Reds and Stripers - no commercial fishing

[Charkbait]

[mdram]

http://www.islandfreepress.org/Archi...OffLimits.html

a step in the right direction if we don't just loosen the rec restrictions to make up the difference.

OH, and they've got to eat so SAVE THE BUNKER NEXT!

this line says alot

Recreational fishermen harvested 81 percent of the 36.47 million pound Atlantic harvest in 2006.

[Sam]

How can that be? How would they know?

I pulled up behind kool ice one day and saw them unloading many hundreds of small stripers. It was just an unbelievable site.

[mdram]

hers info on how they calculate it

http://www.asmfc.org/

[Charkbait]

They are estimates based on past and present catches. With the boats gear and technology available I surely wouldn't mind it going back to 1 @ 36" ... shore based folks MAY be 10% of that number.

[ffemtreed]

I wouldn't mind seeing boats have different creel and size limits than land based casters.

I still don't agree with the concept that rec's taking 80some percent of the catch.

[RACN35]

RELEASED YESTERDAY:::
Executive Order: Protection of Striped Bass and Red Drum Fish Populations


By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, to assist in ensuring faithful execution of the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act, and the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act (chapters 38, 71, and 71A of title 16, United States Code), and to conserve striped bass and red drum fish, it is hereby ordered as follows:


Section 1. Policy. It shall be the policy of the United States to conserve striped bass and red drum for the recreational, economic, and environmental benefit of the present and future generations of Americans, based on sound science and in cooperation with State, territorial, local, and tribal governments, the private sector, and others, as appropriate.
Sec. 2. Implementation. (a) To carry out the policy set forth in section 1, the Secretary of Commerce shall:


(i) encourage, as appropriate, management under Federal, State, territorial, tribal, and local laws that supports the policy of conserving striped bass and red drum, including State designation as gamefish where the State determines appropriate under applicable law;


(ii) revise current regulations, as appropriate, to include prohibiting the sale of striped bass and red drum caught within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States off the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico;


(iii) periodically review the status of the striped bass and red drum populations within waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and:


(A) take such actions within the authority of the Secretary of Commerce as may be appropriate to carry out the policy set forth in section 1 of this order; and


(B) recommend to the President such actions as the Secretary may deem appropriate to advance the policy set forth in section 1 that are not within the authority of the Secretary.


(b) Nothing in this order shall preclude or restrict the production, possession, or sale of striped bass or red drum fish that have been produced by aquaculture.


(c) The Secretary of Commerce shall implement subsections 2(a)(i) and (iii), insofar as they relate to Atlantic striped bass, jointly with the Secretary of the Interior, as appropriate.
Sec. 3. Definitions. As used in this order:


(a) "Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States" means the marine area of the United States as defined in Presidential Proclamation 5030 of March 10, 1983, with, for purposes of this order, the inner boundary of that zone being a line coterminous with the seaward boundary of each of the coastal States;


(b) "red drum" means the species Sciaenops ocellatus; and


(c) "striped bass" means the species Morone saxatilis.
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) This order shall be implemented in a manner consistent with applicable law (including but not limited to interstate compacts to which the United States has consented by law, treaties and other international agreements to which the United States is a party, treaties to which the United States and an Indian tribe are parties, and laws of the United States conferring rights on Indian tribes) and subject to the availability of appropriations.


(b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budget, administrative, and legislative proposals.


(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, instrumentalities, entities, officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
October 20, 2007.

[mdram]

now its up to the states

[Charkbait]

fingers crossed. As long as the commercial quota doesn't get pushed to the recs this is good. If it does then the system is as f'd up as I am affraid of.

[mdram]

Md. officials say Bush's fishing order won't affect state much

By Brian Witte|The Associated Press

3:29 PM EDT, October 20, 2007

President Bush's initiative to encourage conservation of striped bass and red drum won't have much effect in Maryland because the state already carefully monitors striped bass health, state environmental officials said today.

Bush chose the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in Talbot County on Maryland's Eastern Shore as a backdrop to announce an initiative that tasks the commerce secretary to encourage states to promote recreational fishing while limiting commercial fishing for striped bass and red drum.

Eric Schwaab, a deputy secretary with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said that Maryland law requires "fair and equitable allocation of fishery resources among user groups."

"While allocations do shift over time for various environmental, social and economic reasons, these are decisions that Marylanders should make for Maryland, in close consultation with our neighboring states along the Atlantic Coast," Schwaab said in a statement.

Schwaab also said Maryland environmental officials constantly monitor the health of the striped bass stock, and the state currently faces "many more pressing fishery management concerns." Those concerns include protecting the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries and restoring critical oyster populations that filter water and provide aquatic habitat, Schwaab said.

The state also wants to ensure adequate forage fish, like menhaden, which are needed to feed the striped bass population.

Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, R-Md., attended the waterside news conference and described the president's initiative as an important step toward protecting ocean ecology.

"I think we can bridge the gap between commercial and recreational fishing, restoring the nation's fisheries and ending overfishing," Gilchrest said.

But Larry Simns, president of the Maryland Watermen's Association, said he didn't believe the president's initiative was needed because striped bass are one of the healthiest stocks of any fish on the East Coast. Striped bass, which also are called rockfish, also provide valuable income to Maryland watermen in slow winter months, Simns added.

"It's a big portion of the watermen's livelihood during that winter portion when there's nothing else for them to harvest," Simns said.

Maryland state law limits the number of commercial harvesters of striped bass to 1,231. In 2006, the Maryland Chesapeake Bay quota was 2.1 million pounds, which was nearly met, according to DNR.

After overharvesting nearly wiped out the striped bass, a fishing ban in the 1980s led to a remarkable rebound in the species.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/loc...0,632751.story