i remember ......

[Needlefish]

For what it’s worth, lots of things have changed for recreational fishing over the last 50 years.

- NJ population alone increased from 7 to 9 million.
- Number of party boats dropped? Less fishing pressure from party boats?
- More private boats and charters, and boats got bigger and faster.
- Improvements in fishing equipment and tackle
- And probably the biggest one, technology and electronics. Chart plotters, fish finders and communication between fisherman (cell phones). That makes us much more efficient at finding/catching.

I wonder what the cumulative effect has been?

[bulletbob]

The fish just don't stand a chance any longer... The world population in 1960 was 3 billion..Today its over 8 billion, and LOT of that 8 billion eat fish... No such thing now as "local markets"..Fish caught off of the east coast might be eaten a few days later in Japan... the oceans, bays, tidal rivers in heavily populated areas such as the NY Bight are under relentless pressure that only seems to get worse each year,,,Can't see salt water fishing getting much better overall, but I guess one can hope... Fresh water rec fishing is more easily maintained, because a lot of people don't eat FW fish, its not much of a market[yet], and massive factory ships can't wipe out entire populations like they do in the world's oceans.... bob

[Gobigblue]

The Problem is, was your mindset of Catching hundreds of fish was termed a "Successful Day". How many of those fish went to waste and ended up in a landfill? Fisherman got us into this mess by having their own way with the Ocean!! There is a saying all good things come to an end and You reap what you sow... Now you want to blame others, look in the mirror my friend

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by Gobigblue

The Problem is, was your mindset of Catching hundreds of fish was termed a "Successful Day". How many of those fish went to waste and ended up in a landfill? Fisherman got us into this mess by having their own way with the Ocean!! There is a saying all good things come to an end and You reap what you sow... Now you want to blame others, look in the mirror my friend

Your comment raises two points. Keeping the number of fish that were being kept is just crazy and should have never been allowed to happen. With that said, even with those numbers being taken, the fisheries with less commercial pressure flourished every year with no apparent end in sight. When the fluke fishery in the late eighties collapsed due to commercial overharvest, they set their sights on winter flounder or black backs year round and that fabulous fishery was destroyed in a few short years. Cod, pollack, whiting and ling or ground fish in general followed suit for the same reasons and it wasn't related to recreational harvest. Remember an important point, recreational anglers for the most part have access to fisheries a few months out of the year, commercials pound them year round and these stocks can't take that pressure and the waste associated with commercial netting is a huge part of the problem. They kill everything. The finger in this case is pointed exactly were it should be.

To Bullet Bob's point in his post, the world is significantly more populated which has created a high demand for fish and seafood. That demand isn't being met by the recreational sector. It's a big business as I've said and the commercial sector and the bodies managing it are making billions of dollars a year exploiting a resource that in years past was never exploited the way it is today.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Yes there were a lot of wasted fish back in the day for sure... However, the entities who manage our marine fisheries have totally mismanaged them.