Mass. weighs tougher protections for striped bass

[CowHunter]

Numbskull, that was not directed at you... It was for Doublerunner, sorry bud

[CowHunter]

Cant keep up with names anymore, you know, getting hit from every angle, its a no win waste of time for me.... Ill spend the time with the kids and get my stuff together for VA.
Canalman, I was more so blaming the rec and charter boats down in Va Nc..

Saltheart, really doesnt make a difference to me, you can edit or delete all my posts. I said what I had to say..

[Canalman]

Sometimes it's easy to get a little too bold online,

I guess the best news of all is that we are all passionate about fishing, just different aspects.

There needs to be some adjustment across the board, can we all agree on that?

NOW what can fight about?

[JohnR]

Damn, missed the fun again.

Aside from the intermittent tirades, this was fun. Unfortunately it just goes one more opportunity to show how:

• Fishermen can't get on the same page on something
• Few are willing to put the fish above allocation while sharing allocation
• We will always loose when we can be broken up and divided along usergroup lines
• Someone else is always at fault

The worst part - I think Numbskull hit on it earlier in the thread - we might just see a closure of all of this again in our lifetime. Wouldn't that really suck that we fought each other for so long we pi$$ed away another opportunity with these fish?

[MAKAI]

I just got off the phone with Rodney King.
He wants us to just get along.
Said the world is gonna end in 2012 anyway, didn't I get the memo ?

[sokinwet]

"Comm's think they have a right to sell fish and no one should take that from them ever(regardless of the fishery status) They view recs as guys in their way and taking potential $ from their pockets."
SM...I've seen your posts on this subject before...somehow I don't think YOU are the one to be stating how commercial bass guys think. As someone who has fished bass commercially for about 40 years I resent the characterization as someone whose greed clouds the view of the status of the fishery.

Having worked in local community Planning Dept. for 30+ years I have experienced numerous occasions where I have been called a liar, a developers puppet, on the take, etc. With the exception of telling an occasional "fishermans white lie", I am none of these things; yet these people "know" they're right and have no problem sharing their opinions with anyone who will listen. I find a lot of similiarities in the debate on the validity of fisheries data and impartiality of regulators. Somehow that guy banging nails for a living "knows" he's right and that fisheries biologist with years of education in the field is a bozo and a liar who's willing to throw his job down the shi#&er for someone elses benefit.

Now consider how this legislation is being proposed. A group with an inflexible position contrary to the body of current scientific data has one of their own (a self described "fly fisherman" who caught fish till his arms fell off in the 80's but can't catch one now...his words) introduce legislation to a bunch of pols who know "NOTHING" about the fishery. The fact that "their" bill flies in the face of the position agencies charged with making the "informed" decisions has taken means nothing . He's right...they're bozos...SF told him so! If he's a state rep that really gives a damn and thinks they're cooking the data he should be investigating that...not asking Brad B what he should do next.

Has anyone looked at the online news articles that were published on this? Check out some of the comments....people with virtually NO CLUE on the status of the fishery, the methods of harvest, quotas, etc. all chiming in with their $.02 about the big bad ocean raping commercial fisherman. Now think back a few years to the days of Question#1...you remember..the no trapping, no bear hunting, let's put PETA in charge of the Div. of F&W citizen initiative petition ; or maybe just back a couple of years to the "no greyhound racing" vote. Those have worked out real well haven't they. Just ask one of those folks down in Raynham how many weeks till their unemployment runs out. The common thread? All these laws were/are being pushed by inflexible groups with no regard for the opinions of others, the welfare of others impacted and no respect for the professionals who make their decisions based on data and professional expertise.

PS Wonder what Stellwagen will look like come July if the commercial bass season is shut down?

[Mr. Sandman]

I am sorry you resent my generalisation about comm fishermen. I think it is fairly accurate. Having gone to many of the various public meetings when options were being discussed as what may happen during the problem days, I heard from many outspoken comm fishermen first hand in the public forums. They wanted to continue fishing commercially inspite of the drastic situation bass were in. They wanted to give up nothing!! And the state was appearing sympathetic. It wasn't until the government literally forced the closure that the DMF had no choice to close comm bass fishing in MA, and they were quick to re-open it to pre-closure levels as soon as they could.
More recently, when they wanted to move the MA comm limit from 50 to something lower like 10 fish/day the outcry was outrageous and it legislated to (only) 30. Where is the science in this? Just because a bunch of guys cry about it the DMF changes its recommendation?? This is a joke. They should not be listening to the fishermen who are soley acting to protect their selfish interest. They should set the proper rules for a healthy fishery and enforce fisherman to comply. Do what is right and the hell with weekend yahoos. If you don't like it , get a land job

This is what makes the DMF so laughable, they pat themselves on their own back for what a great job they did for saving the SB, yet THEY were part of the problem!! If they were actually managing the resources properly we would never have to endure such draconian action like a complete moratorium. Your right, I do critique the DMF and the main reason is because they are in bed with the commercial interest and are trying to squeeze every last drop of a resource of unknown size and health. They are not conservative enough IMO. I would like to err on the side of caution and never have to resort to such harsh and knee jerk regulations.
How come Comm R&R don't complain about the by-catch discard of SB by draggers? I bet if that catch was forced to be sold rather than dumped and come off the commercial quota the R&R bass guys would be screaming bloody murder that "these guys are taking our fish". But instead they get dumped overboard dead, unaccounted for and as long as it doesn't effect this weeks paycheck don't worry about it. Face it, Commercial SB fishermen really don't care about protecting much of anything.