ASMFC Striped Bass Draft Addendum III - Plain English Summary

[OVERBORED]

I posted a short while back about a well known pirate getting busted for over limit bluefish.
To update, my sources tell me he went to court and plead to 4 fish over the limit and $450 fine.
You can say it's all about politics and you won't get an argument from me however when DEC makes a bust and the result of that is a $450 fine, it emboldens the poacher who will be back at it on the next tide and castrates enforcement officers as they don't have the backing of the penal system.

 

[hawk375]

yes regs

 

[longcast]

yes regs

Ok

 

[george]

@overboard The only answer is a fine that actually means something. Threaten someone with a 10k fine and they will absolutely think twice.

When you combine the odds of being caught with the small fine you may have to pay, a poacher has nothing to lose.

 

[longcast]

@overboard The only answer is a fine that actually means something. Threaten someone with a 10k fine and they will absolutely think twice.

When you combine the odds of being caught with the small fine you may have to pay, a poacher has nothing to lose.

Just a "part of doing business".

 

[OVERBORED]

Exactly. Let's be honest, fisheries violations are not the most glamorous of cases on a judge's docket.

 

[pequa1]

@overboard The only answer is a fine that actually means something. Threaten someone with a 10k fine and they will absolutely think twice.

When you combine the odds of being caught with the small fine you may have to pay, a poacher has nothing to lose.

change the law to allow, within reason, confiscation of equipment up to the "transportation used" to poach. Maybe not for a couple of bluefish but for twenty and thirty schoolies that we regularly see on the posts.

 

[Snapprhead27]

So a friend of mine was talking to DEC officers and they think its gonna be a slot limit again for 2026

 

[OVERBORED]

So a friend of mine was talking to DEC officers and they think its gonna be a slot limit again for 2026

31-33".........lol

 

[george]

So a friend of mine was talking to DEC officers and they think its gonna be a slot limit again for 2026

How about something we don't know

 

[OVERBORED]

George, Do you think the season will be significantly shortened?

 

[Snapprhead27]

I didnt get a chance to listen to the meeting. Anyone have cliff notes of it?

 

[OVERBORED]

RI striped bass harvest to be cut by 12 percent in 2026 https://share.google/QaI2Pwu0COBh1Yb2q

 

[george]

RI striped bass harvest to be cut by 12 percent in 2026 Striped bass harvest to be cut by 12 percent in 2026. Hearing is September 16 at URI

We're all taking that cut. Its how to get there that's the problem. And it's only the begining. If they don't extend the rebuild date that number will increase to double or more untill the eventual shut down. Does anyone here actually think that a 12% reduction is going to save the fishery in two years?

Old timers like me know it can happen. We've seen it before. Unfortunately our managers let us down and we're about to loose the #1 fishery in the entire northeast. Over 10 million rec trips alone.

These bass hearings are being held because they have to, but expect whatever the recommended option, to be the option. Soon they will no option at all.

 

[george]

George, Do you think the season will be significantly shortened?

When you consider that we will be pushing for no take closures, meaning allowing catch and release, they will have to consider the 9% mortality which could make it worse for recs. I'm going to poke around to see what I can find.

 

[hawk375]

Look at1984 striped bass act it established stocking sad part is asmfc has not followed science and let rec fishing explode on the back of commercials stocking could be done up and down coast and the recs should put up or shut up and have to pay to fund something that asmfc report in 1997 said might help if sb had poor spawning success

 

[george]

@hawk375 So you want us to pay to stock fish so you can catch them? The fact is that the fishery was originally destroyed by coms fishing the bay. That is a known fact. And throughout the rebuild, there was only a com shutdown in New York. Somehow the fishery managed to rebuild in spite of recs fishing. How did that happen?

My guess is you'd like to go back to the good old haul-seine days!

Here is the about the cover - that I wrote. Man was I good back in the day

Disgusting, opprobrious, revolting, offensive, immoral, sinful — pick a term. Any one is apropos. This is the work of haul seiners. Shot on the south side of Montauk in 1979, this cover photo clearly illustrates the utter disregard for the resource evidenced by the practitioners of this filthy fishing method. Is a return to the not-so-long-ago days of haul seining possible? Incredibly, yes! So long as commercial fishing for striped bass is permitted, the prospect of haul seining looms.

Commercial striped bass fishermen, one of the most coddled and pandered to special interest groups around, must be stopped. Support gamefish status for striped bass both in New York State and coastwide, join the United Gamefish Anglers Inc today.

 

[longcast]

@hawk375 So you want us to pay to stock fish so you can catch them? The fact is that the fishery was originally destroyed by coms fishing the bay. That is a known fact. And throughout the rebuild, there was only a com shutdown in New York. Somehow the fishery managed to rebuild in spite of recs fishing. How did that happen?

My guess is you'd like to go back to the good old haul-seine days!

View attachment 105583
Here is the about the cover - that I wrote. Man was I good back in the day

Disgusting, opprobrious, revolting, offensive, immoral, sinful — pick a term. Any one is apropos. This is the work of haul seiners. Shot on the south side of Montauk in 1979, this cover photo clearly illustrates the utter disregard for the resource evidenced by the practitioners of this filthy fishing method. Is a return to the not-so-long-ago days of haul seining possible? Incredibly, yes! So long as commercial fishing for striped bass is permitted, the prospect of haul seining looms.

Commercial striped bass fishermen, one of the most coddled and pandered to special interest groups around, must be stopped. Support gamefish status for striped bass both in New York State and coastwide, join the United Gamefish Anglers Inc today.

Well said. A public’s resource exploited for the monetary value of a few.

 

[hawk375]

you will never change george that picture is pretty old this is about the rules after moratorium so try to have something of value to try and help stock ,not rally against fishermen from 40 and 50 year old pictures it rebuilt and now being overfished and might need moratorium because recs 92% kill rate kill thats what happens when you catch fish

 

[george]

@hawk375 The actual number is 85% rec 15 com. The pics may be old but it doesn’t change the fact that it happened.

Actually i have changed. A lot. But the facts don’t change and the fact is it was the com shut down combined with strict rec regs - actually we started at 24 inches but then went to 36 inches - that resulted in the rebound.

This is where they failed both Rec’s and coms. It wasn’t soon after the rebuild that they went from one bass at 36 inches to 2 at 28 inches for Recs. NY started at one but the rest of coast went to two only to quickly go back to one.

I believe that began the downward trend we are seeing now.