Stripers Forever - Massachusetts –
Below you will find some proposed changes to regulations for the Massachusetts commercial striped bass fishery. SF's only position is clear: that there should be no commercial striped bass fishery anywhere, including Massachusetts. (If you’re not sure why, read “Why a Gamefish” on our website.) None of the suggested changes has any conservation benefit, nor rights the injustices to public fishers many of whom want to harvest a fish for personal consumption. These changes are all designed to help a privileged few individuals gather the maximum amount of money for wild striped bass by driving up the market price.
The reduction from 30 to 20 fish a day will not save a single fish; rather it will just encourage high-grading and culling and more fish will spiral off to die with a treble hook in their guts. It will also prolong the season, allowing the black market sale of striped bass to continue over a longer period of time, thus killing even more fish illegally.
The proposal to allow wild fish caught in other states to appear in Massachusetts markets is designed only to develop a better market for these wild fish. It will result in an open invitation for poachers with commercial permits to sell more illegally taken wild fish, both over and under the table in Massachusetts. As one of our members told me today, "it is just a shell game".
We do like the proposal to stop guides from using their sports to catch fish for them to sell. We think that practice sends a very bad message to the recreational fishermen aboard these boats about acceptable uses of the resource. We believe a guide should be showing people an enjoyable day on the water, not charging them for the opportunity to help him hog a scarce public resource for his personal benefit.
There will be no opportunity at these hearings to address our goal of making striped bass a gamefish in Massachusetts. Stripers Forever will continue to advance that message through other channels both at state and federal levels and will offer no testimony on these proposed regulatory changes. We are providing this information in the event you have a strong feeling about one or more of the proposed changes, but, more generally, to keep our membership up to speed on the issues.
Brad Burns
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS
SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 29, 2005
Under the provisions of M.G.L. Ch 30A and pursuant to the authority found in M.G.L. Ch. 130 ss. 17, 17A, 80, 100A and 104, Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) and the Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission (MFAC) have scheduled hearings on DMF proposals and a public petition pertaining to the management of the commercial striped bass fishery (322 CMR 6.07 and 7.01).
The proposals are:
1. Lower the daily possession limit through the following options:
a. DMF proposal to drop from 30 fish to 20 fish per vessel; or
b. Public petition to drop from 30 fish to 20 fish per vessel except on Sundays and the opening day of the season when the limit would be 10 fish;
2. DMF proposal to reduce the number of open fishing days per week (currently set at Sunday-Wednesday) from four to three; Comments will be accepted regarding which days of the week would be open;
3. DMF proposal to prohibit commercial striped bass fishing aboard vessels engaged in for-hire recreational fishing;
4. DMF proposal to allow dealers to sell during April through November striped bass legally caught and documented from out-of-state. Whole fish would have to conform to the Massachusetts 34” minimum size and bear an official tag designating state of origin. This proposal does not alter the existing rules governing imported striped bass during December through March.
5. DMF proposal to open the commercial fishery on July 10.
A public hearing has been scheduled for:
Tuesday, March 29, 2005 (7PM) at the Plymouth Community Intermediate School
(117 Long Pond Rd., Plymouth, MA 02360).
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