Stiper Gamefish? - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

baldwin · 10-28-2007, 12:41 PM

Dear Striped Bass Fisherman – our favorite fish is struggling, and Stripers Forever, a free-membership, internet-based organization needs as many members as possible to continue the momentum gained when President Bush recently signed the Executive Order establishing game fish status for all striped bass in Federal waters - the EEZ. Stripers Forever was an importrant part of a collaborative effort to secure this designation. Now we need to get those states that still allow commercial fishing in the near-shore waters to grant wild striped bass game fish status as well. You can be a part of this success but only if you participate.

If you're not already a member of Stripers Forever, here are a few things you should know:

Ø Membership is free
Ø There are no meetings to attend
Ø Everything is done via the internet and e-mail
Ø Many of the top fisherman in the country support Stripers Forever
Ø Stripers Forever’s only goal is to make striped bass a game fish, meaning it would be managed for the benefit of the fishing public, now and for future generations

Here is all that you have to do: it will take less than a minute and cost nothing:

Ø Go to www.stripersforever.org
Ø Select "Become A Member"
Ø Complete the very easy to follow sign-up sheet.

This is a critical time for striped bass. Help Stripers Forever successfully advocate to protect wild striper populations by Making It A Game fish.

P.S. If you are not currently receiving emails from SF, you are no longer in their data base even if you have signed up in the past. If you are not sure if you are a member or not, please take a minute and sign up again. Your membership e-mails will not be duplicated. The database registers only one membership per e-mail address.

baldwin · 10-28-2007, 12:41 PM

Whoops, I meant "Striper"

riverrat2 · 10-28-2007, 12:54 PM

Mike P · 10-28-2007, 02:15 PM

Stripers are struggling???

baldwin · 10-28-2007, 07:31 PM

I'm not sure myself if they're struggling, haven't put the time into researching it. Just posted the notice in case anyone was interested. Not really "spam", it's relevant to the subject of the striper/gamefish question that's been discussed on this site recently. I'll look at any information: for gamefish or against. There are many good arguments on both sides.

gone fishin · 10-28-2007, 08:31 PM

Is this the ORIGIONAL stripers forever org?

RIROCKHOUND · 10-29-2007, 07:27 AM

:y ak6:

I think we need changes. but SF isnt the group to make them!

JohnR · 10-29-2007, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

:y ak6:

I think we need changes. but SF isnt the group to make them!

I agree but I do think they should be heard out

RIROCKHOUND · 10-29-2007, 07:56 AM

Thats fine.
I just worry people dont take them with a PETA sized grain of salt.

Flaptail · 10-29-2007, 08:29 AM

One user group under the guise of conservation trying to one up another. Guides/sports vs. commercial.

Where the hell is "PogiesForever" when you need them most?

Delete this chumps thread please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

riverrat2 · 10-29-2007, 08:36 AM

Whats with your belief that pogies are in some grave danger? Have you actually pursued pogies in the past 3 or 4 years? IF you live on the cape and have a hard time finding bait then you got issues. Pogies do not need to be treated like a gamefish they are a completely different animal. I agree that the reduction fishing down south is detrimental but to say that they need to be fully protected is pretty ignorant.

numbskull · 10-29-2007, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by riverrat2

IF you live on the cape and have a hard time finding bait then you got issues. Pogies do not need to be treated like a gamefish they are a completely different animal. I agree that the reduction fishing down south is detrimental but to say that they need to be fully protected is pretty ignorant.

You are right on the ignorant account, but Flap doesn't use bait. He just wants more pogies around so the bass will get big with swollen bellies and float around on top of the water so us plug guys can snag them and feel good about ourselves. Thanks for your advice, though.

ProfessorM · 10-29-2007, 09:37 AM

George...

LOL

RedHerring · 10-29-2007, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

:y ak6:

I think we need changes. but SF isnt the group to make them!

