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Stripers Forever Maine - on behalf of our board and total organization, I have sent the following letter to governor Baldacci here in Maine. 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. The mailing address of our governor, legislative leaders, and their e-mail addresses are all available there. If you want to do something for the future of the striped bass a good place to start is letting our 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 John E. Baldacci
Office of the Governor
1 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
Dear Governor Baldacci:
Of the 3 million Americans who fish for striped bass, several hundred thousand do so every year in Maine. These Maine fishermen, and the large number of in-state businesses that serve them, need your help.
Recreational fishing for striped bass is worth many millions annually to the Maine economy in terms of dollars spent by resident and visiting anglers alike on tackle, clothing, boats, guiding fees, food, accommodations, and other related expenses. But the striped bass fishery in Maine is in serious jeopardy because far too many of these highly migratory fish are being harvested in Massachusetts and Rhode Island state waters by a handful of commercial fishermen – stripers are protected gamefish in Maine as well as Connecticut and New Hampshire.
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 large stripers are targeted by Massachusetts and Rhode Island commercial fishermen – most 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 Maine is being severely degraded for all 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. Virtually all of the striper fishing guides surveyed in Maine 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 Maine, you can take the lead in turning this rapidly deteriorating situation around by asking the Governors of Massachusetts and Rhode Island to introduce legislation to end all commercial fishing for striped bass in their 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 Maine.
Sincerely,
Brad Burns
Brad Burns President of Stripers Forever
Cc: Speaker of the House, President of the Senate
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