Reel-Time Forums - Herring runs, Bournedale & Wareham
Reel-Time Forums - Herring runs, Bournedale & Wareham
Here’s a pointer to a discussion over at Reel-Time’s forums about the deplorable state of the herring runs in Wareham and Bournedale. Mobs lined up with buckets, out-of-staters driving all night to get their live bait.
And yet the towns still sell the permits and allow the taking of egg-laden females, even if a glance at the number of fish in the runs would convince a pinhead that something is very wrong with the herring stock.
Why oh why does the State DMF fiddle and diddle on this issue and not ban the taking and possession of herring until the stocks return to their pre-1980 levels. Sure, the DMF held hearings last month, but I haven’t heard a word and those hearings were only to limit the daily take to 12 and prohibit the commercial sale.
The issue is the relatively recent practice of penning up live fish in either big tanks or baskets hung off of moorings. The meat guys can’t resist, especially since they can’t find live menhaden to taken their place, and hi-ho-hi-ho, it’s off to the run they go, determined to get every last fish they are entitled to for their personal bait aquariums.
Knock, knock — meat fishermen, WAKE THE F UP! No one cares how many big fish you catch, no one cares about your commercial license, no one cares if you know the secret spots for big fish fished with live herring. Get over it!
- Ban the possession of herring.
- Stop commercial striper fishing.
- Return the limit to one fish at 36″
- Institute a saltwater license.
- Open up public access to the waterfront.
- Pass some serious nitrogen limits for new development in watersheds.
That’s my agenda and I’m sticking to it. We need to get over our quaint memories of the way things used to be, when grandpa caught a bucket of herring so granny could fry up some roe in butter and the rest could get planted in the tomato plants. Commercial striper fishing is not a way of life, it’s a shame. Two fish per day is ridiculous — we were doing fine at one at 36″ when a keeper was a keeper. The biggest danger we all face is losing rights of way to water. As waterfront property values rise, expect this problem to grow. Who cares about the health of the fish stocks if you can’t get to the beach to fish for them? And finally, nitrogen has nuked our bays, killed off the eel-grass, and made our harbors safe only for spider crabs. End waterside development or tie the damn McMansions to town sewers or denitrification systems.
End of rant. I am ticked off after reading that thread!