|
Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
1 Attachment(s)
Immediate Action Needed For Seabass
First of all, I apologize in advance for this long winded message and the short time to react but this is really important! If we do nothing right now, we might be facing stricter regs for Seabass in 2026 and 2027 in spite of the stocks being rebuilt to 2X of the target set by fisheries management. See the chart attached below which is the Fisheries Management’s own assessment. Here's an article Jim Hutchinson from the Fisherman Magazine just published on the same subject and how we recreational anglers have been getting screwed on Seabass measures https://www.thefisherman.com/article...alse-promises/ We suffered through the restrictive measures in the past to rebuild the stocks and that’s worked for the fish and now it’s time they work for the fishermen… Time for us to take this fishery back and if you want to take a stand and fight, you need to take the time to read this and take the suggested actions right now or before 5:00 PM Wednesday July 30th. Please read on for details and action items to get involved Me and some key influential people (list below) who have been involved in similar fights before, met a few weeks ago to talk about what needs to be done to give us the best opportunity to get some movement going to push for more favorable Seabass regulations. The next Mid Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission joint meeting on Seabass will be held August 13th and this is where they start to talk about what our measures will be for both 2026 and 2027. And get this… In spite of the overabundance of Seabass, a new science study is predicting a decline in the biomass due to possible unfavorable spawning conditions in the future and advocating for a reduction instead of more favorable measures. What our team decided to do is take a bottoms up and tops down approach to see if we could influence the coming decisions. Bottoms up meaning getting the public to submit comments prior to the meetings in favor of increasing our catch limits. Tops down by arranging some key meetings with some recent high level NOAA appointees that seem to be more fishermen and common sense friendly. Those meetings will take place next week. So here’s what we need from all of you before 5PM on Wednesday, July 30th which is when public comments close for this next meeting.. 1)Copy and paste the text below. Feel free to personalize it with your thoughts and go to this link to submit them https://mafmc.knack.com/public-comme...94a0dea761dd1/ Subject: Request for Consideration of Liberalized Measures for Black Sea Bass in 2026/2027 Dear Members of the Black Seabass Fisheries Management Council, I am writing as a concerned and engaged member of the recreational fishing community to respectfully request your consideration of more liberal measures for Black Sea Bass management in the 2026/2027 fishing season. As recent stock assessments have shown, Black Sea Bass populations have exceeded their biomass targets by over 100%, a clear indication of a healthy and sustainable stock. Given this exceptional stock status, I urge the Council to consider expanding access to this abundant resource by revisiting current harvest restrictions. These measures, while originally necessary for stock rebuilding, now appear overly conservative in light of the most recent scientific data. Increased access—whether through a longer season, higher possession limits, or more inclusive quotas—would benefit a wide range of stakeholders, including charter operators, recreational anglers, and coastal communities whose economies depend on a vibrant, accessible fishery. Science-based management is the foundation of successful conservation, and the recent data confirm that Black Sea Bass are thriving under the current framework. It is only fair and logical to allow regulations to evolve in response to this success. These regulations have worked for the fish, so now it’s time for them to work for the fishermen too. Maintaining overly restrictive measures in the face of abundant stock undermines public trust and risks alienating the very communities who have supported conservation efforts in good faith. I appreciate the Council’s continued dedication to sustainable fisheries management and trust that you will weigh this request seriously as you begin planning for the 2026/2027 season. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, [Your Full Name] [Affiliation or Group, if applicable] 2) Please copy this link https://www.njfishing.com/forums/sho...923#post589923 and share it via email, social media and other fishing groups you are involved in to spread the word and ask them to share it as well so we get as many comments on record as possible. This is not just a NJ issue so feel free to share with people in our neighboring states that will be affected as well like NY, CT, RI, PA, VA. ME, NH, DE and MD. 3) Stay tuned here for updates and if you can, set aside Wednesday August 13th from 1 - 2:30 PM to get into the meeting webinar and be prepared to give your verbal comments as well. Please click here to join the meeting here if prompted, enter access code: 2347 766 8181 and password: nhHDUdTp233) To join by phone only, dial 415-655-0001 and enter access code 2347 766 8181 Here’s our team which I’d like to acknowledge and thank for getting together on such short notice. These people continue to volunteer their personal time, energy, experience and influence to come up with this plan and have been involved with protecting our recreational fishing rights for many years. - Jim Hutchinson Managing Editor Fisherman Magazine - Greg Hueth NJ Marine and Mid Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council - Dr Pat Donnelly NJ Marine Fisheries Council - Adam Nowalsy Former NJ Marine Fisheries Council and current Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Committee PLEASE STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING RIGHT NOW AND TAKE A STAND WITH US. SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS NOW AND SHARE IT WITH AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE AND LET’S GET THIS DONE! IF YOU DO NOTHING, NOTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE… DO IT NOW! |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Done!
