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View Full Version : Stripers Forever - What are they for?


rockfisherman
04-10-2003, 10:30 AM
Someone (flatts1, I believe) asked what Stripers Forever was really for. The following was posted on the Stripers Forever email list. Author: Dean Clark. I think it spells out what they are for pretty clearly, so I am re-posting it here for those that don't have access to the mailing list. Let me reiterate I am not involved with Stripers Forever except for being on their mailing list, and I do not speak for or represent their organization.

The term "User Group" is a mis-nomer in that it a) falsely divides fishermen into two pre-determined "groups" which, in reality don't exist...commercial and recreational and b) it wrongly assumes that the entire tax paying general fishing population is a "group", like the commercial sector. This is incorrect. The commercial "User Group" actually does exclude others and wants something (more) for its own selfish purposes at the expense of EVERYONE ELSE.....Everyone else is NOT a "User Group".

The ONLY selfish interest "User Group" is the commercial sector.

The commercial fishermen make up a special interest group that is granted UNIQUE privileges (the right to "sell" and economically exploit the striped bass) by the regulating Agencies. This segregates and unfairly gives them
advantages denied to EVERYONE ELSE.....and "everyone else" is NOT a "User Group".

SF wants the same rules and regulations to apply to EVERYONE on an EQUAL BASIS. SF is NOT advocating for special priviledges or an increased advantage for any "User Group". SF is not, nor does it represent, a "User Group". It is advocating that EVERYONE be treated EQUALLY! SF wants the striped bass to be managed and regulated the same way for EVERYONE, not for a small, special interest "user group" like the commercial fishermen do.

SF wants the striped bass to be equally available to everyone on the exact same, legal regulatory terms. SF believes that no one special interest"User Group" should be singled out and granted special rights for regulatory exploitation at the expense of not just EVERYONE ELSE but also to the detriment of the striped bass themselves.

The stripers should/can belong to everyone on an equal basis. Only when they are declared a legal game fish will the special interest "User Groups" be taken out of the regulatory equation.

CMP
04-10-2003, 10:40 AM
The ONLY selfish interest "User Group" is the commercial sector.

Excuse me? There's a friggin gem from one of the frauds who are trying to re-frame the argument. Just curious, if there are no user groups, then who uses the 75%+ of the total striped bass catch coast-wide that the commercial fishermen do not catch? What a crock of steaming bovine fecal matter...

CMP

ruge13
04-17-2003, 10:30 AM
I am not 100% sure where I stand on this issue, but I was curious about the opinion Stripers forever has towards Recreational limitsl. So I sent an email via their site to find out how strict or liberal their view of rec limits would be...I thought I would share the response for others in a similar boat.

To win me over, I would expect an organization supporting the ban of comercial fishing to also support very strict recreational limits given the impact rec anglers have on the fishery.
This was the response. I guess I need to read the "case"

"Shaun - Stripers Forever is trying to stay away from those types of
management issues. We're not trying to hide from those kinds of
discussions, but under any sceanrio the public and the fish would be
better off without a commercial fishery. That said, I'll take the bold
step of saying that while many of us just love this creature, keeping a
fish to eat from time to time is no sin. Personally, I like Maine's
plan.
You may keep one fish between 20 and 26 inches OR one over 40. Prime
breeders are off limits.

Please read the Case for a thorough presentation on what we feel
striper
management should be. I hope that you join. Brad Burns"

CMP
04-17-2003, 10:37 AM
We're not trying to hide from those kinds of
discussions, but under any sceanrio the public and the fish would be
better off without a commercial fishery.


Wow, there's a real gem. From what perspective does that statement come? Since when did the 25% of stripers killed for the market decide that they would be better off being killed by a recreational fisherman than by a commercial one? What a bunch of garbage. This is all about co-opting a fishery that can and will continue to support both sectors...

CMP

Bob Parsons
04-18-2003, 11:06 AM
No where on THIS board has CMP made a statement about fishing the EEZ. Thus I can not allow allie's post. And again avoid the personal attacks.

CMP
04-18-2003, 05:03 PM
I must have missed that one, Bob. For the record, I think Paul Diodati is right to push for opening the EEZ. I think that there are a whole bunch of people, from charters to commmercials and regular ole' guys who like to fish where there are fewer people would agree. There may be some sticky issues to work through, but the prohibition on fishing the EEZ doesn't make a whole bunch of sense to me. We'll see what happens I guess...

CMP

Soundking
04-20-2003, 11:21 AM
By opening the eez to commercial, the large striper stocks would be effectively wiped out. Anybody who has fished the bank when the "bluefish" are up on sandeels in the late spring knows that commercial guys would wipe out all of those large fish. Commercial fishermen are great fishermen, and they would ahniliate all of those large fish in a very short ammount of time. In addition, I have yet to see a single fishery be hurt because of commercial fishing ending, just look at the redfish in florida, or the mullet after the net ban. Furthermore look how south florida swordfish stocks came back after closing the area to commercial outfits. Besides, soon aquaculture will eliminate the need for commercial fishing alltogether.

baldwin
04-30-2003, 12:20 PM
Aquacultured stripers don't contain the PCBs that wild fish contain. On one hand, they tell us to limit our consumption for health reasons, and then they increase the commercial harvest. Go ahead and slander me for writing this, it's FACT, not opinion. Look at the fish consumption advisory guides in fishing regulation manuals. GRB

saltyflyguy
06-04-2003, 08:39 AM
Aquaculture. See my post if it is not moved here. It's the future.
Stripers Forever? Who knows? At least they are trying to do something.