Dead Stripers

[BigRock44]

This excerpt was taken from On The Water magazine's weekly fishing report last week:

Long Island Fishing Report
The bass bite is ridiculous to the west of me. I’ve been hearing regular reports of stripers 45 inches and up. Big bass abound on the south shore! I’ve seen those trophy fish every single day in my area too (South Fork), but the problem is THEY’RE ALL DEAD! Gill nets have completely strangled the South Fork surf fishery (besides the Montauk rocks). East of Shinnecock, the big fish bite stops abruptly where the gill nets start. I’ve observed the commercial boats reeling in their gill nets almost every morning for the past few weeks, and they are filled to capacity with trophy striped bass.

My small surfcasting crew amasses an absurd amount of time on the water. We’re extremely in tune with our beaches, and scour the structure daily and nightly. The biggest fish any of us took on rod and reel this fall was 17 pounds, an upper-slot fish. That is absolutely pathetic, considering the potential that was in store for this season.

I can go on and on about how bad for the environment these gill nets are, and how they mercilessly kill all sorts of wildlife, including marine mammals and unintended fish bycatch…. but harping on how unfair this is to me, other surfcasters, the wildlife, and beachgoers in general, has made me depressed. For the past month, I’ve been down in the dumps. I am an eternal optimist, so to bring my mood down requires a colossal effort. Try catching dinks while you watch wasted trophy bass with rigor mortis get tossed overboard after having struggled all night to break free from a net placed right on shore to block their ancient migratory route. Then you will understand where I’m coming from. I don’t THINK that was a run-on sentence, but I am sorry if it was a tough one to swallow. I’m fuming.

The fact that this archaic fishing method is allowed, even revered as a glorious American pastime makes me want to move away...


This eye-opening report made me sick and furious at the same time. CANNOT believe that this method of "fishing" is still allowed. Gill netting is illegal in many parts of the world. The recreational sector is forced to release these fish and they are being dumped by netters because these nets kill indiscriminately. If the fisheries regulators have declared these bass overfished, reforms should start here. Hopefully this info opens the eyes of others and rings some alarm bells. Lord knows I've sent enough emails to the "powers that be", taken enough polls and filled out enough questionnaires for positive reforms to see this crap happening. And don't get me wrong, I'm ok with a slot limit and one fish per angler, but to waste such a precious resource such as striped bass in this manner, which have made a hard fought comeback over many years, is borderline criminal.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Wow, what a shame to waste a resources like this.... .

Gill netting is a totally arcane method of fishing since you can't target a specific species of fish. This causes a lot of wasted resource... Having said this, if you're going to allow it knowing there will by catch of Stripers or name the fish and they are forced to discard them, wouldn't it make more sense to at least force them to harvest the fish and they get counted against the commercial quota they have in a given state? Although this won't solve the issue at least what is caught won't be wasted.

Here is an eye opening article on the effects of Gill netting in NC https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/...l-net-problem/

[Capt. Debbie]

Gill netter are supposed to checked frequently.

Originally Posted by Gerry Zagorski

Wow, what a shame to waste a resources like this.... .

Gill netting is a totally arcane method of fishing since you can't target a specific species of fish. This causes a lot of wasted resource... Having said this, if you're going to allow it knowing there will by catch of Stripers or name the fish and they are forced to discard them, wouldn't it make more sense to at least force them to harvest the fish and they get counted against the commercial quota they have in a given state? Although this won't solve the issue at least what is caught won't be wasted.

Here is an eye opening article on the effects of Gill netting in NC https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/...l-net-problem/

Gill nets are no different than otter troll when it comes to mortality rates. Difference is gill nets are typically in shore and the carnage more visible versus otter trolls which typically are further offshore and for species that don't necessarily float to the surface.

The amount of waste to all fisheries created by commercial operations is outrageous. Why does anyone think the amount of small fluke that we saw flood into the bays of rivers this year in the spring was so much greater than past years. One reason Covid-19. Domestic and international seafood markets were shut down which means for all practical purposes commercial fishing during the inshore spring migration was also shut down so all those smaller fish that we experienced this year that flooded into the rivers and bays made their way through the commercial gauntlet which normally occurs every year as opposed to being netted and tossed back dead in the pursuit of harvesting larger size and higher market value fish. Don't want to hear about mesh sizes or anything else, the amount of dead discard associated with commercial fishing is absolutely out of control and ignored by fisheries management.

This story about the carnage being done to breeder stripers is an absolute disgrace. All the legislation and sacrifices being made by recreational fishermen for the good of the fishery are being completely offset by the greed of the commercial sector and the politicians and fishery management members who allow those regulations to exist. Consequential impacts of all this is all those dead breeders will probably be charged as release mortality to the recreational sector decreasing our quota in subsequent years.

[Redeemer Sportfishing]

It sucks. Take some photos next time. Observations are just observations. Photos are more legit.

[Fishguy1]

To quote the late, great Captain Arthur John Hilliard, "Recreational fishing never put ANYTHING on the endangered species list."