Stripers Forever Rhode Island - We are gathering the information in the survey to follow for use in pursuing our goal of striped bass gamefish. We are looking for a consensus on issues surrounding the state of recreational striped bass fishing and the industry it supports. ME, NH, and MA have already be sent this survey, and if you checked interest in these states you may already have received this survey request. If you have already filled it out please do not fill it out again. We are collecting data only for one state per angler.
Instructions: you can respond in three ways. First, the survey is in the body of this e-mail below. You can fill it out by first hitting reply, then by deleting all the answers except the choice that you want to make or by putting brackets around your selection. Note that as you highlight and delete that the decreased text will sometimes cause a line to jump. Just hit enter to move it back into position before continuing. We were able to figure out all of the earlier responses. Second, you can just print it out and fax it to us at 207-781-5152. Third you can save the attached word document (above) to somewhere in your computer, fill it out, hit reply to the e-mail and
reattach your filled out word document. To be honest, this is the neatest way, and the easiest for us to deal with. But please respond by whatever means that you find easiest. We want all the input that we can get.
We also encourage you to forward this message to your fishing friends that may not be SF members. We'd like their input, but we will only use answers from members when compiling the data. Responses will be checked for valid e-mail addresses. Hopefully this will keep proponents of commercial striped bass fishing from trying to taint the results.
Brad Burns
2003 Striper Survey Stripers Forever
My Name ___________________________ e-mail ______________________ Town __________________ State_____________
State of the fishery:
1. I fish mostly in the following state, town _______________/_________________
2. I fish from a boat what percentage of the time__________%
3. I have fished regularly for stripers for this many years__________
4. In my opinion striper fishing in the past five years has changed as follows
(circle one) much worse, worse, stayed the same, improved somewhat, improved greatly.
5. The average size of the stripers that I catch now has changed as follows:
much smaller, somewhat smaller, no change, somewhat larger, much larger
6. The number of stripers I catch per hour of fishing time on the water is (circle one)
much less, less, about the same, more, many more
7. Because of the changes in the striped bass fishery my inclination to take a professionally guided striped bass trip has changed as follows: (circle one)
Less likely, about the same, more likely
Bag and size limits, conservation:
1. Forgetting for a moment current striped bass regulations, and starting with a clean sheet, I think that recreational anglers should be able to keep at least one school striper (possibly different from state to state, but probably between 18 and 28 inches in length) per day for personal consumption.
(circle one) Yes, No
2. If you answered yes to #1, should this smaller fish be allowed instead of, or in addition to, a bass of some larger size? (circle one) Instead of, In addition to
3. Do you think that recreational anglers should be able to keep only large stripers (at least 28 inches in size)? (circle one) Yes, No
4. If you answered yes what should the minimum size be? (circle the size closest to the one you believe is best) 28”, 32”, 36”, 40”
5. Do you think we should have a slot limit for recreationally caught stripers? (circle one) Yes, No
6. If you answered yes to #5, what should the minimum and maximum sizes be?
Minimum size _____ Maximum size _____
7. If you said yes, please circle the slot size that is closest to your preference.
20” –26”, 22”– 28”, 24”-30”
8. When commercial fishing is ended, what percentage of the current commercial quota should be saved from harvest as a conservation buffer? The rest would be used to liberalize the recreational harvest (circle one)
25%, 50%, 75%, 100%
9. Would you favor legislation that creates a striped bass stamp costing between $10.00 and $25.00 per year with the funds earmarked to buyout the current commercial fishery? (circle one) Yes, No
10. If you answered yes to #9, should this stamp program end after a fixed number of years, or should the fee continue to fund enforcement and striped bass enhancement programs. (circle one)
End, Continue
Note that SF has no position on this concept but wants to hear member opinions.
11. My personal comments on striped bass management that you have not covered are?
Guides Section: note that your answers above are also appreciated.
1. How has your guiding business for striped bass changed because of the fishery in the last five years? (circle one) worsened considerably, worsened a little, not changed, improved somewhat, improved a great deal
2. How important is keeping a striped bass to your clients? (circle one)
not very important, somewhat important, very important
3. How important to your clients is catching a lot of stripers per trip? (circle one)
not very important, somewhat important, very important
4. How important is catching a really large striper to your clients? (circle one)
not very important, somewhat important, very important
5. Which is more important to my clients, catching big fish or catching a lot of fish? (circle one)
Big Fish, Many Fish
6. I am more likely than I was 5 years ago to make new investments in equipment for my striped bass guiding business? (circle one) Yes, No
7. My comments as to how the management of striped bass is effecting my guiding business:
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