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Size Matters!
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Stripers Forever – there is a new item posted under Stories and Articles that will be of interest to any of you concerned about the current direction of striped bass management. In a nutshell, fishery scientists are discovering that the preservation of larger, older, individual fish is vital to the long term health of a fish stock. The article is appropriately called Fish Shrinkage Threatens Survival.
If striped bass were managed as a gamefish, the ASMFC would have already made serious cuts in the number of large bass – and even 28-inch striped bass are large fish in the big picture – that are being removed. The shocking stock assessments of last year were not the first indication of problems that these managers have received. Instead, starting last year the coastal commercial quota, which is comprised virtually of all large fish, was jacked up by 40%. This is what happens when you put a price on the head of wildlife. The recreational community would gladly make the cutbacks necessary, indeed we have fought every increase over the last 10 years. In order to give more fish to the commercials, though, the quota increases have taken place anyway.
Please take a second, and go back to the home page; select stories and articles and read Fish Shrinkage Threatens Survival.
Make It A Gamefish
Brad Burns
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