2011 Striper Cup Team S-B

[Mr. Sandman]

Sea Flat,

It probably is thousands killed. I don't know the number that entered but Over 4000 attend the tent party alone. If you assume most of them fished, then add all the no shows from across the East coast you could have upwards of 5000 or far more. Further, if they fished for 5 months ...the release mortality rates alone indicate that they killed thousands without even weighing in a fish.
Most have said that this tournament drives them out to fish it so I would say that most have fished it. Then you have a large commercial contingency that basically culls their 30 daily fish commercial catch to weed out a good one to weigh in the cup. You have 4000 commercial SB fishermen in MA alone a good number of them enter this as well. Most of these guys kill a 30-50 fish a day easy apiece. (I don't know if you have seen they way they fish ...they are pretty rough with the discards and many use yo yo set ups) That said, they would be killed anyway if the tourney stoped, it is just a added bonus to enter for them.
So yes it is easily thousands of killed fish in the name of the striper cup just for this tourney.

[JLH]

In an email from OTW posted in the other site awhile ago they said that 625 fish were weighed in in 2010 for the tournament. Between commercials and people who would have kept the fish anyway. Im sure well over half of those fish werent going back so I think the actual number killed just for the tournament is probably around 300 or less...

Originally Posted by Mr. Sandman

Sea Flat,

It probably is thousands killed. I don't know the number that entered but Over 4000 attend the tent party alone. If you assume most of them fished, then add all the no shows from across the East coast you could have upwards of 5000 or far more. Further, if they fished for 5 months ...the release mortality rates alone indicate that they killed thousands without even weighing in a fish.
Most have said that this tournament drives them out to fish it so I would say that most have fished it. Then you have a large commercial contingency that basically culls their 30 daily fish commercial catch to weed out a good one to weigh in the cup. You have 4000 commercial SB fishermen in MA alone a good number of them enter this as well. Most of these guys kill a 30-50 fish a day easy apiece. (I don't know if you have seen they way they fish ...they are pretty rough with the discards and many use yo yo set ups) That said, they would be killed anyway if the tourney stoped, it is just a added bonus to enter for them.
So yes it is easily thousands of killed fish in the name of the striper cup just for this tourney.

Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Mr. Sandman]

625 was what were weighed in...you had thousands of fishermen fishing "because of the contest" for 5 months. The catch and release mortality (driven by the event) exceeds what was weighed in.

Most fishermen admit," if I was not in the event, I would not fish as often or as hard", that is why many of them they join. Most trips do not produce a weigh able fish but most likely they produce dead fish either taken home or die due to injury. If you break off a yo-yo'ed or gut hooked fish and it dies, it is an unweighted dead fish.

Numbers aside, for me they are walking a fine line claiming they are conservation minded tourney...yet allow commercially harvested fish that are headed to market for money to be entered. This is not conservation. Also, the on-line aspect is so poorly run you can not see what size fish it takes to make the board. This should be almost real time, certainly no more than 24hours after it is caught.

All that said...the impact of ANY TOURNY is small IMO. Even if they killed "Thousands" of fish in the name of the striper cup, that is small compared to the coast-wide killing from commercial and recs. Better steps could be taken to reduce the overall kill.

Other questions I have: Is this a non-profit event? Exactly how many people fish it? Where does the $ go? Are the prizes bought or donated? Do they give back to the community or fishery? I looked on the website for the info, all this is a secret.

[bart]

Im out. I never weigh anything big enough anyways...

[Sea Flat]

Originally Posted by Mr. Sandman

625 was what were weighed in...you had thousands of fishermen fishing "because of the contest" for 5 months. The catch and release mortality (driven by the event) exceeds what was weighed in.

Most fishermen admit," if I was not in the event, I would not fish as often or as hard", that is why many of them they join. Most trips do not produce a weigh able fish but most likely they produce dead fish either taken home or die due to injury. If you break off a yo-yo'ed or gut hooked fish and it dies, it is an unweighted dead fish.

Numbers aside, for me they are walking a fine line claiming they are conservation minded tourney...yet allow commercially harvested fish that are headed to market for money to be entered. This is not conservation. Also, the on-line aspect is so poorly run you can not see what size fish it takes to make the board. This should be almost real time, certainly no more than 24hours after it is caught.

