John McMurray

Just getting in from what amounted to yet another good day of fishing in my neck of the woods. Without a doubt, this has been a good year so far and today was no exception. But to get back to the marina, I had to run the solemn course though the excessive crowd of boats. One would think that the high price of fuel would keep a good number of folks off the water these days, but right now there are a ton of boats using live menhaden (aka bunker) to catch large fecund striped bass just a mile or so off the beach. I won’t even acknowledge all those idiots that are poaching fish (and unfortunately there are quite a few), but the great majority of folks are releasing those fish they’ve caught above their “limit.”

Anyone who has ever done any live bait fishing knows that stripers, especially the big ones, inhale the bait. Thus, if you are using a J-hook, just about every fish gets it in the belly. That’s fine if you are planning on keeping your two fish and going home. Menhaden are big baits and rarely does a short eat one. But if you keep fishing after that, as most anglers do, THEN USE A DARN CIRCLEHOOK FOR GOD’S SAKE!

I’m not going to explain how circlehooks work as I believe most know already, and if you don’t you can find many a detailed explanation by Googleing it. In my experience, as well as just about everyone I know who uses them, they result in a perfect lip hooked fish 90% of the time. And it’s not just anecdotal. There is a ton of science out there that shows that circlehooks in bait fisheries dramatically reduce release mortality.

Yet despite all this, the overwhelming majority of anglers continue to use J-hooks! I went on a charter for a bachelor party two years ago and this dumbass Captain was using treble hooks to live-line bunker! I couldn’t believe it! Talk about lack of foresight.

Thus, this is the time of the year that I usually see a good number of dead bass floating on the surface on my way back to the marina each morning. And these are the ones that don’t skink. I’m sure there are a lot more. And when you multiply my small area by all those areas that have vibrant live and dead bait fisheries for striped bass, it really adds up. And it’s not just my dumb-ass saying it. It’s a fact. According to the most recent striped bass stock assessment, recreational discards account for 34% of the total catch! To put that into perspective, that’s double what the total commercial landing are! Kinda hard to justify gamefish with those numbers don’t ya think? Yet still, folks foolishly resist new hook technology that could dramatically reduce this number.

I’ve got to say, the fact that circlehooks aren’t required in those fisheries that are prone to excessive release mortality (fish that die as a result of angling related trauma) isn’t required by now angers me. Why the H wouldn’t we require them!? That’s a question I asked during the last ASMFC Striped Bass Advisory Panel meeting. All the panel had the nerve to muster up was to recommend increased “education” on circle hooks. Like that’s gonna do anything? There was the usual talk about agencies being unable to enforce such a regulation, yet if it was a law, for sure most folks would follow it. Then there was the knucklehead who said that his charter clients wouldn’t be able to figure out how to use the. Uhm, what!? All you do is come tight on the fish. What could be easier than that?

We really need circle hook regulations. It’s absurd not to have them. Until we reduce that release mortality percentage, we just don’t have any credibility.

Just a couple of weeks ago, NOAA Fisheries released a proposed rule on the National Saltwater Angler Registry that requires anglers to be “registered” before fishing in 2009. NOAA’s Fisheries Service is seeking comment on the proposed rule, which was a requirement of the reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Because sates in the Northeast which don’t already have statewide saltwater license couldn’t get it together, the Federal Government has had to step in and do this. Here’s why: The recreational fishing data collection system (Marine Recreational Fishing Static Survey- MRFSS) sucks. Basically a bunch of contractors make cold-calls to random households to try and find people who fish. I mean come on! What are the odds they’ll find an angler? There is a dockside survey also, but there are a ton of problems with that as well. I’ve been fishing Jersey, NYC and Long Island Waters hard for about 15 years and I have never once been surveyed. There are simply not enough folks surveyed. And what about all those folks that fish estuaries or fish at night? Nope, they aren’t even in the picture. No survey exists for them. And let’s be honest. Lots of fishing mortality, particularly with bass, occurs at night. Quite simply, MRFSS is a terrible system and it’s not even designed to do what it has been tasked to do.

Here’s where the serious problem lies: When managers don’t have complete and accurate data it can and often does result in overly restrictive measures, or much worse, it can result in continued overfishing. In either case, we are the big losers. It is undeniable that with a licensing or registry-system, fishery management numbers would be greatly enhanced. “The national registry of saltwater anglers is the key to closing a major gap in information on recreational fishing,” said Jim Balsiger, NOAA acting assistant administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service. “It will help us conduct surveys to get a more complete picture of how recreational fishing by an estimated 14 million people is affecting fish stocks. This will lead to better stock assessments and more effective regulations to rebuild and manage these valuable fish.”

Now here’s what sucks about this National Angler Registry when you compare to a regular state license. While the registry will start out free in 2009, in 2001 anglers will be charged around $25. While a state license can and will be used for restoration and fishery management in the state, by law, the registry fee taken by NOAA is to be used solely to offset the cost of issuing the registration. It can not be specifically directed to fisheries management. And get this… The money wouldn’t even go to NOAA, but rather directly into the black hole of the U.S. Treasury!

At this point it’s just stupid for all those states in the Northeast to continue to resist implementing a saltwater license. Yet, with the exception of Connecticut, whose license bill failed this year, no such license bills exist as far as I know. In my home state, there have been meetings and a lot of talk. But any reasonable draw up of a palatable license proposal gets shot down by a handful of loudmouths in the recreational fishing industry. That’s a huge bummer. So much good could come out of a reasonably drawn up saltwater licensing system. Money, clout, a louder voice etc… And such systems have certainly been drawn up.

Yet, despite all the well-written articles describing the benefits of such a license out there, there are still a lot of false arguments flying around against a saltwater license. E.g. the money will go into the general coffer and not be used for fisheries (even though there is a law in the books of every state that would prevent this, not to mention the federal Wallop Breau audits)… It would kill an already strained recreational fishing industry (yeah right… Look at FL). The list goes on and to cover it all would take more space than I have here.

Aside from all of these fallacies, the simple fact remains that if those non-saltwater-license sates in the Northeast don’t get their act together and implement a license we might as well be throwing that money away, when it could be benefiting those states recreational fisheries greatly. Still, there seems to be no movement, and still, the same folks are voicing the same short-sighted opposition. So, how stupid are we???