Stripers Forever's landmark Southwick Study proved that there are many more good-paying jobs provided by recreational striped bass fishing than by the commercial sector. Many of those jobs involve guiding. In addition to being economically valuable, guiding provides a very useful service to the public, introducing many anglers to striped bass fishing at a level that would take them years to achieve on their own.
We at Stripers Forever have long believed that our elected officials will listen to the guiding industry because, as is the case with commercial fishermen, guides represent jobs that simply wouldn't exist without the wild striped bass resource. That resource is the future and the jobs can only exist in harmony with the resource, not by plundering it.
We have attached a letter Captain Dave Pecci, representing the newly formed Maine Charterboat Captains Association, that shows how important striped bass game fish would be to their industry.
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