|
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Gerry will copy, paste and submit tomorrow. Thanks for your effort as well as Jim's, Greg's and Pat's.
The recreational angler hasn't been given a bone in a very long time. Stock declines, our quotas and possession limits decline. Stocks which very rarely are successfully rebuild, possession limits decline. It's been a lose lose proposition for a very very long time. The only way this changes is a state backed law suit against NMFS or voting out our representatives who don't support proper fisheries management and the recreational fishing community. This is the same shit that happened with Greenwood Lake. We spend a crap load of money to stimulate the economy, that might be our biggest negotiating tool. Small businesses would be crushed if not for our spend and it falls on deaf ears in Washington and at the state and local levels. These small businesses are the fabric of shore communities and we / they get shit on every year. |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Thank you Gerry
Done and done. You couldn't make it easier for anyone who posts on this site to make a comment to fisheries. Thank you for paying attention to fisheries. I do not know how I am not getting pertinent emails from NMFS, since I am subscribed, but I guess I know why. I changed my comment a little: Dear Members of the Black Seabass Fisheries Management Council, I am concerned with the prospects of further cutbacks to our recreational sea bass limits. I am the owner of a recreational for-hire business. Our fishing community cannot sustain further restrictions on a black sea bass biomass that is more than 100% rebuilt. We need this fishery. The catch limits for recreation should be increasing --not decreasing. Besides the obvious detriment to our already troubled fishing community --it needs to be noted that sea bass eat young lobster and other crustaceans at a high rate. This needs to be considered as a factor in the low lobster population estimates, rather than blaming lobster fishermen. Science-based management is the foundation of successful conservation, and the recent data confirm that Black Sea Bass are thriving under the current framework. It is only fair and logical to allow regulations to evolve in response to this success. These regulations have worked for the fish, so now it’s time for them to work for the fishermen too. Maintaining overly restrictive measures in the face of abundant stock undermines public trust and risks alienating the very communities who have supported conservation efforts in good faith. I appreciate the Council’s continued dedication to sustainable fisheries management and trust that you will weigh this request seriously as you begin planning for the 2026/2027 season. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Robert Bogan For-hire vessel Gambler Point Pleasant Bch NJ |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Done / Thanks for the legwork!
|
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Would love to see a 25 per person limit in January and February again.
|
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
So I’ll be devils advocate and become the most hated person on this board……
What exactly is this petition supposed to accomplish? To let the Black Sea Bass Board know a small portion of the rec fishing community disagrees with this decision? And 2 days to get the responses submitted? As if the ultimate decision hasn’t already been made. I’m all for the effort and enthusiasm but we are beat. Not beating the system. |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Sent it in....here we go again...fighting for what we used to have without fighting....makes fishing a lot less fun....gotta do what we gotta do then
|
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Done and shared.
