislation (case of NC trawlers above)?

There are so many questions --
The only clear answer I can give you is this....
If we continue the bickering, and infighting...
If we continue to be cynical (Do you know that somewhere around 70% of the fishermen out there on web-sites and in the real world today continue to claim there is nothing wrong with the striped bass population?) --That to me is incredible, but that's the reality of today.


We're faced with not just a possibility, but the reality of a moratorium.
We have to learn to pick through the statistics, look at the charts, and determine which ones are believable, and which ones aren't.

I'm lucky enough to have the old-timers here and elsewhere bringing this to my attention.
Most fishermen don't have time to do this research.
So if that applies to you, please apply your energy to supporting some one, or some group, who will dissect and fight for these issues for you. Letters and e-mail are helpful, but IMO the real battles here, if we are to win, will have to be won in the courts.

With the corruption and side-deals that are going on, it seems the only option will be to start suing people and supporting groups that will do that for us, just like they did to get the bunker reduction boats out of the surf in NJ in the 1980's.


I for one, do not have all the answers.
The best I can do is try to convey the info Fin and others pass to me, and try to make it interesting for you folks to read. I hope I am somewhat effective in doing that.

But given my claims that 70% of Rec fishermen don't believe we are in a crisis with Striped bass populations, I'm less optimistic at this point than at any point when I became involved in pushing awareness of Striped Bass Issues. I'm not ready to give up. However, right now I'm leaning toward a moratorium. With the apathy and infighting, I don't see many other paths for this to lead to.

Hope I'm wrong, I really do....