All that said...the impact of ANY TOURNY is small IMO. Even if they killed "Thousands" of fish in the name of the striper cup, that is small compared to the coast-wide killing from commercial and recs. Better steps could be taken to reduce the overall kill.

Other questions I have: Is this a non-profit event? Exactly how many people fish it? Where does the $ go? Are the prizes bought or donated? Do they give back to the community or fishery? I looked on the website for the info, all this is a secret.

I am sure that the OTW people make a nice amount of money for the tournament and that is fine with me. I like the guys there and they work really hard to make the tournament fun.

To your other point, I still do not buy the mortality rate that you and NOAA think is the case on released fish. I really think that we would see fish floating all over the place if it were the case.

Maybe we should start a new thread, I think we are straying quite a bit from what this thread was meant for.

[Swimmer]

Originally Posted by Sea Flat

To your other point, I still do not buy the mortality rate that you and NOAA think is the case on released fish. I really think that we would see fish floating all over the place if it were the case.

Maybe we should start a new thread, I think we are straying quite a bit from what this thread was meant for.

I disagree as well about the mortality issue of C & R'd fish. Unless they are cut open they will float shortly after death because of the gases that form inside thier bodies make them rise to the surface. Never ever see any floaters.

I'm not feeling guilty about signing up. Ever fish I took last year year, which with the exception of three times fishing, was every time I fished I took two fish home for the first year of my life fishing. My father-in-law, mother-in-law, my mother, and my wife and I enjoy stripedbass cooked every way imaginable, and it was all delicious. Oh a few of my friends as well enjoyed fish I caught. I really liked the fish stew my wife cooked up in January after she made broth from three bass heads that had been at the bottom of the freezer.

[Swimmer]

Originally Posted by Mr. Sandman

Other questions I have: Is this a non-profit event? Exactly how many people fish it? Where does the $ go? Are the prizes bought or donated? Do they give back to the community or fishery? I looked on the website for the info, all this is a secret.

Pretty much all the money goes to Mike!

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by Mr. Sandman

It probably is thousands killed. I don't know the number that entered but Over 4000 attend the tent party alone.

Are you sure it's 4,000? That number may be right, but it seems high to me. Keep in mind that not everyone at the party fished the tournament. Each participant gets 2 tix and some bring a spouse, child or friend. Most of the local tackle shops also give out free tix. To get an accurate count, you'd need to know how many golden tickets were entered for the boat raffle.

[Mr. Sandman]

Originally Posted by fishbones

Are you sure it's 4,000? That number may be right, but it seems high to me. Keep in mind that not everyone at the party fished the tournament. Each participant gets 2 tix and some bring a spouse, child or friend. Most of the local tackle shops also give out free tix. To get an accurate count, you'd need to know how many golden tickets were entered for the boat raffle.

per their web site: On The Water - Striper Cup


Honestly, I know these posts sound bitter (it is really more emotion than bitterness) but don't have a problem with most fishing tourneys , I fish a few different things myself from time to time, most are fun and you meet some cool people along the way. The coast-wide/duration/commercialism factor and the true intent with this one is a little hard to swallow under the eyes of "stewardship of the resource", in a time when things are not going that great for the fish, that's all.

Like all of you I love fishing. I am done discussing this topic.
See you On The Water

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by Mr. Sandman

per their web site: On The Water - Striper Cup


Honestly, I know these posts sound bitter (it is really more emotion than bitterness) but don't have a problem with most fishing tourneys , I fish a few different things myself from time to time, most are fun and you meet some cool people along the way. The coast-wide/duration/commercialism factor and the true intent with this one is a little hard to swallow under the eyes of "stewardship of the resource", in a time when things are not going that great for the fish, that's all.

Like all of you I love fishing. I am done discussing this topic.
See you On The Water

The webpage said that nearly 4,000 people enjoyed the party. Per my earlier post, I'm guessing that there were a lot of people there for the party and didn't fish the tourney.

I also think that the anti's try to make things seem worse than they actually are, just as the pro's try to make it seem like everything is fine. The reality is that the fishery is in trouble, but I don't think this tournament is doing nearly as much harm as some would have you belive. I think there's much more damage done by people who are careless releasing fish (especially small ones) and by people who poach.