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Stripers Forever MA - on behalf of our board and total organization, I have sent the following letter to governor Romney in Boston, MA. The governments of all of our New England states do talk to each other on common problems. I hope that you will all send in your individual letters. I have to get mine in too. If you have joined just recently, or missed our earlier mailings, all of the information regarding this Action Alert is on our web site at www.stripersforever.org. You can also cut and paste the letter below or just create your own. The mailing address of our governor,
legislative leaders, and their e-mail addresses are all on the web site. If you want to do something for the future of the striped bass a good place to start is letting your governor know that we want his help in making the striped bass a nationally protected gamefish. Please take a few minutes and send in your letters and e-mails. thank you
Brad Burns
2/16/2004
Governor Mitt Romney
State House, Room 360
Boston, MA 02133
Dear Governor Romney:
Of the 3 million Americans who fish for striped bass, several hundred do so every year in Massachusetts. These Massachusetts fishermen, and the large number of in-state businesses that support them, need your help.
Recreational fishing for striped bass is worth many millions annually to the Massachusetts economy in terms of dollars spent by resident and visiting anglers like myself on tackle, clothing, boats, guiding fees, food and accommodations, and other related expenses. But the striped bass fishery in Massachusetts is in serious jeopardy because far too many of these highly migratory fish are being harvested in your state’s waters by a handful of commercial fishermen.
Fishery mismanagement of striped bass has resulted in an enormous and biologically risky escalation in commercial striped bass quotas. At the same time, recreational fishermen are being deprived of a reasonable opportunity to take home a fresh fish for their family to consume. The coast-wide commercial increase was 42 percent in 2003 alone! Because only large stripers are targeted by Massachusetts commercial fishermen – virtually all of whom are part-time “recreationals” who simply sell their catch to pay for their fishing expenses – far fewer of those mature, prime breeding fish are surviving. The depletion of those big migratory fish means that the quality of the recreational striper resource in Massachusetts is being severely degraded for all of us who fish there.
Anglers all along the Atlantic coast, responding to a survey conducted in November 2003 by Stripers Forever (www.stripersforever.org), an internet-based organization dedicated to game fish status for the striped bass, reported that the average size of stripers today is smaller than in past years, and that far fewer fish are being caught. Many of the striper fishing guides surveyed in Massachusetts said their business had worsened, and the majority of responding anglers said they were “less likely” to take guided trips for
stripers because the prospects were so poor.
As Governor of Massachusetts, you can take the lead in turning this rapidly deteriorating situation around by introducing legislation to end all commercial fishing for striped bass in your state waters. By so doing, you will create long lasting economic, recreational and social benefits for hundreds of thousands of resident and visiting anglers and for all the folks who work in supporting industries in Massachusetts.
Sincerely,
Brad Burns President of Stripers Forever
Cc: Speaker of the House, President of the Senate
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