[sternline]

Captain, take another look at pages 301-303 of STRIPER WARS. The ban on fishing for stripers in the EEZ began in 1990 and applies to everybody. The Coast Guard was not enforcing the ban until some RECREATIONAL anglers saw the slaughter by of soon-to-spawn females in the EEZ by recreational boats. Jim Price, a fifth-generation waterman (and one of the true heroes of the fight to save menhaden), saw about 50 recreational boats massacring these females 6 miles off the NC coast and raised hell with the Coast Guard--as he should have.
If that 3-mile line is not enforced, we will pay a big price. Now, thanks to the ban, we have lots of bass inshore where small boats, not to mention surf fishers, can enjoy these great fish. When the stripers are migrating they pour into our inshore waters except when the bait isn't here. The problem intermittently last fall and a lot of the time this fall was the absence of bunkers. Even when the stripers were here, they were often feeding on rain fish or sand eels and wouldn't look at a jig. To have those really great fall days, we need to save the bunker, which are in serious trouble.
BTW, I was born in 1934, and I'm thrilled by the NJ striper fishing we have, thanks to that great victory. So forgive me if I sound a little preachy.