My greatest worry is regionalized regs,,, if we get grouped with NY we suffer even more.. |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Quote:
|
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Quote:
|
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Quote:
Lets not jump the gun here and say what we'd want and when we want it. Our State can easily grant your wish next year within the current catch limits but the problem is other parts of the season would have to be traded with fewer days and or a lower bag limits. Fact is we need to get more fish from the feds first before we have the good problem of deciding what to do with them. That's the goal here so lets stay on task and get the feds to give us more fish! |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Quote:
Big problem here in general is people are expecting others to tow the line so they don't have to take the time to do it themselves. Point in case is we have 50 sponsors on this site compared to several thousand individuals... Volume speaks numbers so lets do our part as several thousands instead of relying on 50 others to get his done. |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Everyone's heard the saying "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones". It's very applicable to this thread and comments which have been made. People are frustrated with the rhetoric they've been fed over the last 20 years only to be essentially taken advantage of over that entire time frame with reduced access and possession limits in virtually every salt water fishery. Personally I spent years fighting for changes to fluke regulations and when I turned around to see how many people had my back, one person (Dave Daly) did who I will always respect for his sincerity, conviction and efforts educating me about the process. Other than that, everyone had their own agendas and even though no one in positions that matter said my work and conclusions were wrong, no one had the balls, willingness or conviction to help me carry the bucket up the hill. Hurt to the core over a question! Please, I spent and wasted 5 years of my life analyzing this fishery for literally everyone's benefit and got virtually zero support from recreational fishing clubs, this site or any members of the agencies tasked with managing salt water resources. And I had no skin in the game other than simply trying to help insure the fluke fishery would be around for future generations. I was able to get my work in front of NMFS, ASMFC and MAFMC, something very few people have been able to do. I was published in two local fishery magazines and was invited to speak on a local radio station about matters impacting the fishery to educate the public about the problems facing it and the regulations at the heart of those problems. One individual, a sponsor on this site who absolutely knows who I'm talking about, actually went out if his way to sabotage my work simply because it didn't support his own personal agenda or the agenda of his organization. Precisely the reason the recreational sector is in the absolute mess it is. I went out of my way to communicate with and coordinate efforts with SSFFF, RFA NJ Chapter, JCAA, NJMFC, NMFS, ASMFC, MAFMC and others and in the end everyone regardless of how impressed they were with the depth of my analysis and conclusions baled when it came to politics. When push came to shove, everyone folded like a cheap suit because no one wanted to challenge the establishment. Remember "enough is enough" in 2018, is it really because we seem to tolerate the same today? Everyone echoed insanity was the definition of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, well that's precisely what as an industry the recreational community is still doing today and quite frankly people are fed up. So when Duffman asked a very legitimate question, I think history more than supports his concerns which are shared by many and he and everyone else have every right to ask a question and voice their concerns without getting a snarky response from anyone. I think our pain, suffering and sacrifices over all these years allow a legitimate question to be asked which happened to be right on point.
|
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
there was a thread not long ago "why no one posts anymore".this is a perfect example of why.a thread is put out to save the sea bass,great.then one person asks a very very ligit question with ligit points and here comes the wave of hate.that person has the right to his opinion or is that a way of the past also.
as the 1st portion of this thread say"we are 2x better with sea bass at this time"{or close} why are we having this conversation.using myself as a example,i am a sea bass junky.i chase them from inshore to of shore and fish different states for them also.with all that said why do we have to fight for what we already have??why do we have to do this when the science speaks for its self.no one is saying this is a "wrong" thing to do.i believe the question is"why". |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Done and Done
|
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Done
|
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Quote:
