The striped bass are getting bigger, with many keepers of up to 35 inches being taken by all the charter boats. Mackerel, sand eels, herring, and even some pogies (menhaden) have been showing up around the harbor. There is a tremendous amount of bait around. Striped bass fishing took a serious turn for the better this week, as more bass starting showing up not only in the Race but all along the bayside to Wood End. So tell me how is that fair that he is only allowed 3 fish, which adds up to 9 fish if he is lucky enough to get out 3 times a week, and a party boat carrying 50 patrons 7 days a week can take 1750 fish. The recreational guy not only has to put gas in his boat, but also has to buy fishing rods and reels, lures and jigs, fishing line, weights and hooks and bait, which adds up to quite a bit of money, not to mention the cost of his boat and a place to store it summer and winter. And his customers paying to go on his boat ( the rediculous fees they charge ) cover the cost and fatten his wallet. The party boat only has to put fuel in his boat which he does maybe once a week, depending on how far he has to travel every day. In any case he catches a lot less fish than the party boats and spends a lot of money doing so. The recreational guy gets out fishing maybe twice maybe three times a week, if he can get away and if the weather is good enough for him to go out in a smaller boat, he may have a friend or two or may not. I don’t know where they get there information from, but from what I have seen, for hire and party boats catch a hell of a lot of fish, and they do it every day, I’ve even seen them take Stripers outside the three mile line. All that these regulations do is save a few more fish for the large commercial fishing fleets to catch. Local fishing boats will go out of business people will lose their jobs, local restaurants, hotels, and sport shops with close. If the government keeps cutting down on our limits of fish we will cut down on our fishing trips. We keep business up and running and people employed. Local fishermen are supporting the local sport shops, the local fishing boats, and the local economies they are in. The best tasting, most sanitary, and safest fish to eat are self-caught on a rod and reel by local fishermen. Not to mention all the chemical additives, the country the fish came from, or the unsanitary conditions the fish are stored and transported in.

If you ever saw how commercial fish are caught and stored you would never buy fish in a store again. Buying the fish at a store supports the massive commercial fishing fleet which in turn allows them to control our congressmen and women. I’ll keep it simple so you can understand me. There are so many directions to go with your comments. You are definitely not an avid saltwater fisherman. Additionally, AP members and the public emphasized that these proposed reductions come at a challenging time for for-hire stakeholders as they are also facing new restrictions on striped bass, black sea bass, summer flounder, and scup.Ĭraig, you have been drinking the Clinton kool-aid way to long. Although the Bluefish Monitoring Committee recommended a coastwide 3-fish bag limit, the majority of comments from the public and Bluefish Advisory Panel (AP) members expressed opposition to this option, noting that it would have severe economic consequences for the for-hire sector, which was only responsible for 3.6% of coastwide landings from 2016 to 2018. In October, managers called for an 18% decrease compared to 2019 and considered several combinations of bag limits and minimum size limits.

The most recent assessment of the Atlantic bluefish stock concluded that the stock is overfished. These measures, which include a 3-fish bag limit for private anglers and a 5-fish bag limit for for-hire fishermen, represent a substantial reduction compared to the federal 15-fish bag limit that has been in place since 2000. Last week, fishery managers approved new regulations for the 2020 recreational bluefish fishery.