Lets legalize freedom!

[O'Connor]

Has anyone else noticed how difficult fishing has become? All of this stuff is more exhausting then work. Fuel prices, fish regs, intranets, secret tog crabs shipped in from Iceland, $1,000 spinning reels, 400 lb bluefins on push button zebcos, crowds, cheaters, fisherman that look like nascar drivers because they are "pro staff" everything, Same guys crying about commercials when they get paid to kill fish also??!! I feel bad for the guys in the business...my advice...for the young guys under 30, get the hell out! Don't be stupid! For the old salts...God help ya. It is an honest way to make a living, and it sucks the sport we love has become such a shit show from so many different angles. I love fishing, but it is getting harder to enjoy it without all the nonsense that goes along with it.


I long for the days of a night crawler, bobber and a cold beer.

[italianfisherman]

Originally Posted by Capt. Lou

Freedoms are already legalized but we do not respect them! Go to any fisheries meeting and see who shows up to voice an opinion!
We are the blame for a lot of what goes on regarding fisheries regs, most only talk, many do not even belong or donate a red cent to help offset expenses associated with fighting these battles,
Take a hint from Sierra Club ,TU & a host of others they get people to participate at all levels , come up with the cash & get a lot done.
We have a handful of guys that really understand what's going on & even they will not compare notes!
Good Luck, we got what we gave ourselves by sitting on the sidelines for years!!
Let me say it for you I "DID" not attend all the meetings I should have either ,but I've been at more than my share. There
s more than enough blame to go around I'll take my share. However until we all realize the need to participate at some level ,we have a long way to go to enact laws that we can live with fisheries wise,

I'LL 2ND THAT..

[JBird]

Originally Posted by Gerry Zagorski

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. -- Ronald Reagan (1986)

Good old Ronnie Raygun wasn't half as conservative as people remember. Overall, taxes went UP under Reagan and he and his administration helped deregulate Wall St. ( along with Slick Willy, Bush 1 and 2) which helped lead us to where we are now; the greatest disparity in wealth the country has ever known and a giant crap sanwich the 99% has been eating since 2008.

But I digress...

I believe NOAA mostly has their head up their butts but I also recognize that some regulation is needed. I believe that had we done nothing in the past (no pollution control, no seasons, no bag/size limits etc) we would have no fishery at all. For anything, really. The New York Bight would be a stinking, fishless cesspool. Do we need better science and research? You bet. Just don't be mad if the results don't please you.

Times have changed and the writing is indeed on the wall. Our worldwide human population will continue to put enormous pressure on the oceans to provide sustenance. Recreational anglers don't put anything on the endangered species list but we still need to recognize our impact and we must be good stewards of the resource that belongs to all of us.

Overall, we tried "freedom" for the better part of 200 years and it guess what? People are greedy. If we are all "free" to do as we please then you will end up with a lot of honest people doing the right thing and a minority screwing the whole thing up by polluting and overfishing (seriously, a garbage can full of flounder? and you wonder why we now have limits).
Been there, done that. That's why we have these restrictive rules to begin with. Are they stupid and useless and using flawed science at times? Yup.

But the alternative of total freedom doesn't work either, unfortunately, as we can see through years as some fisheries collapsed. See: cod, striped bass, redfish etc.

"But wait!" you say. "There are tons of bass and redfish and cod are coming back!"
Yeah. You know why? Rules and regulations. Sometimes it works. Sometimes.

[mahigold]

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/03/...to-go-fishing/

[hammer4reel]

Originally Posted by Detour66

The writing has been on the wall for many years now! These fish will NEVER be wiped out by a rod and reel fisherman. Never! They need to re-evaluate the whole situation!

When it comes to some of the fisheries nothing could be further from the truth. Flounder was WAY over fished for way too many years when they were in small tight confined pockets , and the days of guys filling garbage cans and coolers def had a GIANT impact on them.

Too much greed on what everyone thinks they are entitled to on both sides of the fishing fence.

The IM going to get mine attitude alot of fisherman have today has def put more of a hurt on the fishery than we all want to believe.

sure a drag boat gets alot of fish in one haul, but 5000 boats fishing the same section of the coast , the numbers add up QUICK too.

Just think if every fisherman registered in NJ just caught one limit of bass , thats half a million bass
a limit of fluke a million and a quarter ,

and that can happen in 1 Day

[Tony Cav]

Originally Posted by hammer4reel

When it comes to some of the fisheries nothing could be further from the truth. Flounder was WAY over fished for way too many years when they were in small tight confined pockets , and the days of guys filling garbage cans and coolers def had a GIANT impact on them.

Too much greed on what everyone thinks they are entitled to on both sides of the fishing fence.

The IM going to get mine attitude alot of fisherman have today has def put more of a hurt on the fishery than we all want to believe.

sure a drag boat gets alot of fish in one haul, but 5000 boats fishing the same section of the coast , the numbers add up QUICK too.

Just think if every fisherman registered in NJ just caught one limit of bass , thats half a million bass
a limit of fluke a million and a quarter ,

and that can happen in 1 Day

Nice to hear a voice of reason to counter all the anti-commercial voices.

My Dutch and German ancestors have been in this country since 1640.....they were commercial and professional fisherman and market hunters in Long Island........I am not a commercial fisherman and am pro-conservation of our resources.

Too much regulation.....BAD!...Too little regulation....BAD! Somewhere there is a happy medium.

When you want to have lobster for dinner....who catches them? When you want clams, spearing, squid, crabs for bait....who catches them? When you feed your dog or cat or fertilize your lawn, when your wife buys make up, when you go to the sushi bar........

It is down right ignorant and short sighted to point the finger at the comms as solely responsible for the decimation of our fisheries.

As for conservation.........gotta have regulations.........reasonable, sensible, based on fact and fairy shared between all interests. AND that is not a simple as WE like to portray.

P.S.....Being pro-conservation does not mean "environmentalist"

[sportfishingusa]

Did they ban fishing all together? did i miss something? as far as i can tell in nj they are just restricting certain things.. I still have the freedom at this time to fish, just not to keep as much as i want.. kinda like shopping with coupons, you can use 1 coupon per person per transaction, i have the right to go back to the store every day and use it, i just can not go back and try to use 108 at once. hahahah



Like Dan (o'connor) said, california is a complete disastrous nightmare, we have it pretty good compared to them right now.

[Ol Pedro]

Like Dan (o'connor) said, california is a complete disastrous nightmare, we have it pretty good compared to them right now.[/QUOTE]
Sportie my Friend , they saw it coming in California and too few people took action . Two of my Friends in San Diego stopped Saltwater Fishing all together . Don't think for one second that it won't happen here .

[Islander II]

Just think, we catch those fish, we eat them. When a dragger hauls his net, and he has a thousand pounds, or more, over his limit, those fish go back as by-catch. So, if you add up the amount of fish that go back, dead, that adds up too. A lot more! The recreational fisherman did not wipe out the stocks!

[italianfisherman]

Originally Posted by Islander II

Just think, we catch those fish, we eat them. When a dragger hauls his net, and he has a thousand pounds, or more, over his limit, those fish go back as by-catch. So, if you add up the amount of fish that go back, dead, that adds up too. A lot more! The recreational fisherman did not wipe out the stocks!

AGREE...