Increase in commercial quota for next year

[JakeF]

Originally Posted by piemma

I am just amazed at the level of stupidity being displayed by ASMFC



"on November 9th the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will vote on on the proposal to expand the coastal commercial quota for striped bass. Stripers Forever is strongly opposed to this idea on all grounds. Here are the states that voted in favor of this commercial expansion in past meetings:


North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut


The vote in favor was 10 to 6, so we need to change two votes in order for the increase to be denied - other districts and organizations have votes also.

I've been following this closely, and have stayed in direct contact with Nichola Meserve, the Fisheries Management Plan Coordinator for striped bass, since the hearings on this subject which I know some of you attended.

Despite which side of the table you're on, I think it's important to point out that what you read above is not exactly true. On November 9th, the ASMFC Management Board will be reviewing the public comment received (which I'll touch on below), and make their descision. Individual states have no vote in their decision. The states mentioned above simply voted in favor of sending the proposed Ammendment II to Article 6 to the ASMFC Technical Committe, Management board, and public comment.

If the ASMFC decides to allow commercial increase (which is only one of the issues on the table here), THEN each state will have the option of either implementing the allowed increase or not.

In other words, if they DO decide to allow an increase in the coastal commercial quota, there will then be work to be done on a state by state level as each state will have to decide if they will change their regulations to use the allowed increase or not.

Here is Ms. Meserve's email to me, after the close of the public comment period, when I asked for her feelings of the general consensus of the public comments received.

SubjectRe: Question - Striped Bass Draft Addendum II
Sendernmeserve@asmfc.org
Recipientjake@stripercoastsurfcasters.us
Date15.10.2010 11:29

Hi Jacob,

You have excellent timing, as I just finished summarizing the comments yesterday. Including comments received at hearings and via mail/email/fax, the total count is over 2200 comments. The vast majority of comments supported Option 1- Status Quo for Issue 1- Coastal Commercial Quotas, and Option 2- Revise the Definition for Issue 2 - Recruitment Failure Definition. A public comment summary with the tally by state and in total, along with the reasons given in support of the options will be included in the Management Board's briefing materials, which should be available on the ASMFC website within 1-2 weeks. The Management Board will meet on November 9 to review the comment and vote on the options in the draft addendum.

Regards,
Nichola

Nichola Meserve
Fisheries Management Plan Coordinator
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
ph: (202) 289-6400 f: (202) 289-6051

[Mr. Sandman]

I think the bass is in a lot more trouble (on several fronts than the scientists think.

Personally I have given this a lot of thought and my own view is that we should

a) reduce rec to 1 fish (any length...simple effective, min kill)
b) no comm activity.
c) push hard to replenish bait stocks coast-wide.

I really think this would rebuild the fishery and maintain the economic strength that rec fishing produces.

Basically I am in support of game-fish status because it basically does this minimal fuss, granted game fish does nothing to improve bait stocks but at least it addresses a and b.

[Saltheart]

Any solution that affects only coms or recs is just not smart. It will get beaten down as selfish by the opposite group. You have to include both in any solution.

To me , a reduction to 1 fish a day for recs would be fair. You can play around with the size but 1 fish a day is enough. You go fishing , you get to take one home if you catch it. That satisfies a lot of issues for recs.

Commercial also needs to give. I think its crazy that any form of fishing does not have to keep and sell anyfinfish they get as a bicatch. If you catch it in a net , it is almost 100 percent sure to die so you must find a home for it. This means a big difference in wasted dead fish and also a big difference in what's reported towards the commercial quota.

I also think there is nothing we can do about changing the way farmers a hundred miles or more fertilize , etc. Its too bad because its a major issue but these guys are farmers , not fisherman and they will not cooperate with anything that will drop the yield from their farms , especially the relatively small farms in PN where a lot of the high nutrient run off comes from.

Anyway , there are many specifics but the surest way to make sure your opinion is not taken seriously is to try to pin the blame and burden of the solution on "the other guys". Unless your idea deals with both Comms and Recs you bring discredit to your side and you are part of the problem when trying to get both sides to use the fishery responsibly.