Stripers Forever members - Following this message we have pasted in the program for the symposium portion of Bass Game Fish 2006. This landmark event is coming right up on May 20 in Foxboro, MA. For those interested in the wide range of issues surrounding saltwater game fish this will be a very interesting discussion.
We have also posted the symposium program under Recent News on the right side of our website at www.stripersforever.org. along with a schedule of the evening dinner event and the list of live auction items including an important recent addition. Captain's Tom and Jason Mleczko of Nantucket have donated a two-day trip to the island that combines both rips and flats fishing. Captain Tom Mleczko has won the John Havelicek Celebrity Tournament on Nantucket 11 times in the past 14 years! For more information on all the live auction items click here.
Don't miss Striped Bass Game Fish 2006. There is very little time now left to order your tickets. Just hit reply and send us an e-mail about tickets. We'll answer any questions and arrange your tickets to the either the symposium, banquet, or to both.
Striped Bass Game Fish 2006 Symposium
May 20, 2006 Foxboro, Massachusetts
Presented by Stripers Forever, The American Sportfishing Association,
The International Game Fish Association, and The Federation of Fly Fishers
The concept of managing key recreational species for personal-use fishing only is well established in U.S. waters and has played an important role in preserving the heritage of sport fishing in this country. Virtually all our major freshwater fish are classified as game fish. So too are a number of saltwater species. The recreational fisheries for redfish in Texas and for snook in Florida, both of which have affected in a very positive way the economy of those coastal states, are prime examples of this successful fisheries management.
The purpose of Striped Bass Game Fish 2006 is to review in depth the concept of designating the wild striped bass on the Atlantic Coast as a game fish. Achieving this goal would insure not only a continued recreational fishery for the 3 million-plus anglers who annually pursue stripers along the coast from Maine to North Carolina, but also the $6.63 billion in economic activity created by this greatest of all saltwater recreational fisheries.
The following five highly qualified experts will address that issue this afternoon. There will be a question and answer period after all five speakers have made their presentations.
1:30 P.M. Steve Williams “Historical Precedents For Game Fish Designation”
Steve Williams is the president of the Wildlife Management Institute, a non-profit, scientific and educational organization dedicated to the restoration, sound management and wise use of natural resources in North America. He previously served as the Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, administering the nation’s primary federal fish and wildlife conservation agency, and has enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a professional conservationist.
2 P.M. Rob Southwick “Social and Economic Aspects of Game Fish Status for Striped Bass”
Rob Southwick, an economist specializing in the collection and analysis of socio-economic information on fishing and hunting, is the founder and president of Southwick Associates, Inc. based in Fernandina Beach, FL. Previously an economist for the Sport Fishing Institute in Washington, D.C., Southwick has a unique perspective on the business and recreation aspects of fish and wildlife. His clients have included the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state fish and wildlife agencies, and leading manufacturers of sport fishing and shooting/hunting equipment. He has also authored “The Economics of Recreational and Commercial Striped Bass Fishing” (“The Southwick Report”) in coast-wide and individual state versions on a commission basis for Stripers Forever.
2:30 P.M. Russell Nelson, PhD “How Redfish and Snook Became Game Fish in Southern Waters”
Russell Nelson is currently a chief scientist and director of Nelson Consulting, a firm specializing in international marine science, management and policy development. He has particular expertise in coastal and highly migratory pelagic species and reef fish assemblages and has worked on management plans for more than 300 species of marine resources at the state, national and international levels. Dr. Nelson has served as a research biologist for the National Marine Fisheries Service and as Director of Marine Fisheries for the State of Florida. He also served for 14 years as a member of both the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Councils.
3 P.M. – INTERMISSION
3:15 P.M. Bruce Freeman “Managing The Wild Striped Bass As A Game Fish”
Bruce Freeman has spent nearly 40 years working in fisheries management on the Atlantic Coast. He began his career in 1965 collecting date on statistics for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Bureau of Sport Fisheries and then moved over to the National Marine Fisheries Service(NMFS). In 1980, Freeman was assigned on a NMFS fellowship to the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife and two years later became a permanent state employee, serving as Fisheries Director for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Freeman also spent two years as Director of North Carolina’s Division of Marine Fisheries.
3:45 P.M Mike Freeze “Can Striped Bass Raised Through Aquaculture Replace The Wild Harvest In The Marketplace?”
Mike Freeze operates Keo Fish Farms in Keo, Arkansas, the largest hybrid striped bass hatchery in the world. Keo farms more than 1300 acres of fish with about 60 percent of that total in hybrid striped bass fingerling production. The fingerlings are sold to fish farmers who raise them as food fish for the market. Freeze also serves as Chairman of the Arkansas State Fish and Game Commission. He has a degree in fisheries and wildlife management from Arkansas Tech University and earned his masters degree in biology from Murray State University in Kentucky.
Special thanks to the more than 100 companies and individuals listed in
the dinner program that made Striped Bass Game Fish 2006 possible.
It is Stripers Forever’s intention to publish and distribute an edited version of the voice transcript of this symposium. This should appear on the Stripers Forever website www.stripersforever.org within 90 days after the symposium. Printed copies will also be available.
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