Here they go again. I don't know who's running the asylm when it comes to managing the striped bass along the East Coast, surely it is not the ASMFC. In my gut just about all anglers, and even commercial fisherman, well maybe, want to see the striped bass stock rebuilt to a sustainable level. While I am all for a Game Fish status, catch and release only, that may be selfish. But there's a lot of people out there that are for it. The economic rewards are immense when you have a lot of fish around. Anglers spend money, a lot of money, on tackle, gas, food, permits, lodging, guidee trips and
gear. Then there are those that fish for money, those folks fish for the meat. They like to kill their catch, within the legal limit, and eat it, and hopefully not harvest it to be freezer burned or put in the garden at a later time. "Recreational", and I questioned that, party boats and six-pack charters, are not all light tackle fly fishing catch-and -release. They too get hired to put people on the meat. Say what you want, legal is legal, and who am I to judge what people do as they enjoy their passion for fishing.
The thing that makes me sick is the misconception that the striped bass is in good shape. I think New Jersey guys have a twitsed sense of reality when it comes to that, and they look at the Raritan Bay and what happended this past fall with a very solid fall run. That's tunnel vision. And I said that also in the comments portion of the presentation, in fact I said a lot, probably with a little help from some Saranac Winter Lager's. While we enjoyed, and have enjoyed, for the last few years, the best striped bass fishing out of all the East Coast states, most anglers aren't seeing that. Ask Coop up in Martha's Vineyard, or the Massachusetts anglers that fish Cape Cod and the Cape Cod Canal, and the Montauk and Block Island fisherman how things have been. Did you hear that Breezy was going off like it was at Sandy Hook this fall? No you didn't, becasue a lot of these fish were in the Raritan Bay, came out, made a right hand turn, and it was game on, and then it wasn't. And when it comes to March and April of 2023, where will those fish return to, and get slaughtered, the Raritan Bay.
So what is the ASFMC doing having an online meeting on December 20th? I am no ASMFC fisheries management expert, or even novice, but here's what I got. With all the fuddling around about striped bass numbers, the commercial quotas are based on 1970 numbers. Numbers=data=fact. Kind of like the whole Fauci Covid stuff that went on. And although you basically need an advanced degree in statistics to understand all of this, this came through as pretty simple. Up for discussion and debate is, should states, all but those that have allocated their commercial quota to the recreastional quota, like Jersey does with the Bonus Tag system, be allowed to transfer thier quota to thier poltical buddies, from state to the next. So let's say North Carolina, who hasn't had one single commercially landed fish in 2019, 2020, 2021, as per the ASFMC "becasue the fish aren't there", wanted to transfer their 295,495 million pounds of striped bass, to their buds in Virginia, who in 2021 onlu used 96% of their quota. Get it! It's money and politics in the end.
So what it comes to, and you can send in your punblic comment, address below, to state which Option you choose. Everyone in the meeting that spoke up chose Option A- staus quo. Leave it alone. And those that did speak, as I did, asked why when the angling community, let's say recreational and commercial alike, are trying to rebuild this fishery, would the ASMFC even consider a measure that would kill more striped bass. And just so you know, (F), is fishing mortality. Kill more striped bass=less striped bass. The next option, the least restrictive, is allowing transfers from buddy states, but there would be a "5% conservation tax"- you can see the explanation two slides down.
You can also see in Option B there is no limit on how much quota can be transferred. In a long comment I made I explained about the tunnel vision, about what we are seeing here in New Jersey, the lack of trust anglers have in the ASMFC, money and politics, asked why head boats and operations that make money off of said fishing are grouped in the recreational side, and lastly, echoing the sentiment of the stupidity of introducing any talks that call for increasing (F). Kinda felt good, at least bitching to the right people. Below is the quick poll of who was in the meeting. 8% were about something other than Option A, and I can bet you those are some very powerful and scary people when it comes to striped bass fishing. Most likely from the commercial sector. To note, the Viking Fleet guy, who runs out of Montauk, was against any transfer. I was surprised, I just figured that he would go with the commercial guys. Please submit an email to the address below, and I would suggest Option A.
And with my stuff all tucked into my basement I couldn't help but chase some reports. Looks like it's pretty dead up here in Monmouth County, but the Ocean County anglers and points south are still finding bass looking for peanuts and sand eels. The pic above was taken in the Atlantic City marina. Later today we are in for a "Bomb Cyclone", which doesn't sound good, and may be the end of the year for anglers and any fish that usually winter over along the Jersey Shore.