Further me and others try to continue to fight to make a difference and it's pretty demoralizing when we lay this whole thing out, sort through all the goop to make it as simple as possible for people be informed and get involved and as of right now there have only been 38 comments submitted... As far as your question why we have to fight for what we already have? - We certainly have enough fish yet we still have these sea saw open and closed seasons which were designed to rebuild the stocks which are now rebuilt 2X of their target. Yet, we only 1 fish bag limit through the summer months and last year they decided to closed part of our winter season? The empty promise was you suffer and cut back and once the stocks are rebuilt you get rewarded by getting some fish back. That never happened and in fact it's got worse. - There's a new study being introduced by the NE Science Center which assumes there is going to be a downturn in the future biomass due to future unfavorable spawning conditions. If this study is factored into decisions being made now instead of getting fish back, we could actually loose fish and have even tighter regs... - Although our state makes our regulations and could easily change them it would mean we've have to reduce current regs in one season to expand another in order to meet the same catch limits. This is why at this point we should not be fighting to change our seasons, instead need to fight on a federal level to get more fish and increase our catch limits so we can decide what we want do with them, otherwise were just horse trading with the same amount of fish. Hope this makes sense and people get involved, not to state their particular desires for a better winter or summer season but to get back the fish we've earned so we can decided on a state level what we'd like to do with them. After all, the punitive regs in the past worked for the fish so it's time they start working for the fishermen too, wouldn't you agree? Sorry if I seem pissy here but I and others have a lot of personal sweat equity into fighting this and other fishery issues and all we're asking for is some support. I totally understand if people have an opinion different then mine and maybe think the regs are fine the way they are. What I do take issue with is people that want better regs yet are not be willing to fight with us because they think they can't make a difference? Lead, follow or get out of the way! Want a little more history on Seabass? Here’s a portion of an article I clipped written by Jim Hutchinson from Fisherman Magazine. The more healthy the fishery gets the tighter our regs get, really? In 2008, New Jersey sea bass anglers had a 12-inch minimum size limit and 25 fish bag with 365-day access to the fishery. In the fall of 2009, NOAA Fisheries took unprecedented action in shutting down black sea bass midseason, and by 2010 our January/February fishery was gone forever. We then found ourselves with a 2010 bag limit of 25 fish at 12-1/2 inches running May 22 to September 12, and still the biomass continued to grow…and grow, and grow. The fishery was officially rebuilt (a third time) 13 years ago, and we’ve since gone from overfished to overstocked. In fact, there are now so many black sea bass that anglers can’t help but catch one, often inadvertently. The more we catch, keep and/or release, the more restrictive the regulations to preserve the biomass, which only promotes more discards; in turn each reported sea bass caught, kept and/or released is fed back into the assessment model to prove that yes, indeed, the stock is robust. I think the only thing this chart needs is a graphic of a dog chasing its tail! |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
"The current average price of whole wild-caught black sea bass in the United States is $42.99 per 2 pounds or $21.5 per pound. The most expensive filet cost upwards of $36 per pound".,,
Found this on a search of sea bass prices.. If its anywhere close to accurate, there's your reason.. Every one of these fish eaten at a restaurant is taxed, and from what I have read black sea bass is the most requested fish at high end restaurants.. A skinny, sickly looking, foul smelling foot long sea bass with grey gills and white eye s on ice at a grocery store around here is better than $22,$23..,, I can imagine what a fresh, plump 3 pounder in prime condition would cost at a high end fish market.. THATS the problem,.. They are worth a lot of money, and as we all know , money talks.. Commercials and their lobby have it, the average fisherman and his advocates do not... bob |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Quote:
|
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Gerry:
Thank you for alerting us to this upcoming meeting and providing easy access to submit comments. I submitted my comments using the "form" provided with some other additional information such as ASMFC's own admission that Black Sea Bass stocks are at 219% of the Target for this species. Time to get ASMFC and MAFMC to take the proper common sense action and change their thinking and fisheries management philosophy. Stephen Machalaba |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Quote:
after this last election cycle we have some new people in high places at NOAA that seem to be willing to work with us and take a more common sense approach. These are the same people who overturned the recent regulation changes they tried to put in place on Bluefin Tuna. There maybe some hope for us after all and thanks for your support. |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Gerry
Thanks for posting. From my end...(Note: I did not fish much this year due to my Dad) Seabass in May and June were stacked. Many areas saw some of the best fishing in years which should be a good sign the stock is in good shape. I forwarded your message to all of my fellow Hi-Mar Striper Club Members. Joe T. |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
understood,as i've done going back to the early 80's.its like the bird and the glass door for some,me included.as i have said before i love to fish both sweet and salt and have had the great blessings to have done it all over the world.i would and do all i can to be a positive presence towards the fishing community.
however the attitude of our fisheries mgt and local government make me cringe.they dismiss all science,fact and reason.i only speak for myself in this matter and i am saying if they gave us only a few days to do this,what is that really saying.one last thing,when was the last time the rec guys and comm guys worked together for a positive solution for both?? |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Would be nice to see more PB and charter captains commenting on this post, just sayin'.
