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I agree. Winter Flounder were always the subsistence fisherman’s staple. The real losers with mismanagement are the shore based flounder fishermen. Here in RI we began losing the winter flounder in the 1980s. State fisheries managers were slow to react. All you had to do back then was ask any shore based angler how the winter flounder fishing was – they would tell you it sucked. We (shore based flounder fishermen) pushed for conservative measures and were fought at every step of the way by commercial draggers AND surprisingly enough, recreational boat fishermen. The boat guys would just compensate for lack of flounder by chumming more heavily to draw what few fish were around to their boat. Shore guys didn’t have the luxury of using chum - they quickly realized how dire the situation was.
If fisheries management wants an accurate early indicator of decreasing stock with inshore species such as winter flounder, striped bass, etc., they need look no further than the shore based fisherman for it is he who is the canary in the coal mine and feels the adverse effects before anyone.
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