JCAA claims striped bass are NOT overfished or down in numbers...

[voyager35]

Tom Fote is incompetent. That is all I will say about that. He should be removed from his ASMFC position and replaced with someone who is more in tune with what is actually happening out there.

[basshunter]

Who is this guy Tom fote? Maybe he is one of those ivory league scientists with the white coats. Who knows if he even fishes?

[Monty]

I was upset when Finchaser first mentioned this in the spring. I thought the reduction should gave been put place immediately back then. This just disgusts me more.
Does anyone know what the RFA's position on this is?

[finchaser]

Forte is an a$$hole he never even asked the fishing clubs for there opinion like he is suppose to since he supposedly represents us all
He stated the lack of weakfish is not from over fishing but from sharks and bluefish eating them
He was against the free registry and then when it passed it was all because of him
He was against the extended fluke season
He says there are tons of bass more than ever based on YOY index from the Delaware River which was never counted
He is in favor of the bonus tag
He never supported the SSFFF properly in the battle against NMFA to keeping fluke fishing open

IMO he is incompetent and a self proclaimed authority who is worse than some of the self proclaimed guides who now that they can't snag and drop can't catch a fish, you don't even hear from them.

I gave Rich a DVD from when Tom was on a TV show telling his tales about the bass ,fluke and weakfish.

As one of the founding members of JCAA which started with meeting in the Spring Lake library I must admit he is a disgrace and is even banned from an ex JCAA president's and founders shop for his stupidity on fishing issues.

[clamchucker]

Well then maybe someone is influencing him behind the scenes. The assessment darkskies posted looks like it was drafted by a lawyer. I can tell you that it was a lot easier to catch bass 3 years ago. I know that the numbers are down, my log books show it. I do not need a fancy scientific assessment to tell me that. I am afraid to say some of the indicators we had before the last moratorium (fish highly concentrated in specific areas, larger numbers of fish over 30lbs, lesser numbers of fish under 30lbs,) are all coming to the surface in the past few years.
Why would a leader of a group that purports to represent fishermen not ask for their opinions? I think Monty was asking about the RFAs position on this. Finchaser do you know if they RFA has posted an official response to this yet? I am sure they will post one soon, as these 2 groups don't always see eye to eye.

[finchaser]

Just on the meeting pertaining to stopping Omega from taking bunker in Ches bay. Also Omega is the only company involved with fish management thatneed to show a profit for there share holders which causes them to over fish every year