SF definitely is. As long as there is a price on stripers' head, it will be impossible to fully protect them. Exactly the same thing happened with market duck and egret hunters 100 years ago. If ducks were not taken off the market, they would be almost non-existent today.

Pinhookers in MA can keep 33 fish a day. The quota is a joke; the MA pinhookers were not even able to reach it. The situation is totally out of control in MA and it is all because of the price.

baldwin · 10-29-2007, 08:07 PM

Got some good discussion going. I'm not saying that the gamefish thing is definitely the way to go, but ignoring issues is definitely not. It's discussion between various user groups that is the way to find solutions. Ignoring the issues and leaving them to government to solve doesn't seem to be the answer. For those who criticize SF, what are your opinion? It's easy to just disagree and criticize, but let's hear some different viewpoints here. Anybody up to contributing something different?

riverrat2 · 10-29-2007, 08:25 PM

WHat are you talking about the MA pinhookers weren't able to reach there quota. Get your facts straight. The season lasts about the same time each year 3-5 weeks at the very most. This year it last around 4 with 2 extra days at the end for a miss calculation of the quota. And they are actually only able to keep thirty fish a day at 34" compared to the schoolies that recs are allowed to keep. If you do a search on this site you can find the graph that shows rec harvest vs comm harvest I am sure you will be surprised to see that the innocent rec fisherman happens to kill more bass each year than the big bad comm fisherman

Mike P · 10-29-2007, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by riverrat2

If you do a search on this site you can find the graph that shows rec harvest vs comm harvest I am sure you will be surprised to see that the innocent rec fisherman happens to kill more bass each year than the big bad comm fisherman

By a factor of seven, actually. Approximately 28 million pounds as compared to 4 million.

riverrat2 · 10-29-2007, 08:37 PM

no way, how could this be??

JohnR · 10-29-2007, 09:31 PM

And one could (easily) argue that it is far more important
to protect the forage they feed on than to argue WHICH usergoup should have what slice of the pie... IMO,fix the forage and then scale back the take a bit on BOTH rec & comm...

RIROCKHOUND · 10-30-2007, 06:57 AM

Argreed. In the science world I believe it's called Ecosystem based management.
this is rehased in a thread a week ago.
1 fish 36
Maybe a bit better or different management
&
more forage fish (not banning Arc; we need to look at a whole, sea herring, river herring, etc.)

riverrat2 · 10-30-2007, 09:05 AM

Or how about mackeral? The runs have been getting worse and worse each year. Seafreeze boats are running farther and farther each trip to fill the boat. Anyone seen whiting lately? Pogies is on the bottom of the list in terms of bait in trouble.

Swimmer · 10-30-2007, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by riverrat2

Anyone seen whiting lately?

Last I knew whiting was in England, you know Whiting Bulgar. Oh geez, just having fun.

baldwin · 10-30-2007, 12:01 PM

Ecosystem-based management is definitely the way to go. There is a bill now to ditch the menhaden reduction industry. I don't know if it has to go quite this far, but agree that the forage base needs protection in order to secure the future of the gamefish.

JohnR · 10-30-2007, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baldwin

Ecosystem-based management is definitely the way to go. There is a bill now to ditch the menhaden reduction industry. I don't know if it has to go quite this far, but agree that the forage base needs protection in order to secure the future of the gamefish.

My point is that with decent management of the whole system would not require "Gamefish" status... Of course management and fisheries do not always play well in the same sentence

numbskull · 10-30-2007, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike P

By a factor of seven, actually. Approximately 28 million pounds as compared to 4 million.

OK, I'll bite. How many fisherman is that 28 million pounds spread amoungst, and how many individuals is that 4 million pounds spread amoungst? Next subtract the charter boat totals (which is another commerical use of the fish) and tell me how many pounds of fish does one average recreational fisherman utilize in one year, and how many pounds of fish does one commerical fisherman utilize in one year. Since farm raised striped bass offer an alternate food source to the nonfishing public, the "food for the (affluent) masses" argument to support a commerical fishery is suspect at least. Seems to me then that a "fair" allocation of the resource would allow each average commerical and recreational fisherman to kill the same proportion of the resource each year. Do the numbers suggest this is presently the case? Would any commerical guy agree to this formula? Answer that, then tell me who is in favor of "resource grabbing". Thanks.

