Quote Originally Posted by DarkSkies View Post
I was told Bob killed and ate his share of fish, you certainly couldn't accuse him of being a PETA freak.

Yet, he was smart enough to recognize patterns. He saw his yearly catches of bass declining, confirmed this with others, and was forward-thinking enough about it to try to raise awareness.
I kill and eat fish. I don't like anyone telling me not to. It's my right to take my limit, or to not take it. That being said, I have never seen greater participation in the striped bass fishery in all the years I have been fishing. They have cut down on our flounder season, fluke limits, and the sea bass season has been chopped up in pieces. I understand tighter blackfish regs because of the poaching and they are slower growing, I get that. With the other 3 species left besides stripe bass, they make it like it almost isn't worth it to fish for them anymore. So what do anglers do? They fish for striped bass, because they are relatively easy to catch, and put meat in the box.

All these fisheries minimized, and with more people gravitating towards bass, you would think the kill numbers would naturally be greater. And they're not. How could more people in a specific fishery, with all the latest electronics, catch less fish?

Either every single person who fishes is lying, or there are less fish. I don't need a NOAA scientist to tell me that. I know from how my numbers have diminished. And the lack of small fish is what concerns me for the future as well.