|
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Quote:
As far as the deadlines, I'm with you... The meeting agenda just got finalized on Friday 7/25. We knew it was coming but until we had the details on when and where to submit comments, I didn't want to waste peoples time with " coming soon" because with the public, you only have so many chances until they check out. Instead I wanted to use the one bullet we had to lay details out there and make it specific and simple for people to involved and once I had that, I could put it our there. Had we had more time, I had a much more elaborate plan to get way more support but maybe that's the way they want it.... As far as when in the last time recs and commercials got together, it think it was in the late 90's when we and the NJ Council, including Commercials people worked together and decided to go out of compliance on Fluke. We even had a rally in Point Pleasant to get some attention and it worked! It worked in large part because of the favorable political conditions in the state at the time agreed since we had the Governor and the DEP in lock step with us and we sort of took a risk given the favorable higher ups in the feds were in place to hopefully support us and the bet paid off... It might actually come to this again but like or not, certain things would have to happen in this next NJ Governor's s race to try and make this happen again so if we're we're not successful in this current Federal Fisheries volley, it might come down to this again if the right people are elected here in our state.. To be continued and hope you all hang in there.... |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Stupid question since you guys who invest so much time into this……IYO or if you know for a fact, do the powers that be, people that make the regulation decisions, read reports on this site and others like it?
I ask for a reason. Give me a second here to explain the question….. When my non boating/fishing friends say on a Monday…. “What an awesome weekend, how was fishing/boating?” Meanwhile it was a cloudless sky but blew 30 knots East. They just don’t get it. So……the guys making the regs and reading all these sites and reading “on the meat” “Limited out” “slaughter” “epic” and whatever other nonsense that’s makes us fisherman look like turds in their eyes. That affect decision making process on regs? |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Is it “affect “ or “effect” ? I stand corrected sensitive people.
|
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Quote:
|
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Quote:
Lots more transparency these days because now they cover these comments and even present them in their slide presentations at these meetings. Kind of like reviews on google and all in the light of day which is very different then it used to be and much harder for them to ignore them and pass the red face test in a public meeting. Imagine if they had a reviews page on google? Dreaming now but that's how it should be... |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Submitted with some slight alterations. Thanks again for the effort.
Dear Members of the Black Sea Bass "BSB" Fisheries Management Council, I'm writing as a concerned member of the recreational fishing community to respectfully request your consideration of more liberal measures for BSB management in the 2026 / 2027 fishing season. As recent stock assessments have shown, BSB populations have exceeded their biomass targets by over 100%, a clear indication of a healthy and sustainable stock. In addition, from 2000 through current, the BSB biomass has surged by an unprecedented 1000% while exploitation (commercial and recreational removals) over that same approximate time frame has declined by more than 60%. I understand the black sea bass is considered protogynous hermaphrodites, meaning they are born female and can later change sex to become male. This sex change typically occurs when a female reaches a certain size, usually around 9-13 inches in length, and it happens during the fall and winter after the spawning season. The transition is visually driven, rather than chemically essentially meaning the stock finds a way to transform gender composition to insure the sustainability of the stock. Recruitment analysis and the surge in SSB over the period mentioned above would certainly lead one to that conclusion. It's my understanding there's concern by the Council of future recruitment levels with BSB which are indeterminable but as mentioned the prior year history supports have been sufficient to drive a ten-fold increase in the biomass. In the fluke fishery, which has been decimated over the last two decades, larger breeders (primarily female) represent the majority of commercial and recreational harvest as it's mandated by the recreational regulations and driven by higher ex-vessel values for larger fish by the commercial sector. The annual spawn remains unprotected from commercial netting by the Council. Why would there be concern about BSB recruitment levels which have produced unprecedented increases in the biomass from 2000 to current yet a completely different set of scientific standards seem to apply to fluke recruitment which have not only hampered but been the Achilles heel of a declining fishery over that same period? Given the exceptional surge in stock status of BSB, I urge the Council to consider expanding access to this abundant resource by revisiting current harvest restrictions. These measures, while originally necessary for stock rebuilding, now appear beyond overly conservative in light of the most recent scientific data. Increased access—whether through a longer season, higher possession limits, or more inclusive quotas—would benefit a wide range of stakeholders, including charter operators, recreational anglers, and coastal communities whose economies depend on a vibrant, accessible