Report: MA gamefish bill meeting

[DarkSkies]

SF was one of the sponsors of the bill. They had a few people up at the table:

1. Craig Coldwell:




"Striped bass financed the first schools in MA. They were the first fish ever to be managed by the states. SB are the most important recreational fish in terms of dollar activity.
Fishing is the #1 past-time in the US, according to dollars spent.
MA has a history of being a leader in conservation.
Of our neighbors, 6 of 13 do not allow the commercial sale of sb."

2. A marine biologist, and another person (I didn't get the names)

3. **** Russell - author of the Striper Wars...

Mr Russell is to the Left in this pic


a book chronicling the history of striper fishing in the US, the amazing abundance, the devastating decline, and the remarkable comeback story.
" In terms of the number of breeding females, we are at the same declining levels we were at before the striped bass crash in the late 1970s which resulted in the striped bass Moratorium in 1982."




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The presentation was extremely professional, with great charts and graphs. Maybe it was too professional.



The commercial fishermen, as if on cue, referred to them as a "special interest group".

SF spoke about the decline of the striped bass fishery as noted by many respected charter captains, fishing guides, and fishermen who are outdoor writers. Some people who have a lot of credibility have been saying that the size of striped bass overall has been declining since 2004.

They mentioned the Southwick study, the fact that YOY studies in the Chesapeake, and several respected sources in the Striper fishing world seem to agree that there has been a decline in the number of larger (female) bass in the last few years.

They tried to give qualitative and quantitative evidence for the decline of the fishery.

Here's a link to their site:

Striped bass - Why a gamefish?
http://www.stripersforever.org/Info/gamefish


Some interesting research:
http://www.stripersforever.org/Info/Stripers_Research/

Ted Williams - Striped bass headed for a crash? FRR July 2009
http://www.stripersforever.org/Info/...uly%202009.pdf


Poaching by commercial fishermen in MA:
http://www.stripersforever.org/Info/...44.0/Seize.pdf


Al Ristori talks about the affect of gamefish status in NJ:
http://www.stripersforever.org/Info/...20rebuttal.pdf