Team Rock On · 10-30-2007, 05:39 PM

I think you have to remember that the com. fisherman is harvesting the fish for public consumption, so technically those 4 million pounds are spread amoungst 300 million people (the US population, and that doesn't include tourists that might want to eat fish). Also remember that the dead discards of the rec. fisherman exceeds the total harvest by the com fishery. Some good info to support these facts here...http://www.asmfc.org/speciesDocument...review2007.pdf
So one could argue that 1% of the population is killing 70% of the fish if you believe the above science...

Quote:

Originally Posted by numbskull

OK, I'll bite. How many fisherman is that 28 million pounds spread amoungst, and how many individuals is that 4 million pounds spread amoungst? Next subtract the charter boat totals (which is another commerical use of the fish) and tell me how many pounds of fish does one average recreational fisherman utilize in one year, and how many pounds of fish does one commerical fisherman utilize in one year. Since farm raised striped bass offer an alternate food source to the nonfishing public, the "food for the (affluent) masses" argument to support a commerical fishery is suspect at least. Seems to me then that a "fair" allocation of the resource would allow each average commerical and recreational fisherman to kill the same proportion of the resource each year. Do the numbers suggest this is presently the case? Would any commerical guy agree to this formula? Answer that, then tell me who is in favor of "resource grabbing". Thanks.

numbskull · 10-30-2007, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Team Rock On

I think you have to remember that the com. fisherman is harvesting the fish for public consumption, so technically those 4 million pounds are spread amoungst 300 million people (the US population, and that doesn't include tourists that might want to eat fish). Also remember that the dead discards of the rec. fisherman exceeds the total harvest by the com fishery. Some good info to support these facts here...http://www.asmfc.org/speciesDocument...review2007.pdf
So one could argue that 1% of the population is killing 70% of the fish if you believe the above science...

Reread my post and try again. There are alternate sources of striped bass for public consumption now, so you can argue that a commerical season only serves to discourage the further development of aquaculture (what is cheaper, Alantic Salmon which is 100% farmed, or Striped Bass?). I also do not believe for one moment that the dead discards by the average individual recreational fisherman exceeds the combined dead discards and dead sold fish of an average commerical fisherman. So again, how is it fair that a commerical guy should be able to kill more of the public resource than a recreational guy? Help me out here. Thanks.

numbskull · 10-30-2007, 08:55 PM

The link you provided says commerical harvest was 28% of the catch, and recreational harvest 71% of the catch. Nowhere near the 7:1 ratio claimed above, and indicates a grossly higher individual consumption of a public resource by each commerical fisherman than the original numbers suggested. I don't have any objection to the commerical utilization of Striped Bass, but at least those enriching themselves doing it should acknowledge they are getting one hell of a deal.

big jay · 10-30-2007, 10:09 PM

[QUOTE There are alternate sources of striped bass for public consumption now, so you can argue that a commerical season only serves to discourage the further development of aquaculture (what is cheaper, Alantic Salmon which is 100% farmed, or Striped Bass?)[/QUOTE]

Farm Raised Striper tastes like Chit....

numbskull · 10-31-2007, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by big jay

Farm Raised Striper tastes like Chit....

Never tried it, and have no desire to do so.....though I don't mind farm raised salmon or shrimp. For that matter I also don't mind farm raised duck or beef....though I'm sure wild stuff tastes better. So why is it that we don't have commerical hunting seasons, but still have commerical fishing seasons? Shouldn't we all have a right to go shoot some plover and seal to sell so we can support our families? What is the difference?