fishery. Sacrifices by both sectors have been made, it's time for the recreational and commercial sector to reap the benefit of those sacrifices unless there's very specific reasons not to which doesn't appear to be the case. Science-based management is the foundation of successful conservation, and the recent data confirm that BSB are thriving under the current framework. It is only fair and logical to allow regulations to evolve in response to this success. These regulations have worked for the fish, so now it’s time for them to work for the fishermen too. Maintaining overly restrictive measures in the face of abundant stock undermines public trust and risks alienating the very communities who have supported conservation efforts in good faith. I appreciate the Council’s continued dedication to sustainable fisheries management and trust that you will weigh this request seriously as you begin planning for the 2026 / 2027 season. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Thomas B Smith |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Quote:
|
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
More comments needed. You can say WHY but it doesn't hurt to say WHY NOT plus Gerry made it easy. Want to ever be heard and get a lobbyist then just send the public comment. We need thousands not a hundred
|
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
So much for a thousand or even a hundred replies from the site. Honestly, I don't understand recreational anglers. Government is stealing your rights to a public resource and people sit on their hands and let it happen. Where are people's sense of pride, gumption to fight for a cause you believe in and conviction to say and mean I'm not going to stand for this bullshit anymore. We're our own worst enemy when it comes to fair and balanced regulations relating to saltwater fisheries. This thread, in itself, bears witness to the fact that very few on this site have the right to complain about regulations for any stock because quite frankly most don't care enough to get involved in any way and expect everyone else to do the work which is a formula for failure. We have the numbers but we fail repeatedly to utilize that leverage, maybe the only leverage we have.
|
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Quote:
Good news is with all but 1, our comments should raise some eyebrows. Bad new is a lot of people sit on the sides and rather then do something, they do nothing. Thanks for all here who supported this effort. Still lots of work to be done and we could sure use more hands on deck.. |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Who wants to go seabass fishing in January and February? Not me!
|
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Quote:
The problem is the feds give us a certain amount of fish and although the state decides how to carve them up, the feds then put the options we submit into their model and will deny anything the model feels has a possibility of exceeding what they'd given us. So if you want more days in Feb you'd have to take away from lets say May. Or if you want more then 1 fish in the summer months you'd have to take fish away in the spring. When we submit comments to the feds like we want we want more fish in the summer or give us back our winter they're thinking it's not their decision, go talk to the people in your state who set your regs. Having more fish solves a lot of these horse trading issues and would be a nice problem to have so lets get more fish and we can then figure out how we'd like to carve them up. This is why you can't wait to get involved until the late winter, early spring at the state meetings where the regulations are decided. It's too late then and all your doing is fighting over the scaps the feds give us. The good news here is when the time comes, we in NJ have a very smart person on our DEP staff Peter Clarke who is our Senior Fisheries Biologist. He understands how the feds model works, is respected by them and is also a die hard fisherman. We also have a state marine fisheries council that's come a long way since I've been following this for the last 25 years. They're approachable, accountable and made regulation setting a lot more transparent then it's ever been. Does this mean you or me is going to get what we specifically want? Hell no but at least all these decisions are made in the light of day and public comments are no longer hidden, they are accounted for and openly discussed at the meetings. Right now people's eyes are probably glazed over with all this detail and many might be thinking Gerry's drank the Coolaid, the system ate him and he's one of them now. If you want the system to work to your advantage and get things done, you need to know how the systems work, who the players are, which ones want same thing that you do and when, where and how to get organized and involved. Lets get the feds to give us more fish first.. If we accomplish that, each of us has a better chance to get the regs we want in our state, rather then fighting over the same amount of scraps. |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Quote:
|
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Quote:
We're at a point where recs get the crumbs left over after commercial quotas have been decided. If we don't use our voice to our advantage, our kids will never experience trips like that and we should do what we can to make sure that doesn't become a reality. |
Re: Immediate Action Needed By 7/30 For Seabass
Quote:
Fact is that fisheries management has screwed us with Seabass for several years now by pumping the breaks and reducing the harvest while the biomass continues to surge. Time for us to get some reward for the sacrifices we made in the past. The regs worked for the fish, now it's time they work for the fisherman too! |
| All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:01 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.